Interview: Engaging Parents through Powerful Coalition Building to Support Education
Community engagement does not mean starting from scratch. Advocates in communities long have come together to tackle specific needs, like health, housing and development. In this Courageous Connections interview, José Medrano, of the START Center in South Texas, describes how, in the Texas Rio Grande Valley several such groups are working together to focus attention on education, particularly local dropout rates.

Fair Funding Now! Building Grassroots Leadership for Funding Equity
In this newsletter article, Laurie Posner, M.P.A., gives an update on IDRA’s Fair Funding Now! initiative. In gathering across the states, participants have shared a concern for children whose schools face serious cuts; expressed frustration with school funding policy; and proposed plans to spread the word, share their story, pass a resolution or mobilize others.

Groups Challenge Texas System for Funding Public Schools… Again
In this newsletter article, Albert Cortez, Ph.D., compares the four lawsuits that have been filed in Texas challenging the constitutionality of the state’s school funding system. Combined, the plaintiffs schools represent close to half of the students and school districts in the state. This clearly reflects the overall poor disgust with the state legislature’s poor handling of the school funding crisis in the 2011 session

“Advancing American Indian Education” IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 101
Following the President’s executive order on improving American Indian and Alaska Native educational opportunities, four IDRA leaders share insights about providing technical assistance to improve education of American Indian students.