IDRA Newsletter
Inside
• What the 2025-26 Supreme Court Term Means for Education Justice
• IDRA Statement: Fifth Circuit Invalidates Texas Dream Act – The Court’s Ruling Compromises a Quarter Century of the State’s Investment in Texas’ Dreamers and Economy
• Collusive Litigation Strategy Dismantles Texas Dream Act & Creates Roadmap for Other Policies
• Parents Describe the Real Impact of Decimated Office for Civil Rights
Webinar: August 11
What happens when teachers spend time learning alongside engineers, cybersecurity experts, manufacturers and other STEM professionals? They return to their classrooms with new ideas that help students connect academic concepts to real careers and real challenges in their own communities. Hear firsthand from teachers and industry partners who participated in IDRA's 2026 summer externship program.
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IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 259
This episode showcases how IDRA’s STEM externship led to a community-centered classroom project. They discuss career-connected learning, project-based STEM instruction, industry partnerships, and helping students solve authentic community challenges.
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News
IDRA kicked off our fourth annual externship program in summer 2026, bringing together teachers and local industry partners for immersive workplace learning. By sharing their expertise and day-to-day work, industry professionals help educators connect classroom learning with real-world STEM careers. These career connections make learning more meaningful for students as they explore STEM degrees and careers, while giving teachers new ideas and tools to bring real-world STEM learning into their classrooms.
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Statement
On July 9, the Fifth Circuit upheld a federal district court ruling in USA v. Students, finding the Texas Dream Act unconstitutional.
“The Texas Dream Act has long provided opportunity for Texas-raised undocumented students to access college and better contribute to the Texas workforce and economy,” said Celina Moreno, J.D., IDRA President and CEO. “Yesterday’s court ruling will make college unattainable for thousands of Texas Dreamers.
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Report
Federal and state restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion have created new barriers to college access for students across Texas, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds. IDRA’s two-year study provides an early look at how these policies are affecting high school students’ access to and success in college.
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Statement
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a deeply harmful ruling in West Virginia v. BPJ and Little v. Hecox, permitting discriminatory anti-transgender sports bans. The ruling upheld Idaho and West Virginia laws that exclude transgender women and girl athletes from competitive school sports simply for who they are. It holds that the bans do not violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 or the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court’s decision to indiscriminately exclude transgender women and girls from school sports is a significant setback for educational equity and students’ civil rights.
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Tools!
High school students need clear support to get to college, especially as changes to diversity policies created new challenges to an already confusing process for students and families. The resources in IDRA’s Community-Based College Access – Online Technical Assistance Toolkit provide practical tools schools can use now to help students transition to college. Informed by focus groups and roundtable conversations with students, families and school counselors, the toolkits help counselors and students navigate recent policy changes limiting diversity, equity and inclusion affecting college admissions.
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IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 258
How can game design help students become confident problem-solvers and future software developers? In this episode, Stephanie Garcia, Ph.D., and Carol Luckhardt Redfield, Ph.D., discuss how the IDRA VisionCoders program combines computer science, creativity and cross-age mentoring to prepare students for success in school and beyond.
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IDRA Classnotes Podcast
Research shows that girls’ confidence in STEM subjects often begins to decline during elementary school. In this episode, Stephanie Garcia and Lea Rosenauer discuss how mentorship, representation, family engagement and supportive learning environments help girls develop STEM identities and pursue STEM pathways. Drawing on research and practical experience, they explore strategies that schools, families and community organizations can use to help girls thrive.
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News
Forty-four years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that the right of undocumented students to attend public school is guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
During the early days of IDRA, we provided expert testimony and data in the lower court cases that were consolidated into the Plyler v. Doe case and have since helped schools protect the rights of immigrant students.
That historic ruling was critical to our democracy and the future of public schools we know and love today. Plyler guaranteed that undocumented students have the right to attend public school.
Report
Texas charter school districts continue to lose students at substantially higher rates than traditional public schools, according to an analysis by IDRA. While charter school districts served just 6% of Texas students in 2023-24, they accounted for 18% of students who dropped out of school.
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Georgia News
Lawmakers Made Some Attempts to Erode Public Education – We Held the Line and Built for the Future
This review focuses on legislation that may have carried over from 2025 but was predominantly active in 2026.
News
After reaching a historic low last year, the Texas high school attrition rate has increased, signaling a reversal in progress as high schools lose more than one in five students before graduation. The statewide attrition rate rose to 21% in 2024-25, up from 18% the previous year – the largest single-year increase in four decades of IDRA’s study.
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Report
A report by IDRA José A. Cárdenas School Finance Fellow J. Toufic Chahín, Ph.D., examines how charter school expansion affects Texas public education. The study finds traditional public schools outperform charter schools on several graduation and college readiness measures while serving more students who need additional educational supports.
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Newsletter
Inside:
- 4.3 Million Texas Students Lost Across 40 Years of IDRA’s Attrition Studies – IDRA President & CEO Reflects on Unrealized Potential, Renewed Urgency, by Celina Moreno, J.D.
- Community-based College Access Tools to Bridge Barriers to College, by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D.
- “I used to not want to go to college, but now I want to go.” – Reflections by Students in IDRA Programs Point to Life-Changing Futures
- Six Policies and Practices That Lead to Higher Dropout Rates (Excerpt)
News
Nationally, Black girls are consistently the most over-disciplined compared to girls of all racial groups. Students in the Atlanta area describe how harsh discipline hurts Black girls’ chances of future success in school and in life. These are among the findings of a youth-led research study supported by IDRA. IDRA just released the students’ report: “Listen to Us – Black Girls Speak Out on Biased Discipline and Its Impact in Atlanta-Area Schools.”
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Resource
Learn more about IDRA’s work to end harmful discipline to create safer schools.
IDRA’s expert, Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., was interviewed and assisted with a news story by Sarah Butrymowicz of the The Hechinger Report, "Texas’ discipline push sends kids to ‘jail-like’ campuses." The story describes the overuse of disciplinary alternative education programs across Texas.
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News
Four Brownsville ISD students received prizes in a competition among participants in IDRA’s newest in-school STEM program, IDRA Youth TechXperts, in which eighth-graders become technical support specialists for their schools. The students described how their experience changed how they see themselves and their futures in technology and leadership.
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News
Six students received prizes in a competition among participants in the IDRA VisionCoders program, a middle school computer science course developed by IDRA serving Title I middle schools in Bexar County. In this innovative course, middle school students who are in at-risk situations become software designers who create educational games for younger students (their “buddies”).
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News
Six students received prizes in a competition among participants in the IDRA Youth Leadership Now program and the IDRA Valued Youth Partnership program. Both are asset-based leadership development programs serving students who are deemed at risk of dropping out.
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Classnotes Podcast Episode 255
Three generations of women reflect on how Brown v. Board of Education shaped their lives and communities. Through personal stories, the episode explores school desegregation, family legacy and the lasting impact of education policy. (Available in audio and video)
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News
While cities across Texas strive to grow a college-educated workforce, growing restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts could hinder their plans for economic growth. These federal and state restrictions are unfolding against a backdrop of disparities in college access and success, according to a IDRA research brief.
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eNews
Every student deserves a learning environment that fosters growth and belonging, where they are safe and free from harm. But, such a learning environment is not possible if corporal punishment is allowable under the guise of “discipline.”
Twenty states still permit corporal punishment in schools, where 70,000 children have been hit during a single school year. Each year, we recognize International Day to End Corporal Punishment as a call to action for advocates, educators, students and community to come together to support the end of this outdated, violent practice.
news
Georgia increasingly passes the burden of education costs to local communities rather than closing gaps at the state level. The wealthiest districts can raise almost $5,000 more per student in local revenue than lower-wealth districts, according to a new report released by IDRA. Georgia’s Quality Basic Education Formula Turns 40 – Closing the Gap or Passing the Buck? warns that property tax cut proposals being considered by the Geogia Assembly could deepen the gap between rich and poor school districts.
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eNews
All children have the right to attend K-12 public schools in this country. We are all stronger when every young person is able to learn in safe and welcoming classrooms.
Unfortunately, opponents to these fundamental values continue to challenge key legal and policy protections that ensure education for all children.
News
Young students in Texas public schools performed better on STAAR exams and pre-kindergarten assessments after districts gained access to additional early education funding, according to a research brief released today by IDRA. The Texas early education allotment is designed to improve reading and math learning and expand access to Pre-K. IDRA’s brief examines how three Texas school districts use the funds and analyzes trends in student outcomes.
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Check out these opportunities to join our work!
- Grants Consultant
- Course-Credit Internship
- Course-Credit Education Law Internship
Federal Education Law and Policy Alert
U.S. Department of Education Announces Moves Key Programs to Other Agencies, Weakening Federal Oversight and Destabilizing Services for Key Student Groups
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Just out!
IDRA released our newest model policy package to help schools and state leaders equip school counselors to enhance college and career guidance schoolwide. School counselors play a pivotal role in helping students navigate the structural and cultural barriers that shape college and career access. This role is especially critical for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, who often lack access to the support and networks that make higher education attainable.
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News
A new investment from Greater Texas Foundation will open doors to college for students in the Rio Grande Valley through the new Kickstart College-Ready program. The initiative is a collaboration between IDRA and Region One Education Service Center (ESC) to help school districts ensure all students have access to dual credit, career certificates and associate degree pathways.
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Statement
IDRA, alongside the Texas Immigration Law Council and a broad coalition of business, faith, educator and student groups, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in U.S. v. Texas to do what Texas state leaders refused to do: defend the Texas Dream Act and the ability of Texas high school graduates to access and succeed in college, regardless of immigration status.
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eNews
As students, families and educators get settled in this new school year, this alert is a reminder that public schools, by law, must serve all students.
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eNews
IDRA’s model policy package provides policy language for states, school districts, and schools to adopt research-based student and family leadership and engagement strategies.
The package is a blueprint for transforming how schools relate to families and students, moving beyond surface-level communication to build real partnerships rooted in equity, trust and shared leadership.
Newsletter Special Edition
Through her vision and voice, Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel changed education forever.
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News
Barriers to access college are a longstanding challenge for Texas students from underrepresented backgrounds. Federal and state restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion introduced new barriers. IDRA released a preliminary report this month from its study of the impact of Texas Senate Bill 17’s ban on college diversity, equity and inclusion offices in 2023 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that same year to significantly limit race-conscious admissions in higher education on marginalized college-going students.
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New Report
State legislatures across the U.S. South are acting on policies that significantly impact education equity. IDRA has released a new report outlining key legislative actions taken last year and previewing the current year.
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eNews
A multiracial, intergenerational coalition of advocates filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging a Texas appellate court to end a Houston-area school district’s years-long practice of discriminating against Black students wearing racially and culturally significant hairstyles.
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eNews
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Phone: 210-444-1710
Fax: 210-444-1714
