The Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC) is a collaborative of organizations and individuals with the mission to improve the quality of public education for all children, with a focus on racial equity. We advocate for fair funding, teaching quality, high-quality curriculum and instructional practices, quality bilingual education for English learners, and enhanced college access and success. The coalition convenes organizations and individuals who advocate in the interest of public school students at the local, state and national levels.
The coalition (originally called the Texas Latino Education Coalition), was organized in 2001 to focus specifically on critical educational issues in Texas and improve the state of education for Latino students in public schools. In 2019, the coalition expanded and adopted a name change to reflect the goals of its diverse member organizations.
Its education agenda is framed around key target issues, each with an overarching vision for schools in Texas.
Advocate Meaningful Assessment and Fair Accountability
Invest in Public School Students
Promote Quality Bilingual Education
Prepare All Students for College Readiness and Success
Promote Educational Equity in All Aspects of Student Learning
Contact: Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., IDRA (chloe.sikes@idra.org), or Jaime Puente, M.A., Every Texan (puente@everytexan.org), for more information.
McNeil Educational Foundation for Ecumenical Leadership
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Mexican American Civil Rights Institute (MACRI)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Mexican American School Board Members Association (MASBA)
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) – Tejas Foco
San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Texas American Federation of Teachers
Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE)
Texas Association for Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE)
Texas Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (TADOHE)
Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC)
Texas Center for Education Policy at the University of Texas – Austin
Texas Hispanics Organized for Political Education (HOPE)
Texas League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Texas NAACP
Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA)
The Arc of Texas
The Education Trust in Texas
UnidosUS (formerly known as NCLR)
UP Partnership
History
At the Texas Capitol in 2001, the Intercultural Development Research Association convened a group of organizations and individuals for the founding event of the Texas Latino Education Coalition. Representing thousands of Texans, founding member organizations included: IDRA, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Mexican American School Board Members Association, League of United Latin American Citizens, among many others.
The core group framed the education agenda for the coalition based on trends and historical inequities in public education. Members recognized that while overall test scores for school districts were rising, growing numbers of schools, especially those serving poor and minority students: (1) did not have adequate financial resources and support to provide quality education; (2) were losing students to attrition; and (3) were set up to provide little or no information for accessing colleges and succeeding in higher education. Founding members agreed that it was a crucial time to unite efforts through a statewide coalition to take aggressive steps to ensure a brighter future for our children.
TLEEC’s founding mission would be to improve public education for Latino children, which will impact the quality of education for all children, focusing specifically on fair funding, teaching quality, school holding power, and college access and success. And it would serve as a collaborative of organizations and individuals who advocate the rights of Latinos at the local, state and national levels.
Today, TLEEC is moving its agenda forward by creating and executing strategies that educate the media, inform public policy at state and local levels, mobilize communities, and synthesize and disseminate information.