WASHINGTON, CC – The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) named Carlos García the winner of its 2024-25 ALAS Lifetime Achievement Award. García was a founding member of ALAS and also served as president of the association, among other roles. Garcia was recognized at a special awards ceremony during the ALAS Gala Dinner to be held on October 11, 2024 at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront on the final day of the 21st ALAS National Education Summit.
“We are honored to recognize one of our founding members with the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said ALAS CEO Ulysses Navarrete. “Carlos García's dedication and leadership in helping historically marginalized students, namely Latinos, over his 40+ year career is truly an inspiration to everyone in the field. “He demonstrates a can-do attitude in everything he does and is a living example that if we want to see change, we must get off the bench and into the game.”
Garcia served as superintendent for 16 years in four distinctive school districts: Sanger USD (CA), Fresno USD (CA), Clark County SD (NV), and San Francisco USD (CA) before retiring in 2012. In 2003, he was superintendent . founding member of the national ALAS, as well as the California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA). He served as a member of the ALAS board of directors from 2003 to 2006 and as president-elect in 2009, president from 2010 to 2011, and past president from 2012 to 2013.
During his more than 37-year career in education, Garcia built a strong track record of boosting student achievement and closing the achievement gap through his work as a teacher, principal, central office administrator, and classroom instructional leader. In addition to his role as superintendent, he taught in Rowland Unified School District (La Puente, CA) and Chaffey Joint Union Unified School District (Ontario, CA) before serving as principal of schools in Pajaro Valley Unified School District. (Watsonville, CA) and SFUSD Horace Mann High School.
Garcia received the 2005 Nevada Superintendent of the Year Award and the 2010 Ferd Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service Award, among many other awards and recognitions.
Garcia is passionate about serving underserved urban children. Growing up in a neighborhood in Los Angeles, he made this his mission in education and in life. He is a transformative national leader and torchbearer of equity and social justice for all students and their communities.
The ALAS Awards recognize individuals and organizations for extraordinary educational leadership and advocacy on issues that impact the education of Latino and other historically marginalized students. Other award winners include Superintendent of the Year Dr. Debra Duardo, Central Office Administrator of the Year Joanne Fimbres, Principal of the Year Carlos Ramirez, Advocacy Award winner Dr. LeAnne Salazar-Montoya, ALAS Student of the Year Dafnee Márquez Padilla and ALAS Affiliate of the Year Arizona ALAS.
The ALAS National Education Summit is the association's flagship leadership development and networking event for school and district administrators primarily serving Latino and other historically marginalized youth. The event focuses on addressing challenges in the education system, particularly those affecting Latino students, and provides a forum for participants to engage in meaningful discussions and identify solutions that can be applied across the industry. The theme of this year's Summit is “Embrace Tomorrow, Foster Culture, Drive Change and Promote Collaboration.”
For more information about ALAS, visit www.alasedu.org.
About the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)
The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) is committed to providing insight to all aspiring school and district administrators, including superintendents, through programs, services, advocacy, and networks rooted in Latino experiences and culture. Our vision, mission and objectives are to provide national leadership that ensures that every school in the United States effectively addresses the educational needs of all students with an emphasis on Latino and other historically marginalized youth through continuous professional learning, the promotion of policies and networking to share. promising practices for our students and the communities we serve.
By 2026, Latino children will make up 30 percent of the school-age population. In the largest states in the country (California, Texas, Florida and New York), all state affiliates of ALAS, Latinos have already reached that level. It is of vital interest to invest in the education of each child and in the professional learning of all educators who serve Latino youth.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘6079750752134785’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
