Andy Canales and Sandra Rodriguez

Last month, Latinos for Education convened nearly 200 educators, state legislators, and community members from across Texas at our State of Latino Education Summit. With an increase of over 800,000 Latino students since 2005 in the Lone Star state, we came together with the belief that Latino students will shape the future of Texas, and the collective goal to work together to reclaim educational equity for Latino students and their families.

While the growth in the number of Latino students in Texas is significant, we know there’s significant variation in performance, access, and equity in the schools that are majority Latino and majority low-income. On average, only 56% of schools in Texas that are majority Latino and low-income earned an “A” or “B” in the last set of school ratings in 2019. Some major regions in Texas had as few as only 28% of their Latino low-income schools earn a high rating.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated both the academic and non-academic challenges Latino students faced before the pandemic, especially those growing up in low-income households. Many students had to drop out of school to help support their families, and those who were able to stay in school may lack access to technology and essential resources. Additionally, our COVID-19 report from last year highlighted that nearly half of Latino parents in Houston are concerned about their children’s mental health.

While these challenges are devastating for many in our community, they present opportunities to reimagine the type of education that our students are accessing. During our summit, Superintendents Millard House II of Houston ISD, Dr. Michael Hinojosa of Dallas ISD, and Dr. Sylvia Rios of Laredo ISD presented their strategies to support students during this difficult time.​

Dr. Hinojosa directed Dallas Independent School District (DISD) to focus on learning acceleration, not simply learning loss, and providing “fragile schools” more resources and extracurricular activities that integrate learning, including in the summer months. Additionally, Dr. Hinojosa emphasized that talent matters, and that we must continue to focus on sending the best teachers to struggling schools. Lastly, DISD eliminated suspensions that disproportionately punish African American male students and hired almost 60 mental health professionals to help the schools with the greatest need. 

Dr. Sylvia Rios underscored how Laredo ISD provides parents and families with classes to help them support their children, including GED and ESL support classes. Laredo ISD emphasizes the importance of a bilingual education, with the understanding that the Latino community is diverse, and school systems need to use different strategies to engage Latino families with different backgrounds.

In Houston, Houston Independent School District (HISD) Superintendent Millard House II, highlighted the importance of creating systems and processes that provide a voice to families, students, and the broader community. House also emphasized that programs such as “Grow Your Own” are critical in offering the kind of biliteracy that HISD needs and providing nonacademic resources and wrap-around specialists to students and families that are in-need.

In addition to hearing from Superintendents leading majority-Latino school districts, the summit featured a Spanish-language panel that explored the importance of family engagement in a child’s education. Panelists, which included HISD Trustee Judith Cuz, Executive Officer for Student Support Services Candice Castillo, and former HISD principal, encouraged families to stay engaged in their child’s education and provided attendees with best practices on how families can get and stay involved. We know that families are a child’s best advocate, and if they are not empowered to speak up and take action, nothing will change for Latino students. 

At the State of Latino Education Summit, we were able to come together to reimagine an education system that is truly equitable for all students in the Lone Star state. Educators, state leaders, and attendees showed up to voice their commitment to supporting Latino students and their families in Texas because together we can make a real difference in their lives both inside and outside of the classroom. 

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Andy Canales is the Executive Director, Texas at Latinos for Education. Previously, Andy worked in education as a teacher and nonprofit director. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, TEACH, UHD College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Latino Texas PAC. He’s a Senior American Leadership Forum Fellow, a Leadership ISD Fellow, and a Houston Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree.  As the son of Salvadoran immigrants and first-generation college graduate, Andy is passionate about expanding educational equity. 
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Sandra Rodríguez is the Advocacy Director at Latinos for Education where she leads the organization’s efforts to elevate Latino voices in decision making to increase educational outcomes. She previously served in the Houston Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office and Houston Health Department overseeing program planning.  She obtained her bachelor’s from Springfield College School of Human Services as a single mother and currently serves as the President of the Gulfton Super Neighborhood Council, is a Fellow of the American Leadership Forum Class XLVIII, and is a member of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. ​

My parents were undocumented for many years. They fled El Salvador in 1980 to escape a civil war in which they had each seen friends murdered by government death squads. They met in Los Angeles, married, and started a life together. For six years, they lived in fear of deportation. Then, in 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act into law. While flawed, it did allow them to work legally and apply for citizenship.

That same year, I was born. I grew up an American citizen with parents whose status was protected. That meant my parents could interview for any jobs they chose and drive without fear that an accidental illegal U-turn would send them back to El Salvador.
 
Many of our friends and family were not so lucky. Just through timing and sheer luck, doors that were open to me as the American-born child of protected immigrants would never be open to them. In 2012, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) eased that burden for many immigrants of my generation – many of whom have known no other home but the United States. They could go to college, work, and live their lives looking toward a future in the country they call home – but it’s all temporary.

When it became clear in the past few years that DACA was in jeopardy, I thought of all the ways that those of us who are protected would be affected if the 750,000 DREAMers were forced out of the U.S. Yes, 9,000 are educators and 14,000 are healthcare workers; they are teaching our kids and saving our lives. But we’d also feel the loss in more intangible ways.

America is made up of more than 325 million threads, each representing an invaluable member of our country – veterinarians, restaurant workers, math tutors, class clowns, kindergarten students, Pee Wee soccer coaches and more. 750,000 of those threads are also DACA recipients. If we force them out, we’re left with a hole in the fabric of America. And, we’d be sending our fellow friends, teachers, and healthcare workers back to countries they don’t recognize or governments they can’t trust. 

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling against the rescission of DACA means the fabric of our country stays intact for a while longer. While DACA is not the end-all, be-all, it is a Band-Aid, and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling is a much needed, albeit temporary, sigh of relief. To strengthen these protections right now, we need:
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1. Expanded legal status. The current age margins are arbitrary at best. Also, there are thousands of immigrants who embrace our country with arms wide open, and who contribute to the success of America every single day, but since they don’t meet the education requirements, they aren’t eligible. This needs to change.
2. A clear and accessible pathway to citizenship. DACA has its limitations. For instance, DACA recipients that want to attend higher education are ineligible for federal financial aid, grants, or loans. Our DACA friends also can’t travel internationally to see loved ones in the same way citizens can. When President Barack Obama enacted DACA, he did so knowing that it could be undone by future governments. Congress and the current president must work together on a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and other immigrants. ​

As individuals, we must do what we can to keep the fabric intact by 1) encouraging eligible people to apply for the DACA program and 2) calling our representatives and telling them to pass the American Dream and Promise Act to provide DREAMers with a permanent path to residency and citizenship. You can reach the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. I’ve already called. I hope you will too.

​When my parents – a housekeeper and a mechanic – saved enough money to buy a home, they had no idea that decision would lead me to one of the worst performing middle schools in Los Angeles. Had they bought a house just a few blocks away, I would have been zoned to one of the best performing schools in the county.
 
I excelled in elementary school and was afraid that I would not be able to fully realize my academic potential by attending a low-performing school. In a desperate attempt to salvage my education, my mom and I arranged a meeting with the principal at the high-performing school to try to convince him to allow me into his school.
 
At the meeting, my mom made her case in Spanish to the principal while struggling not to break down crying: “Solamente quiero que tenga una buena educacion.” I quickly translated her plea: “My mom says she just wants me to have a good education.”
 
It was quite the tearjerker moment but, unfortunately, tears only went so far. I’ll never forget the principal turning us away saying, “I’m really sorry. I wish I could help, but you’re not zoned to this school, and there’s nothing I can do about that.”
 
I then attended a middle school where I fell further behind academically.   
 
Untapped potential.
 
Fortunately, I then went to a high school where outstanding teachers helped me get on a path to college.
 
I’m passionate about data because of its potential to shine a light on the inequities I experienced firsthand and because of its ability to begin a conversation about solutions for kids facing similar challenges to those I had to overcome. While data may not tell the whole story about a school, it helps depict a snapshot of the conditions and outcomes children experience every day. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released their 2019 A-F ratings assigning most schools in Texas with a letter grade.
 
There’s much we can begin to learn from this publicly available information:

• LATINO CHILDREN CAN SUCCEED: When I look at only those schools in Texas that are serving majority-Latino (75%+) and majority-economically disadvantaged (80%+) students, 75% of such schools in the Rio Grande Valley (Region 1: Edinburg) earned an “A” or “B.” Similar schools in Region 19 (El Paso) also stand out with 69% of them earning “As” and “Bs”, too. Compare that to schools with similar demographics in other regions: Greater Houston (48%), Austin (40%), Fort Worth (34%), and San Antonio (26%).

​What’s striking to me about this data is the untapped potential it highlights: If Latino low-income schools in the Rio Grande Valley are succeeding, why can’t more of our schools elsewhere in Texas succeed similarly? When I see these numbers, I imagine a story – like mine growing up – of a child behind every number. A story of untapped potential. Latino students – even while growing up economically disadvantaged – can succeed, but they need us to provide them excellent schools.
 
Through the following scatter plot, we can see the wide variation in performance among majority-Latino and majority-economically disadvantaged schools across Texas:

There are nearly 1,000 schools in that red box earning a top grade in the TEA ratings (80-100). Who’s attending these schools? Latino students who are economically disadvantaged. What makes them different? How are they able to tap into their students’ potential?
 

• LATINO CHILDREN IN DISTRICT-RUN AND CHARTER-RUN SCHOOLS ARE SUCCEEDING: When I break down the data further and focus on the top twenty school districts in Texas with the most number of majority-Latino (75%+) and majority-economically disadvantaged (80%+) schools (only those rated), I see schools operated by these ISDs and/or charter management organizations succeeding:

While there are bright spots, the variation in performance reaffirms our children can succeed when the right systems are in place, and there’s more that we can do to help Latino children growing up in poverty.

• ONE SIZE FITS ALL APPROACH WON’T WORK: Results for black children are different than results for Latino children. Black and brown children make up two-thirds of students in Texas. Their success is our success. When I also look at the number of majority-Black (51%) and majority-economically disadvantaged (80%+) schools, I also see a need to create more schools that we want for all children:  

​Only 1 in 4 schools in Texas that is majority-black and majority-economically disadvantaged earned an “A” or “B” compared to 2 in 4 Latino-majority and majority-economically disadvantaged schools. No community and group of children are the same. If we are to improve our schools to more equitably serve our students, we have to take into account the rich diversity our students represent otherwise a one size fits all approach will have limited success.
 
Behind every number, there’s a rich and complex story. Often, a story of the incredible potential our students reflect on a daily basis. Throughout the data, we see numerous shining examples of students and schools outperforming even in difficult circumstances. The data shows our kids can succeed – and they are succeeding. It’s incumbent upon us – the adults – to create a fairer system that gives all of our children the opportunity to fully realize their potential. 

Everything is bigger in Texas – including our demographic shifts: Since 2005 there has been an increase of 800,000 Latino children in the Texas public educational system, bringing the total number of Latino students to three million. For comparison, the 800,000 additional Latino students alone represent a student population that is larger than the independent populations of Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.

​In Greater Houston, Latino children make up half of the student population across 50 school districts. Texas’ future will be defined by the success our children achieve, and if Latino children succeed, Texas will succeed.
 
Despite our best efforts, we’re falling short on this front. Across Texas, only 11% of Latino students are graduating college-ready. So, what will it take to accelerate Latino student success? 

The good news is that throughout Texas there are schools that are majority-Latino and majority low-income that are performing very well and there's a lot we can learn from these schools.

In the recent A-F ratings released by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), 74% of Latino majority/low-income majority-schools in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) earned an "A" or "B" grade. This stands in stark contrast with clusters of schools with similar demographics in other regions (as defined by TEA). 

Region 1: Edinburg (Rio Grande Valley) stands out. There are over 400,000 students in Region 1 with 500+ schools that are majority Latino and majority low-income. 

Looking at the top fifteen school districts (in size) in Region 1, you can see a combination of both traditional and charter school districts doing well with majority Latino/majority low-income schools:

The Latino community is very diverse, so we can't assume that what works in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) will automatically work anywhere else; however, I think there's a lot we can learn from the success of these schools in the RGV.

There's only so much you can learn from the data and every number represents a student, a school, a family, and a community - each reflecting a complex reality. If I had a magic wand, here are the questions I'd want to explore further to learn more about the RGV:

1. 90% of teachers across Region 1 are Latino, closely mirroring the student demographics of Region 1 (97% Latino students). Has this played a role in supporting student achievement?
2. How have school districts in the RGV recruited, prepared, and supported teachers in the RGV?
3. Given the significant Latino population in the RGV, how do school districts in the RGV approach bilingual education? 
4. What does parent engagement look like in the RGV?
5. What community assets exist in the RGV and what role (if any) do they play in the performance of low-income schools?
6. How does the local economy of the RGV differ from the local economies of other regions in Texas and what impact has this had on schools?
7. How have traditional public school districts and charter schools worked together?
8. What percent of Latino children in the RGV are first-generation, second-generation, etc.?
   
9. How is the Latino student population the RGV similar or different than other Latino student populations across Texas?
10. What do teachers and school districts in the RGV point to as their most effective strategies and greatest successes?