Op-Ed: Education reform and Latino legislators - Our children need your help

As President of Comunidades Mexicanas de San Antonio (COMEXSA---organization of immigrant based groups) I and other officers and members have been very much involved in trying to convince State Representatives Justin Rodriguez and Mike Villarreal of the concern we have for needed reform and improvements of the public education system in Texas. This coming week will be the last and most important week of all for such reforms as parent trigger and Achievement School District to pass the House Committee on Public Education on which Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Villarreal serve. As Latinos who together represent a large portion of San Antonio in the state House of Representatives, they are key to deciding whether these reforms pass or die in the state legislature.

We have been fortunate that La Prensa, the San Antonio Express News, El Mundo newspaper, Telemundo and Univision have given attention to the concerns we have expressed about the urgency and importance reforms to public education are for all children in Texas. We have written and expressed our concerns with the high dropout rates of Latino children from public schools, the lack of preparation in math and reading that limit opportunities for a good job or being able to go to college, growing violence and gang activity in and around many schools in Latino neighborhoods, and low performing schools that seem to be more in our communities than not.

In the course of our efforts we have come to know the long history of problems at least two generations of Latino children have had in securing an education that provides the choice of getting a good job or going to college a reality.  For too many Latinos this choice has not been and may not be possible.

This experience for me and my COMEXUS friends and members has been very eye opening. We are not experts at education policy but we do believe that parents should have the right to petition their local schools for changes and improvements to these problems that our children attend. Current state law says that we must wait for these schools to have six consecutive years of low performance before a majority of parents can get together and petition for changes or closure of such schools. Under this law children can attend a low performing school for all 12 years of their public school education. This is not right nor should anyone try to justify/defend this terrible sentence for failure.

The parent trigger legislation we have been supporting changes the five years to three years before parents can take action to petition.  While many of us believe it should be two years before we can take action, we are supporting three years as the compromise proposed in one of the key reform bills the House Committee on Public Education will vote on this coming Tuesday. Parents need to have this important tool that can be used if schools are not performing to the standards that are required by state law. Children deserve nothing less!

The second major legislation is Achievement School District. This legislation offers parents and children attending low performing schools another opportunity for improving schools. Schools who are assessed as low performing for two consecutive years are placed in a statewide district that has resources and education experts to “turn around” these schools. These are two very important tools that are being proposed to improve and reform public education in Texas. As Latinos we MUST be part of this important discussion in the state legislature and these bills need to be supported and passed with Latino state legislators leading the effort.

We have read and been informed of the positive efforts that Senator Leticia Van de Putte and Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. have played in the state Senate passing these and other very important reforms. We thank them for their work on our behalf and for all Texans. The challenge now lies with Latinos in the House. We need both Rep. Villarreal and Rep. Justin Rodriguez to support parent trigger and Achievement School District legislation otherwise these vital and important tools will be lost. What is at stake is not something that can be lost and regained later. What is lost is precious time to prepare children for a better future, what is lost is that desire to learn and ability to learn that all children need at key times in their development, what is lost is the ability to dream about being whatever children might want to be or attain as adults. These are things that we should all fight to keep and improve. We now ask Mr. Villarreal and Mr. Rodriguez to help us with this fight----vote for parent trigger and Achievement School District legislation next week.

All of you can help your children and our future by calling their offices in Austin---Rep. Villarreal 512/463-0532 and Rep. Justin Rodriguez 512/463-0669


Ramiro Mojarro, President
Comunidades Mexicanas de San Antonio (COMEXSA)

Isabela Chapman, Vice-President
COMEXSA

Jose Aguilera, Treasurer
COMEXSA

Tony Sandoval, Deputy Treasurer
COMEXSA

Gilberto Garcia
AVANCE Community Center
COMEXSA Member

Jose Aguilera, Treasurer
COMEXSA

Tony Sandoval, Deputy
TreasurerCOMEXSA

Gilberto Garcia
AVANCE Community Center
COMEXSA Member