• IDRA Newsletter • August 2010 •
On July 13, 2010, IDRA held an event in the Rio Grande Valley that brought together more than 140 cross-sector education stakeholders, including families, community organization leaders, public school educators, foundation representatives and public officials. Juan Sepúlveda, director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, presented findings from the initiative’s national listening tour to gather input on the educational needs of the Hispanic community. A panel of community leaders, school officials, and students described unique education needs and assets of the Rio Grande Valley and how the federal government can help address these needs. And using IDRA’s School Holding Power portal, participants examined data about their schools and developed strategies they will take to improve schools for children and youth in the Rio Grande Valley. ¡YA! Es Tiempo demonstrated how people in different sectors of a community (students, parents, school leaders, community-based organizations, and policymakers) can come together to create strategies for improving their neighborhood public schools to ensure all students graduate ready for college and career. On these pages, we share highlights from the event.
– Juan Sepúlveda, director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
“South Texas – the Rio Grande Valley – is ready to transform itself from a place with a history of educational neglect to a place of high educational quality for all kids… There is a convergence of a number of schools and school districts in the Valley with very good leadership and very good leaders that, in collaboration with communities, are making some significant changes. So we know that change is possible by what is happening here in the Rio Grande Valley.”
– Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA President & CEO
“I’m not really here to talk about me because I am one of those students that graduated from high school… I’m here because our dropout rates here in the Valley are really high. There are a lot of dropouts. It’s not hard for me to put myself in their shoes.”
– Sylvia Tovar, college student
“We need to understand that, as the Latino population grows into the largest minority group in America, the dropout rate among Latinos is not a Latino American problem, it is an American problem.”
– Joe Medrano, community education officer START Center in San Benito Texas
“Our Texas Valley is the key to the future of the state. It is a laboratory for resolving problems that will confront the state in the future. Together we can get this done and the time is now.”
– Daniel P. King, Superintendent, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD
– Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA President & CEO
– Peter Bloch Garcia, MPA, Program Officer, Marguerite Casey Foundations
“¡YA! Es Tiempo fue evidencia clara que nuestras familias, estudiantes y educadores pueden dialogar críticamente con gran sentido sobre la data actual de las escuelas. El portal de IDRA organiza la información sobre las escuelas en una manera comprensiva y útil. Con esta data comunidades pueden tomar acción para mejorar sus escuelas públicas en nuestras vecindades.”
“¡YA! Es Tiempo was clear proof that families, students and educators can have meaningful, critical conversations about actual school data. The IDRA portal organizes public education information comprehensibly and usefully. With this data, communities can take action to improve neighborhood public schools.”
– Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., director IDRA Parent Information and Resource Center
“We are not so interested in answers from above. But we really are interested in bringing our assets into the White House. The border area has a very special take on the future of education of our children.”
– Mike Seifert, Network Weaver/Coordinator for the Equal Voice Network
– Juan Sepúlveda, director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
“At the intersection of two nations, the Rio Grande Valley is a young, vibrant, and growing community of over a million people. The Valley is also a place where rootedness, resourcefulness, and generosity of spirit abound … this community has taken on big challenges and now it can lead in transforming education.”
– Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA President & CEO
Comments and questions may be directed to IDRA via e-mail at feedback@idra.org.
[©2010, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the August 2010 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]