2022 San Antonio Regional Public PK-12 Education Forum

TOPIC:

The Post-Pandemic Challenges Facing Bexar County Public School Leaders

WELCOME FROM ANGIE MOCK Today marks the 7th annual San Antonio Regional PK-12 Public Education Forum and our return to an in-person format for the first time since 2019. The first San Antonio Education Forum was staged at San Antonio’s historic Pearl Stable in 2016. Retired energy executive Michael Burke conceived the idea of bringing together elected state and local officials with leaders in the Bexar County public school and education community, including district and public charter leaders and education nonprofit executives, to explore ways to inspire greater community support for improved public education outcomes.

As the 2021-2022 school year comes to a close, we find ourselves in what is perhaps the most challenging time for educators and students in our nation’s history. There is no doubt that “unfinished learning” is real and it’s inequitable and that the emotional well-being of our students is more challenging than ever.

Our program today seeks to explore the post-pandemic challenges facing Bexar County public school leaders. We are especially grateful to our committee for returning with enthusiasm and excellent ideas. A special thanks to Jessica Weaver and her committee for leading the work to determine the 2022 Education Champion. Like prior years’ Education Champions, our 2022 Champion is most deserving of this honor.

The San Antonio Report is honored to serve as the organizing nonprofit. We have an exciting program in store for you. Education Reporter Brooke Crum and Co-Founder and Columnist Bob Rivard will moderate our panel discussions. Thank you for your support, for your attendance, your heart for education, and for your readership and support of the San Antonio Report.

If you’ve not yet become a member of the San Antonio Report, please consider doing so today. Support from our members makes it possible to publish credible, local news and convene civic engagement events throughout the year. Membership really matters - Thank you!

FORUM AGENDA

2022 PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION FORUM Post-Pandemic Challenges Facing Bexar County Public School Leaders (Part II)

PROGRAM 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Opening Remarks Invocation - David Robinson, The Admiral Education Champion Award Presentation: Presenter, Jeanne Russell – CAST Schools Executive Director with Angie Mock - Publisher and CEO, San Antonio Report Keynote: Rey Saldaña – President and CEO, Communities in Schools Panel Discussion Begins PANELISTS Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz, State Board of Education District 3

Jordana Barton-García, Principal, Barton-García Advisors

Ericka Olivarez, Principal, Northside ISD CAST Teach High School

Inga Cotton, Founder and Executive Director, San Antonio Charter Moms

Moderator: Robert Rivard – Co-Founder, Lead Columnist & Editor-at-Large, San Antonio Report Adjourn

GOLD LEVEL SPONSORS

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Better Education, Better Future

Louise and Mike Burke

VIP BREAKFAST PROGRAM THE POST-PANDEMIC CHALLENGES FACING TEXAS BEXAR COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL LEADERS (PART I) Emcee: Leigh Munsil, SA Report Editor-in-Chief Program Moderator: Brooke Crum, SA Report Education Reporter PANELISTS:

Kevin Brown, Executive Director of the Texas Association of School Administrators

Roland Toscano, Superintendent, East Central ISD

Lindsay Whorton, President, Holdsworth Center

Dr. Jeanette Ball, Superintendent, Judson ISD

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you” B.B. King

KEYNOTE SPEAKER REY SALDAÑA

President and CEO, Communities in Schools Rey Saldaña is the President and CEO of Communities In Schools®, (CIS™) the national organization that ensures all students are empowered to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future.

Saldaña is a CIS alumnus, whose journey from former student supported by CIS to national leader of Communities In Schools, sends an inspiring message to young people nationwide about the power they have to write their own success story.

Most recently, Saldaña served as the Regional Advocacy Director for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation and the Chair of the San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Agency-VIA. Prior to that, he successfully served four terms on the San Antonio City Council where he was first elected at age 24, becoming the youngest council person in that city’s history.

During his four terms, Saldaña focused on helping to meet the needs and harness the skills of young people and working families in his community. He championed the expansion of park space and community clinics in underserved areas, fought for increased funding for the city’s public transportation system, successfully campaigned for funding of the city’s early childhood initiative (Pre-K 4SA), and streamlined the city and county’s child truancy court. He chaired the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee, where he worked closely with state and federal legislators on law making and local policy development.

Concurrent with his elected position, he taught as an Adjunct Professor at Trinity University and Palo Alto Community College. Additionally, he worked with The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Office of Community Engagement and served as Chief Engagement Officer with KIPP San Antonio Public Schools.

In recognition of his accomplishments and enduring interest in the mission of Communities In Schools, in 2017, Communities In Schools invited Saldaña to serve on the CIS National Board of Directors, making him the first alumni to join the Board.

Saldaña holds a master’s degree from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education where he studied policy, organization and leadership studies, and two bachelor’s degrees in political science and communications from Stanford.

The son of immigrants who came to this country from Mexico, Saldaña was born and raised on the South Side of San Antonio and is the product of Title I Texas public schools. He is a proud first-generation American and first in his family to graduate from college. He and his wife Jessica are the happy parents of Eli and Olivia and two rescue dogs.

“The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Firstmark Credit Union ®

TM

MODERATOR ROBERT RIVARD Co-Founder, Lead Columnist and Editor-at-Large, San Antonio Report Robert “Bob” Rivard is the Co-Founder, Lead Columnist, and Editor-at-Large of the San Antonio Report, a nonprofit local news and information site that informs and connects engaged citizens in San Antonio.

The San Antonio Report is in its tenth year of publication and now has 22 fulltime employees and a growing number of freelance contributors. It also serves as a publishing platform for people in the community to share their stories and commentaries.

Rivard is a longtime, award-winning journalist who served as editor of the San Antonio Express-News from 1997 to 2011, and previously worked for Newsweek magazine as its Central America correspondent covering the region’s civil wars in the 1980s and from 1985-89 as its global chief of correspondents.

He is the author of Trail of Feathers: Searching for Philip True, a nonfiction book that chronicles the disappearance and murder of Express-News reporter Philip True in Mexico’s Sierra Madre, and the long fight to win the conviction of True’s killers.

Rivard is married to Monika Maeckle, a writer, naturalist, and communications consultant. They have two sons, Nicolas, a designer and inner city developer, and Alexander, the Director of Curriculum at The Alamo.

The fast-growing San Antonio Report is member-supported. Click here to become a supporting member. Follow the San Antonio Report on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @SAReport. Follow Robert Rivard at @rivardinsa on Twitter and robertjrivard on Instagram.

PANELISTS MARISA B. PÉREZ-DÍAZ State Board of Education District 3 Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz, the District 3 State Board of Education member, was elected to the Board of Education in November 2012 and took office on Jan. 1, 2013. She is the youngest Latina, nationally, to have ever been elected to serve on a State Board of Education and is now serving her third term on the board.

During her time on the Board, Pérez-Díaz has been instrumental in the redevelopment of high school graduation requirements, the update and approval of the Long-Range Plan for Texas Public Education and the rebranding of the Permanent School Fund. Additionally, she has been a leading voice in the fight to approve and implement ethnic studies courses for high school credit in Texas.

Pérez-Díaz holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a published researcher and has presented her work at the national level.

Pérez-Díaz has harnessed her experience, expertise, and skills, to serve as a district-level administrator in several Texas school districts and a co-instructor in higher education, before joining the Firstmark Credit Union team as the Executive Director for the Firstmark Foundation

PANELISTS ERICKA OLIVAREZ

Principal, Northside ISD CAST Teach High School Ericka Olivarez is guided by a mission to serve as part of a diverse community of learners and leaders striving to ensure that all students have equitable access to educational experiences that will help them succeed. She has dedicated her career in education to growing and empowering others, serving as a teacher, instructional curriculum and assessment specialist, academic dean, district content coordinator and a district leadership specialist. Forever a teacher, she believes that the best way to create a community of leaders is to create a truly equitable environment where all stakeholders are empowered to explore, question, collaborate, and problem-solve in a supportive environment.

A first generation college graduate, Ericka Olivarez earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington, as well as a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a minor in English Literature from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio. She leads and serves on various state, city and district committees dedicated to building culturally responsive schools where all students and staff are healthy, safe, supported, engaged and challenged.

JORDANA BARTON-GARCÍA Principal, Barton-García Advisors Jordana Barton-García is Principal of the social enterprise, Barton-García Advisors. She serves healthcare organizations, local governments, non-profits, schools/universities, philanthropy, financial institutions, and internet service providers to strategically expand broadband infrastructure and digital inclusion in underserved rural and urban areas. Her work helps organizations and communities achieve full participation in the digital economy and promotes economic development, health equity, telehealth, workforce development, educational equity, access to financial services, and entrepreneurship.

She most recently served as Vice President of Community Investments at Methodist Healthcare Ministries, where she oversaw the organization’s strategic grant-making and grant-seeking processes. Her leadership was critical in ensuring Methodist Healthcare Ministries’ philanthropic and community development practices supported its commitment to health equity—reducing the inequities inherent across South Texas so the least served have greater opportunities to reach their full potential.

INGA COT TON

Founder and Executive Director, San Antonio Charter Moms

Since its start as a blog, SA Charter Moms has evolved into a nonprofit as of 2018. Today, Founder and Executive Director Inga Cotton ensures the website and social media channels offer the community balanced information about all types of schools in San Antonio. As a nonprofit, SA Charter Moms can now accept funding that enables it to grow in ways that support accomplishing its mission of being the most trusted information source on education in the region. This growth includes Spanish-language blog post translations, surveying target publics, holding meetings with decision makers, sharing knowledge via public speaking, and community outreach.

In 2019, SA Charter Moms launched San Antonio Charter Schools, a custom, free school finder app. Available for Apple and Android, and bilingual in English and Spanish, the app puts information in the hands of parents and caregivers so they can find the schools that are the best fit for their children. It includes nearly a hundred public schools of choice, including open enrollment public charter schools, in-district charter schools, and district-charter partnership schools.

2022 EDUCATION CHAMPION AWARD NOMINEES PRESENTED BY THE 2022 EDUCATION FORUM PLANNING

REY SALDAÑA

DR. SHARI ALBRIGHT

President & CEO, Communities in Schools

President, Charles Butt Foundation

Saldaña is a CIS alumnus, whose journey from former student supported by CIS to national leader of Communities In Schools, sends an inspiring message to young people nationwide about the power they have to write their own success story.

Most recently, Saldaña served as the Regional Advocacy Director for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation and the Chair of the San Antonio Metropolitan Transit AgencyVIA. Prior to that, he successfully served four terms on the San Antonio City Council where he was first elected at age 24, becoming the youngest council person in that city’s history.

Dr. Shari Becker Albright became president of the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation in April 2018 after serving as chair of the Trinity University Department of Education. As head of what is now the Charles Butt Foundation, Shari guides programs designed to raise the quality of teachers and school leaders, boost collaboration among families, schools, and communities, and apply a combination of technology and classroom teaching to improve student performance.

She also works with the organization’s advocacy team to advance state policy to improve Texas public schools.

ELAINE MENDOZA

MARISA B. PEREZ-DIAZ

President & CEO, Conceptual Mindworks, Inc.

State Board Member, District 3

Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz is the youngest Latina, nationally, to have ever been elected to serve on a State Board of Education and is now serving her third term on the board.

During her time on the Board, Pérez-Díaz has been instrumental in the redevelopment of high school graduation requirements, the update and approval of the Long-Range Plan for Texas Public Education and the rebranding of the Permanent School Fund. Additionally, she has been a leading voice in the fight to approve and implement ethnic studies courses for high school credit in Texas.

Elaine Mendoza is a technology entrepreneur and is founder, President, and CEO of Conceptual MindWorks, Inc. (CMI). She has been involved in community initiatives revolving around the expansion of educational opportunities, health care, and economic growth both locally and nationally. Ms. Mendoza was appointed to the Board of Regents by Governor Perry in 2011 and reappointed by Governor Greg Abbott in 2017. She served two terms as Vice Chairman of the Board from 2015 to 2019 and was elected Chairman of the Board on May 17, 2019.

MORE THAN A TROPHY...

Inspired by San Antonio Report’s efforts to unencumber students in order to have them rise to their full potential.

The ascending motion in the colors of the San Antonio Education Forum are representative of the students journey and ascension into success and fruition. The award’s design is meant to represent the twists and turns of a rising intellect into manifestation.

EDUCATION CHAMPION AWARD PAST WINNERS

PEDRO MARTINEZ

PATTI RADLE

Former Superintendent, San Antonio Independent School District

Board of Trustees San Antonio Independent School District

LAURA SALDIVAR LUNA Chief People Officer, Teach for America

MICHAEL BURKE

CHARLES BUTT

Founder, SA Regional PK-12 Public Education Forum

Raise Your Hand Texas

Chair, IDEA Public Schools

Charles Butt Foundation Holdsworth Center

TEACHER EXCELLENCE IN THE SAN ANTONIO REGION 2021 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award MICHELLE GRAJEDA Young Women’s Leadership Academy San Antonio

LEORA URIBE Harlandale Middle School San Antonio

2021 Award for Outstanding Early-Career Teaching Yvette Peña The International School of the Americas San Antonio

REGION 20 TEACHER OF THE YEAR 2022 The Texas State Teacher of the Year Program, sponsored by the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), honors excellence in classroom education and provides a forum to showcase many outstanding educators whose efforts and example inspire their students, their colleagues and the communities they serve.

Outstanding Nominees: AMBER PERSYN LaCoste Elementary Medina Valley ISD

ELIZABETH JASSON-GONZALES WENDY DYLLA Carrizo Springs Intermediate Watts Elementary Carrizo Springs Consol ISD SCUC ISD

LAUREN LANKFORD La Vernia H.S. La Vernia ISD

BRANDI SHEFFIELD Pecan Valley Elementary East Central ISD

ELIZABETH SANCHEZ Somerset Elementary Somerset ISD

ADRIANA ABUNDIS Lanier H.S. San Antonio ISD

SAMANTHA ARNOLD Southwest Legacy H.S. Southwest ISD

CHRISTINA LEAL Advanced Learning Academy San Antonio ISD

ELIZABETH SCOTT School of Tech Northwest Charter

JANNA CLEMENTS Captain Mark Tyler Voss M.S. Boerne ISD

THERESA HECKER Medina Valley H.S. Medina Valley ISD

DEBIE CONE Natalia Early Childhood Natalia ISD

KIMBERLY CHEVERTON La Vernia Elementary La Vernia ISD

JENNIFER SCHULZE-AGUIRRE Louis Brandeis H.S. Northside ISD

TOMMIE JACKSON AJ Briesemeister M.S. Seguin ISD

DEBORAH SEGOVIA-PATTERSON LISA BARRY Timberwilde Elementary Woodridge Elementary Northside ISD Alamo Heights ISD

KAREN VALLENTE Ed White M.S. Northeast ISD

DIANA MIRELES Bexar County Academy Charter School

KIMBERLY MOORE Corbett Junior High SCUC ISD

VANESSA KERR Royal Ridge Elementary Northeast ISD

“Great teachers empathize with kids, respect them, and believe that each one has something special that can be built upon.”

Ann Liberman

2020 H-E-B Excellence in Education Rising Star Winner The Rising Star Category recognizes exceptionally promising teachers with less than 10 years of experience.

GERARDO VILLEGAS JUAREZ Charles Graebner Elementary School San Antonio Independent School District

Photo: H-E-B

2021 TRINITY PRIZE IN TEACHING EXCELLENCE HONOREES Alamo Heights ISD Bryan Stanton Alamo Heights High School Theater

IDEA Public Schools Caitlin McCloskey IDEA South Flores College Preparatory IB, Theory of Knowledge grades 1 & 2

Comal ISD Jessica Watson Coleman Freiheit Elementary School Art

Judson ISD Bonnie Anderson Miller’s Point Elementary School Music Education

East Central ISD Riley Jones Legacy Middle School 8th Grade Algebra

Lackland ISD Danielle Rabidas Virginia Allred Stacy Junior & Senior HS High School Math

Edgewood ISD Ryan Mattis Winston Elementary 4th Grade

North East ISD Stephanie Carrier Churchill High School AP World History

Ft. Sam Houston ISD Francisco Serrata Robert G. Cole MS and HS Sports Medicine and Athletic Trainer

Northside ISD Gustavo Treviño Pat Neff Middle School 8th Grade Communication Applications

Harlandale ISD Annie Zoll Kingsborough Middle School 8th Grade Math

Randolph Field ISD Audra Mitchell Randolph Field Elementary School 1st Grade

San Antonio ISD Adriana Abundis Sidney Lanier High School Algebra, Dual Language Algebra and Mexican American Studies Somerset ISD Juan Dominguez Somerset Elementary School 4th Grade Southside ISD Israel Del Valle JJ Matthey Middle School 8th Grade Math Southwest ISD Christine Bendele Kriewald Road Elementary School 5th Grade Winston School San Antonio Brenda Lane The Winston School San Antonio Middle School Reading, Texas History, and American History

TEACHER EXODUS, FEWER REPLACEMENTS FUELING CRISIS IN SCHOOLS Brooke Crum - February 20, 2022

THE TIPPING POINT “We’ve seen a decline in the number of people considering teaching as a profession,” said Angela Breidenstein, coordinator of the master of arts in teaching program at Trinity University.

While enrollment numbers may increase after the pandemic, Breidenstein said getting teachers to stay has always been a concern for schools. The pandemic led some students to reconsider enrolling in a teacher preparation program because they worried their internships in virtual or hybrid learning environments would not adequately prepare them to teach on their own. They’re also worried about their health and safety, she said.

Student teacher Lilian De La Rosa interacts with students at the International School of the Americas where she teaches English through her program at Trinity University.

De La Rosa graduates in May and will pursue a career in teaching.Photo: Scott Ball

It wasn’t just one thing that drove former San Antonio Independent School District teacher Galen McQuillen away from public education after 15 years.

Like many teachers, he felt overwhelmed and overworked. He didn’t feel safe when he had to return to teaching in person during the pandemic, and he didn’t make enough money or have adequate health insurance to cover his wife’s medical bills when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Barring massive systemic change, it was time for me to get out,” he said.

McQuillen certainly isn’t alone. A recent survey by the Texas American Federation of Teachers of more than 3,800 school employees found that 66% considered leaving their jobs in the past year and just 12% of respondents felt safe at work during the January omicron surge.

But the struggle to attract and retain teachers started before the coronavirus pandemic closed classrooms in March 2020. About 8% of public school teachers in recent years left the profession annually, through retirement or attrition, according to a 2021 national survey of teachers by the RAND Corporation.

That issue is compounded by a shrinking pipeline of teachers.

Between 2006 and 2019, the number of education degrees awarded

by U.S. colleges and universities fell by 22%, despite a rise in overall graduates, The New York Times reported.

That was the tipping point for McQuillen. His wife underwent a double mastectomy in 2020, and her doctors said COVID-19 would be a death sentence for her. An art teacher, McQuillen petitioned SAISD to continue working from home, but he had to return to the classroom that November.

“The longer I was there, the more it felt like the safety protocols that we had in place were inadequate,” he said. “I spent most of my day walking around with this giant pole I had made with pool noodles on the end of it that was 6-feet long, trying to push kids away from each other.”

McQuillen considered staying with the district as an instructional specialist, a job that typically does not require classroom work.

But as more teachers have resigned or retired, school districts have tapped every available employee to substitute. Instead, he took a job with Capital One in project management, which allows him to work from home.

“I definitely have days right now in my new job where I just feel like laughing and this overwhelming sense of joy and relief,” McQuillen said. “And then I immediately feel extremely sad because, in order to get to where I feel safe in my life and safe in my future, I had to abandon the thing that I still feel the most passionate about.”

About half the public school teachers who quit after March 2020, but before their planned retirements, left because of COVID-19, according to the RAND Corporation report.

The pandemic exacerbated the already high levels of stress many teachers had before having to vacillate between virtual and inperson instruction. Teachers reported stress as the most common reason for quitting, almost twice as common as low pay, according to the survey.

“This pandemic has made us reexamine everything at all levels of education,” Breidenstein said. “People are saying we need to go back to normal, and we’re saying normal is not good enough, and it probably wasn’t good enough before to produce equitable outcomes for each and every kid.”

PREPARED AND UNDAUNTED COVID-19 hasn’t driven everyone away from education. For student teacher Lilian De La Rosa, the pandemic opened her eyes to the realities of teaching, but it never made her reconsider her career choice as a high school English teacher.

Even before the pandemic, teachers often didn’t have time to develop individualized lesson plans for students and provide them with one-on-one feedback, she said. Teachers have too many students and too little lesson-planning time to manage individual learning experiences.

“It definitely brought up concerns,” she said. “Is this worth giving up my safety for? I’m here, so it is.”

“That’s the kind of thing that I think keeps teachers up at night is ‘am I doing a good enough job?’” she said.

Lilian De La Rosa, who earns her master’s degree from Trinity’s graduate teacher program in May, is currently serving as a student teacher at the International School of the Americas. She will be placed at another school next month. Credit: Scott Ball / San Antonio Report

CAUGHT IN A CULTURE WAR Not only do teachers have staggering workloads and packed schedules, they also now contend with pandemic politics and a culture war over what’s taught in schools, Breidenstein said. She pointed to the ongoing legal battle between Gov. Greg Abbott and several school districts over whether the governor has the authority to stop districts from implementing mask mandates.

“It was dizzying what was happening week after week, between the governor and the superintendents and school districts,” she said.

Breidenstein said fewer students likely enrolled in Trinity’s graduate program because they were watching these political battles play out and “waiting to see what’s the right time to come dip my toe back in the water, if at all.”

A new state law restricting how race and racism are discussed in classrooms and battles over what books are available to students have further complicated educators’ jobs. McQuillen said the “eroding public faith in public education” and the “gutting” of the system by lawmakers also influenced his decision to quit teaching.

He worries how these policies will impact the education of his two kids.

“There’s a culture war going on in public schools right now, but there’s also this change in the theory of what public education is supposed to be,” he said. “We’ve lost sight of how pure and important it is.”

This politicization of public education led at least one North Texas superintendent to resign and coincided with the departure of eight others, the Texas Tribune reported.

But Breidenstein said these questions over what is taught in public schools are not new to educators. They carefully watch these conversations and consider what they mean for students.

“We have to continually examine why people have different ideas about what should be taught,” she said. “What are the expectations that families might have for the experiences that students have?

What are larger societal expectations?”

Student teacher Lilian De La Rosa interacts with students at the International School of the Americas on Friday.

De La Rosa will earn her master’s degree from Trinity’s graduate teacher program in May after spending a year observing and sharing teaching responsibilities with San Antonio teachers. She said the program, along with a virtual teaching fellowship she did over the summer, helped prepare her for leading her own classroom.

“We’re seeing some of the challenges that teachers face, times ten,” she said. “I told myself, ‘if I can handle things during the pandemic, then I think that really sets me up for success in the future.’”

Michael Fain, another Trinity graduate student, said he has gotten more comfortable teaching during the pandemic since he became fully vaccinated against COVID-19. He also wears an N95 mask to protect himself, but he understands why some teachers left, especially before vaccines were available.

“It could have been a death sentence for a lot of people,” he said.

Both Fain and De La Rosa said they were concerned about finding a work-life balance after they graduate, but they couldn’t see themselves doing anything else. Plus, they have their peers and mentors in the program to lean on for support in their classrooms.

“For me, it’s relationship building. I do not see myself sitting in an office and not interacting with anybody,” De La Rosa said. “I really thrive off of talking to people, and teenagers are so interesting.

They’re so fun. That’s how I decided what age I wanted to teach.”

Fain, who plans to teach music, also said the relationships he’s built with students and “seeing the light bulbs go off” when they learn a new musical concept keep him engaged in teaching.

“It makes me feel amazing when I can have that aha moment and see that happen in someone’s mind,” he said. “And even during the pandemic, that hasn’t changed. Students still have those moments.”

In Schools and Beyond This year, there are more students like Alina who need extra support whether they are learning in school or at home. At Communities In Schools, our trained professionals help ensure all kids have the same opportunity to succeed. We go wherever we’re needed to connect them with resources like supplies, technology, mentoring and counseling.

Learn how you can support students like Alina by visting cissa.org © 2020 Communities In Schools of San Antonio, Inc.

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TEA APPOINTS SAN ANTONIO AREA SUPERINTENDENTS TO TEACHER SHORTAGE TASK FORCE Brooke Crum - March 11, 2022 Toscano said Thursday that he hasn’t seen this level of teacher attrition since 2011, when the state Legislature cut $5.4 billion from the public education budget, forcing school districts to lay off thousands of teachers.

“In the last decade, there’s been declining opinion about the profession and educators, and that’s just weighed heavily on folks.

The demands of educators today are much greater than they were a decade ago and prior,” he said. “We’ve got a dilemma on our hands, and we’ve got to think about solving these challenges in ways we’ve never thought about.”

The superintendents of East Central and Comal Independent School Districts will be part of the Texas Education Agency’s new task force created to help districts across the state address staffing shortages that have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The TEA announced Thursday that East Central ISD Superintendent Roland Toscano and Comal ISD Superintendent Andrew Kim are part of the 28-member Teacher Vacancy Task Force, created at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott.

In a letter Tuesday to Education Commissioner Mike Morath, Abbott directed the agency to establish a task force of stakeholders and experts to investigate the challenges teacher shortages create for schools and find solutions to fill the increasing number of vacancies in districts, including the possibility of easing certification requirements for teachers. The task force also will develop policy change recommendations and provide feedback on initiatives to the agency.

“Teachers are the single most important school-based factor affecting student outcomes,” Morath said in a statement. “The Teacher Vacancy Task Force will further ensure our ability to provide the best guidance, support and resources to help schools find and retain the teachers they need for all their students.”

The task force will meet virtually every other month for the next year. While only two teachers are on the committee, the TEA plans to establish a designated teacher panel to garner more guidance and feedback from teachers across the state.

San Antonio school districts have struggled to find enough teachers, and they’re leaning on a dwindling pool of substitute teachers than ever before to temporarily fill those vacancies. Teachers are resigning or retiring, leaving behind retention bonuses, for health concerns or burnout. Districts have increased substitute pay rates to attract more qualified candidates, but many are retired teachers who don’t want to substitute on campuses where students aren’t wearing masks.

There are adjustments school districts can make immediately to alleviate teachers’ workloads, Toscano said, such as changing schedules and teaching assignments to better match teachers’ experience. But he doesn’t think that’s not going to solve the longterm problem.

“I think there’s some adaptive challenges that are much more complex that are causing teaching not to be the profession of choice for some of the most talented folks out there,” he said. “The rate at which folks are leaving the profession today far exceeds the rate at which they’re coming in, and we’ve got to think in a multi-pronged way about addressing this.”

Being on the committee will help expand Toscano’s perspective of staffing shortages, he said, although he is “cautiously optimistic” about the changes that could happen at the policy level. He also said he wished more than just two teachers were on the task force.

“The consensus of the group was we need a lot more teacher voice,” he said.

While she applauded the creation of the task force, Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina also said in a statement that she was disappointed the task force only included two teachers.

“The state leadership — beginning with the governor, who has repeatedly attacked teachers and public schools for much of the past year — must give teachers the respect they deserve and have earned as hard-working professionals, including during our deadly health emergency,” Molina said in the statement. “An important part of this respect is talking with teachers and listening to what they have to say.

“Who knows better about why there is a teacher shortage than real experts, the teachers themselves?” she said.

Texas American Federation of Teachers President Zeph Capo echoed the need for more teachers on the task force in a statement.

“Who knows better how to retain teachers than teachers who have been retained? This board should be full of them,” he said in the statement. “Superintendents and administrators may know the challenges of recruiting teachers, but the real input from teachers in the trenches about the stresses they face daily is essential.”

The Texas Education Agency will improve outcomes for all public school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.

LEADERSHIP

Mike Morath – Commissioner

DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS: Kelvey Oeser, Deputy Commissioner Educator Support Jennifer Alexander, Deputy Commissioner Special Populations Lily Laux, Deputy Commissioner School Programs

Melody Parrish, Deputy Commissioner Technology

Jeff Cottrill, Deputy Commissioner Governance Accountability

Von Byer, General Counsel

Megan Aghazadian, Deputy Commissioner Operations Mike Meyer, Deputy Commissioner Finance

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION LEADERS

For more information, visit: tea.texas.gov

Secretary Georgina C. Pérez

Ruben Cortez Jr.

Marisa B. Perez-Diaz

District 1

District 2

District 3

El Paso

Brownsville

Converse

Lawrence A. Allen Jr.

Rebecca Bell-Metereau

Will Hickman

District 4

District 5

District 6

Houston

San Marcos

Houston

Chair Matt Robinson

Audrey Young

Keven Ellis

District 7

District 8

District 9

Friendswood

Apple Springs

Lufkin

Chair Tom Maynard

Patricia Hardy

Pam Little

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Florence

Fort Worth

Fairview

Aicha Davis

Sue Melton-Malone

Jay Johnson

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Dallas

Robinson

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SAN ANTONIO SCHOOLS HIT BY HIGH ABSENTEEISM, COVID-19 CASES AMID OMICRON SURGE Brooke Crum - February 2, 2022

Students of NISD’s Joe Straus III Middle School arrive to school during the first week of the 2021-2022 school year. Photo by Scott Ball/San Antonio Report

Since coronavirus cases started climbing after winter break, Shelley Weber has kept her three sons home from school.

With an unvaccinated 4-year-old and other medical concerns in the family, Weber and her husband decided not to let the boys return to the classroom until the omicron variant has passed. She keeps up with the boys’ assignments, communicating often with their teachers in the San Antonio Independent School District, and carefully watches the Metro Health COVID-19 dashboard for a decline in cases.

“We’re hopeful they can return soon,” she said.

San Antonio school districts reported more than five times as many COVID-19 cases the week of Jan. 23, the most recent numbers available from the state and districts, than during the last week of August, when the delta variant caused cases and hospitalizations to peak. Those numbers are likely an undercount because not all districts report case data to the state or on their websites. The Texas Education Agency requires districts to report case data to the state.

Unlike in August, children ages 5 and up can now get vaccinated against the coronavirus. School officials hoped the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine for younger children would help boost dwindling enrollment and attendance since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, but the arrival of omicron seems to have derailed those hopes for now. In San Antonio’s largest school districts — Northside, North East and San Antonio ISDs — attendance rates sometimes sank below 80% in the weeks following winter break.

Before the pandemic, SAISD’s attendance rate historically hovered around 93%, but since March 2020, it has dipped below 89%, Deputy Superintendent Patti Salzmann said. Omicron has driven down attendance even further this month to 79%-80%, depending on the day.

Texas funds school districts primarily based on average daily attendance. During the 2020-21 school year, state officials agreed to fully fund districts, despite large drops in enrollment and attendance, based on the number of students who attended school before the pandemic. But the state has made no announcements regarding funding this school year.

In a statement, the TEA said it is closely monitoring the situation.

“Our agency is in regular contact with school system leaders across Texas, and supporting the needs of districts that are reporting challenges due to the omicron surge,” the agency said in the statement. “This includes exploring policies that will provide schools with additional assistance.”

Salzmann said some parents, like Weber, are afraid to bring their children to school because of the high COVID-19 positivity rate, which jumped to 22% in SAISD the second week of January from less than 1% the week of Dec. 11. The district conducts weekly testing at each campus and requires students and staff wear masks.

Patti Salzmann, deputy superintendent at SAISD works with a colleague in building out the 2022-2023 academic year calendar.

“Our goal is to ensure that our parents are aware that our environments are safe,” she said. “We have some of the tightest protocols of any district. We have continued to have a mask mandate.

We continue to provide masks to teachers.”

In Northside ISD, campus leaders got creative with covering classrooms they could not find a substitute for, including combining classes and assigning administrators or other campus staff to classrooms, spokesman Barry Perez said.

The district recently spent $75,000 to buy 250,000 KN95 masks for staff and students in grades 4-12. The SAISD teachers and support staff union celebrated the purchase.

If staffing problems persist, South San Antonio ISD could use student teachers as substitutes, said Chief Academic Officer Theresa Servellon. The district will use about $1 million of the $6 million grant it received from the state to help students recover academically from the pandemic to pay student teachers a yearly $25,000 stipend.

To Weber, SAISD has done a great job implementing COVID-19 protocols, such as the mask mandate. That’s not why she is keeping her boys at home. She said her family has been extremely cautious with omicron because her 4-year-old, Owen, can’t get vaccinated yet, and she is able to stay home with the kids right now.

Last semester, things were starting to feel normal, Weber said.

She sent her sons back to school after a year and a half of virtual instruction, which many districts did not offer this school year. The Texas Legislature passed a bill to fund virtual learning in late August — after school had started in most districts — but it excluded students who failed state standardized exams. SAISD has a virtual program for medically challenged students and their siblings and students who’ve experienced pandemic-related trauma.

With no virtual option for her students, Weber put her job search plans on hold again and kept the kids at home. She checks the Metro Health COVID-19 dashboard daily, writing each day’s case count on the calendar.

“It’s been a long two years, and I’m ready for this to be over,” she said.

But students aren’t the only ones missing school. Districts already struggling to find enough employees have been scrambling to find substitutes to cover classrooms after hundreds of teachers and other staff members were absent.

South San has partnered with Texas A&M University-San Antonio to provide student teachers with classroom experience and a mentor teacher. This partnership also could provide the district with a pipeline of new teachers once they complete their degrees, Servellon said.

“Research shows that teachers that go through a strong teacher program that includes internship components stay in the profession longer and do better their first year when they go in and have their own classroom,” she said.

School districts have also tried asking parents to substitute and increasing substitute pay rates to attract more candidates. Salzmann said she thinks the higher pay rates have helped SAISD recruit substitutes; Friday she received no requests for staff to cover unfilled substitute positions.

In addition, SAISD staff has built relationships with people in the community who may not be looking for work but are willing to answer a call to substitute at their local schools, Salzmann said. The district hears from substitutes who only want to serve at certain schools to help their communities, and that’s never happened before.

“It builds a very strong partnership between the schools and their communities,” she said.

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN SAN ANTONIO Ensure that every child dramatically improves their educational success in school, college and career within Bexar County. Convene and facilitate educational enhancing efforts to inspire and prepare our families and students for success.

Elaine Mendoza – Chair Bartell Zachry – Founding Chair Ryan Lugalia-Hollon – Executive Director Trinity Principal Leadership and Fellows Program – An innovative and intensive preparation that equips candidates with the transformational leadership skills required of successful educational leaders today.

Prepares instructional leaders to take on the challenges of urban school leadership.

Angela Breidenstein, Ed.D. – Interim Chair, Department of Education Working to attract the nation’s best public charter schools to San Antonio. Our mission is to ensure that every family has access to exceptional, tuition-free public education options.

Tom Torkelson – CEO Steve Lewis – Chair Teach For America corps members and alumni are helping lead an educational revolution in low-income communities across the country.

Nick Garcia – San Antonio Executive Director

Our mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.

Jessica Weaver – CEO Establishes a positive trajectory for educational attainment by providing a child with a complete experience that ensures academic excellence in school inspiring students to develop love for learning & to become contributing members of society.

Dr. Sarah Baray – CEO Led by 16 San Antonio-area Independent School Districts and cochaired by Kim Lubel, CEO of CST Brands, Lowell Tacker, Principal at LPA, Inc. and David Crouch, Vice President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, Go Public is inspiring people across the region to take a step back and celebrate the positive and sustained impact public schools make on all of us. All residents– whether they have kids in school or not – have reasons to love and support our public schools.

Lisa Losasso Jackson – Executive Director We are a community of youth development leaders. Our members provide out-of-school Time (OST) services to young people and their families.

Working together, our goal is to make San Antonio the top U.S. city for youth to learn, grow, and thrive.

Ryan Lugalia – Hollon – Program Director

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN SAN ANTONIO The Witte Museum is where nature, science and culture meet to inspire people to shape the future of Texas through relevant and transformative experiences. Lifelong learning is experienced through daily demonstrations and immersive exhibitions, and through powerful partnerships. The Witte is a place that engenders a future where all people have the opportunity to create an extraordinary life.

The experience will inspire the youth of today to discover scientific and technical principles relevant to their everyday lives. Students will learn about careers in science that they might never have considered.

Ultimately, they will come away with the feeling that “science is cool!” and “I can be an aeronautical engineer, neurologist or an electrical engineer!”

Bonnie Baskin – Founder, CEO

Marise McDermott – President & CEO San Antonio’s only museum just for children where kids learn by doing, creating and tinkering—instead of just looking and listening. As an institution committed to fostering a lifelong love of learning among children. The DoSeum offers a diverse array of programs for children ages 0-10.

Daniel Menelly – CEO Educational Services KLRN is the Emmy-Award winning Public Television station for South Central Texas broadcasting to a 30-county radius. The mission of KLRN is to use the power of communications to provide quality programs and services which advance education, culture and community, to enrich the lives of people throughout our community. It is its “beyond television” strategy that forms KLRN’s educational outreach model — to prepare children for kindergarten and academic success and to impact the quality of care.

Arthur Emerson – CEO Ensuring aspiring educators are, “Ready from Day One,” by providing >120 hours of field residency experiences.

The College of Education and Human Development offers 10 distinct Master’s degree programs including a Masters in Early Childhood Education. All of our programs blend theory with practical experiences so that our graduates are well prepared to be highly effective educational leaders.

Carl J. Sheperis, Ph.D. – Dean College of Education & Human Development

IDEA is one the highest performing charter school networks in Texas. Founded in the Rio Grande Valley 15 years ago, IDEA has successfully pursued it mission to make college for all children a reality.

JoAnn Gama – CEO Rolando Posada – Executive Director, San Antonio­ Great Hearts is a nonprofit classical K-12 public charter school network committed to academic excellence and moral formation. We operate high-performing schools staffed by exemplary teachers and founded upon the classical ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty. Our students are prepared for success in higher education and to be leaders in creating a more philosophical, humane, and just society. Visit www.greatheartsamerica.org to learn more.

Jay Heiler – CEO and Board President Dan Scoggin – Texas Superintendent

Promotes the literacy skills of San Antonio’s at-risk youth using SAYL Reading Buddies Program, an early intervention program. SAYL trains volunteers to work one-on-one with elementary school children who are reading below grade level.

Deborah L. Valdez, Ed.D. – Executive Director

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN SAN ANTONIO KIPP Texas Public Schools is an open-enrollment public tuition-free charter school network of 52 schools educating more than 27,000 Pre-K-12 students across the state, including San Antonio where there are six schools and more than 3,534 students. We believe that all children, irrespective of zip code or income level, has a right to an exemplary education, so the focus at KIPP Texas is educating students with the academic and character skills necessary to thrive in and graduate from college, positively impact their communities, and lead choice-filled lives.

Sehba Ali – Chief Executive Officer Allen Smith – SA Regional Superintendent College Advising Corps works to increase the number of firstgeneration college going, lowincome, and/or underrepresented students who apply, enter, and complete college. CAC, with its partner universities, places well-trained recent college graduates as full-time college advisers in underserved high schools. We believe that every student deserves the opportunity to enter and complete higher education.

Began in 2001 with a mission to inform high school students of STEM careers driven by industry. Students are exposed to high demand career pathways through a hands-on curriculum to make better decisions on their educational and career plans. Academies: Advanced Technology & Manufacturing, Aerospace, Diesel Technology, Health Professionals, Information Technology & Security, The Academies Mission.

Katherine Sanchez-Rocha – Executive Director Led by United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, Eastside Promise Neighborhood is a collaborative efforts impacting San Antonio’s east side. Inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone and funded by the U.S. Department of Education, it focuses on achieving results on Ten Promises to the community, all focused on improving education opportunities for youth and strengthening families and the neighborhood.

Mike Etienne, Ph.D. – Director

Nicole Hurd – Founder and CEO The mission is to promote excellence in education for all students in Bexar County by improving the governance and collaboration among the 20 ISDs wholly or partially in Bexar County, Texas. Major goals are: Improve Governance; Identify Common Legislative Priorities; Collaborate on Areas of Commonality Robert Blount, Jr. – President

Goal is to close the college graduation gap for San Antonio by helping its students graduate from high school, enroll in college, and earn a college degree and/or certificate. The Partnership delivers its key services each year through three programs: Road to Success, the San Antonio Education Partnership Scholarship and cafécollege.

Lisa Cunningham – Executive Director

City Year helps bridge the gap between what students need to succeed and how public schools are designed and resourced. As fulltime, near-peer tutors, mentors, and role models, City Year AmeriCorps members tutor students one-on-one, provide in-class academic and behavior support, and organize school-wide initiatives to improve school culture proven to move highpotential students back on track to graduation.

Kelly Hughes Burton – VP and Executive Director

San Antonio Public Library’s early literacy program, designed to support the development of young children’s love of books, reading and learning. Services are provided free of charge at public libraries, childcare facilities, schools and community-based organizations.

Cresencia Huff – Manager

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN SAN ANTONIO MISSION: To empower students to achieve at globally competitive levels with our transformative K-12 academic program. BASIS schools offer students something no other American public school does: An education that prepares them according to the highest, most rigorous international standards. Our schools have been ranked consistently among the best schools in the United States—and the world. The BASIS Primary School academic program includes humanities, math, science, Mandarin, art, music, drama, and physical education. The Upper School, which serves grades 8-12, offers an accelerated science and liberal arts program. New schools are in the Medical Center and North Central San Antonio.

Dr. Peter Bezanson – CEO The Alamo Academies is a national award winning, innovative, STEM-based instructional model operated by the Alamo Area Academies Inc., a non-profit organization, in partnership with the Alamo Colleges, San Antonio area high schools, industry and the cities of San Antonio, New Braunfels and Seguin providing America’s youth with tuition-free career pathways into critical demand technical STEM occupations.

Gene Bowman – Executive Director Girls Inc. of San Antonio works to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. The organization equips girls to navigate gender, economic, and social barriers to grow up healthy, educated, and independent. Girls build confidence and embrace positive decision-making to take charge of their health and wellbeing, and to achieve academic, personal, and career goals.

Provides comprehensive out-of-school programs that keep children safe and help them achieve in school and life.

Focused on developing skills in one of more of the following areas: Technology, Education, Life Skills, Sports, Culture.

More than 3,000 children from Bexar County have participated in 50 different programs since its launch.

Dr. Patricia Karam – Executive Director For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country. We develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people.

Denise Barkhurst – CEO Academica is one of the nation’s longest-serving and most successful education service organizations, providing professional services and related support to nearly 150 public charter schools. A pioneer in the charter school movement, Academica was founded in 1999 on the principle that each school of choice is a unique educational environment governed by an independent Board of Directors best qualified to forge its path to student success.

Fernando Zulueta – CEO

Stephanie J. Hull, Ph.D. – President & CEO The Scobee Education Center aims to carry on the Space Shuttle Challenger crews educational mission – to spark interest and joy in science, technology, engineering and math. The Scobee Education Center is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and adults alike by fostering a love of science and astronomy through hands-on and minds-on experiential education.

Richard Varner – Director

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN SAN ANTONIO A grassroots movement that promotes, supports and celebrates San Antonio’s commitment to be a world-class compassionate city: one where the civic government, the religious and volunteer organizations, the businesses, the community and its educational institutions come together to recognize the importance and value of compassion in the life of a city and by doing so create an ethos of compassion and a safety net for its most vulnerable citizens.

Dr. Ann Helmke – Executive Director A community challenge started by President Obama encouraging city leaders, including SA Mayor Ivy R. Taylor, to implement a coherent life-impact strategy. This national initiative is designed to help boys and men of color reach their full potential regardless of life’s circumstances.

Locally, MBKSA will coordinate with other strategies that connect youth with opportunity and help young people build healthy relationships with themselves, their families and their community.

Former Mayor Ivy Taylor & Dr. Mike Etienne – Co-Chairs of Steering Committee Texas Aquatic Science is a pathway for water science education providing educators a complete curricula and teaching guide aligned with TEKS and integrated with experiential place based field sites, mobile and interactive technologies, and comprehensive on-line teaching options. Developed

by Meadows Center for Water and Environment, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. Originated through funding by the Ewing Halsell Foundation. Texasaquaticscience.org Dr. Rudy Rosen – Project Director.

CAST Tech High School, opening in August 2017, will be a career-themed school focusing on coding, cyber security, gaming, entrepreneurship, business and more. Located near the city’s downtown Tech District on the Fox Tech campus, the school will work hand-in-hand with industry partners to prepare students for careers in technology and business, where the demand is high for skilled workers.

Ericka Olivarez – Principal Education Service Center, Region 20 is one of 20 regional education service agencies within Texas which assist school districts in improving student performance and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of school operations. A non-regulatory agency; our relationship with school districts is collaborative and supportive.

Provide an array of programs and services in the areas of administration, business support, certification and recruitment, curriculum, instruction and assessment, health and safety, professional development, specialized services and technology.

Dr. Jeff Goldhorn – Executive Director A county wide Community of Practice with a commitment to provide STEM/STEAM experiences for all students with a focus on students traditionally underrepresented in STEM/STEAM. SABSSE establishes and articulates Early Learning to Middle School STEM/STEAM Pathways of learning experiences and will disaggregate the High School Graduation Rates to include STEM Endorsement, 21st Century skills, and other metrics for measuring the impact of SABSSE. Dr. Paul Reyna – Executive Director

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN SAN ANTONIO Our mission is to empower families to engage in a marketplace of schools — that is, to understand their school options and choose the right school for their child. We do this by providing families with tools and resources for selecting a school and helping them navigate the application process to get there. We do not advocate for any one schooling option over the other.

Colleen Dippel – Founder & CEO Democracy Prep Texas, currently running a dual language elementary school in partnership with SAISD, is expanding to serve students in middle school for the 2019 – 2020 school year. Democracy Prep is a national charter organization that puts students on a path to college graduation and a life of active citizenship.

Virginia Silva - Founding Principal

Relay Lab Schools, a new, non-profit schools management organization working in close partnership with urban public school districts around the country, manages neighborhood schools that prepare all kids to enter, succeed in, and graduate from college. Relay Lab Schools Texas currently manages two neighborhood elementary/ middle schools on the West Side of San Antonio.

Learn more about us—and discover how to join our growing team of educators and entrepreneurs—at www. relaylabschools.org.

Chris Fraser – Executive Director

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4/15/22 10:58 AM

SCHOOL DISTRICTS EXPECTING FINANCIAL HIT BECAUSE OF LOW ATTENDANCE TO GET FUNDING RELIEF Brooke Crum - March 30, 2022

Students of NISD’s Joe Straus III Middle School arrive to school during the first week of the 2021-2022 school year. Photo by Scott Ball/San Antonio Report

San Antonio school leaders welcomed the news Tuesday that the state would provide funding relief for low attendance days, but many called on officials to do more, as attendance problems will continue to plague districts.

Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency notified school districts Tuesday that they would be able to drop low attendance days in the first four six-week periods of the school year from their funding formulas. The state primarily funds districts based on their average daily attendance rates.

— Northside, North East and San Antonio ISDs — attendance rates sometimes sank below 80% in the weeks following winter break.

During the 2020-21 school year, state officials agreed to fully fund districts, despite large drops in enrollment and attendance, based on the number of students who attended school before the pandemic. The funding aid announced Tuesday stops short of covering the entire 2021-22 school year by 12 weeks.

This adjustment will help districts recoup some state funds that would have been lost due to below-average attendance rates following two coronavirus surges, but it won’t help districts during the last two six-week attendance periods remaining in the school year.

“What happened when people got sent home is some really just got out of the habit (of going to school), so we’ve got to break that cycle and try to emphasize school is important, which we’ve been doing for a long time,” Woods said. “But the state has to recognize that as long as COVID is a reality in communities, there will be a fear of large, in-person gatherings, and some parents really have that concern.”

“I think if you asked any superintendent anywhere, they would tell you they don’t think this is going to magically end at that point,” said Brian Woods, superintendent of Northside Independent School District, San Antonio’s largest district.

Interim San Antonio ISD Superintendent Robert Jaklich said in a statement that while he appreciated the funding adjustment for the first 24 weeks of the school year, there are still several weeks left and schools continue to see decreased attendance rates.

Since the onset of the pandemic and subsequent shuttering of classrooms for months, school districts have struggled to get all their students back, whether or not there was a spike in COVID-19 cases, Woods said. Schools saw attendance rates drop to their lowest in January, when the omicron variant drove up coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. In San Antonio’s largest school districts

“It is our hope that the state will also consider revisiting these challenges of the last two grading periods and provide the necessary funding adjustments, as needed,” he said.

North East ISD Superintendent Sean Maika also expressed similar cautious optimism in a statement.

“At this point, it’s too early to know all the details and exactly how much relief we will see,” he said. “But we are definitely encouraged that the TEA is looking at ways to ensure schools have muchneeded funding.”

Earlier this month, House Public Education Committee Chairman Harold Dutton and his fellow committee members sent a letter to Abbott and Education Commissioner Mike Morath, calling for funding help for schools. They noted that average daily attendance hovered around 95.4% before the pandemic but has fallen as low as 70% for some districts since winter break.

The committee members suggested the state use attendance figures from the 2018-19 school year to fund districts this school year. Instead, the TEA will use 2019-20 attendance rates to fund districts if their levels fell below those from two years prior.

“In recent years, the Texas Legislature has taken steps both to significantly increase funding for Texas public schools, and also to focus the structure of the finance system firmly on the needs of our students,” Morath said in a statement. “This adjustment further accounts for COVID-19-related learning disruptions, and is yet another way we’re prioritizing the needs of our state’s teachers and students.”

In February, Northside ISD amended its budget to reflect a revenue decrease of about $22 million, Woods said. The district’s average attendance rate is about 1.8% lower than it was in spring 2019.

More than 100,000 students attend Northside ISD. “That’s replicated everywhere in the state,” he said. “My rural colleagues that I talked to seem to be experiencing the same thing; in some cases, worse.”

Southside ISD, a more rural district with about 5,600 students, saw attendance sink below 75% on some days during this school year, Superintendent Rolando Ramirez said. Before the pandemic, the district averaged between 93% and 95% attendance each day.

Ramirez said without this funding assistance from the state, Southside ISD would be facing a budget shortfall for next school year. As it stands, the district would have lost about $2.2 million in state revenue this school year without the aid, and while Ramirez would have liked for the entire school year to be covered, he said attendance has gradually improved since winter.

“We’ll take any kind of help,” he said.

IMPORTANT EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS IN SAN ANTONIO Empowering individuals and families to transform their lives and strengthen their community. The programs support positive family values, respect the changing role of the family, and assist children, seniors, and families to deal effectively with problems and challenges.

Mary E. Garr – President/CEO Provides Out-of-School-Time (OST) programming that develops the character, strengths, talents, and skills of San Antonio’s highrisk urban youth through safe experiences, positive learning environments, and holistic programing that inspire each child to fulfill their potential.

Founded in 1984 as a solution to a large number of youth congregating around downtown San Antonio with nowhere to go after school.

Asia Ciaravino – President & CEO Delivers innovative family education and support services to under-served families, using a two-generation model focused on parental engagement and education. We provide quality education for 1,500 children from birth to age four, as well as family services that directly impact children’s development while assisting parents in achieving their own educational and professional goals.

Susan Steves Thompson – Executive Director As the only Children’s Advocacy Center in Bexar County, we provide expert care and specialized services to children who have been traumatized by abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse.

Last year, Bexar County, which encompasses San Antonio, had the 4th highest rate of reported child abuse cases in Texas. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday; almost one-third are not old enough to attend kindergarten.

Kim Abernethy – President/CEO

Provides family & community education and developmental services to children with disabilities or delays empowering them to achieve their individual potential making them successful in every community. We set a strong foundation for children of ALL abilities through early childhood intervention, early childhood education and special education support.

Kim Jefferies – CEO A coalition of organizations across Bexar County that builds on successful child and family programs in San Antonio. The purpose is twofold: 1. Create a comprehensive early childhood system that promotes the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of children 0-8. 2.

Provide parents and caregivers with tools & resources to better support their families

Voices identifies critical issues that impact child well-being in San Antonio/ Bexar County and collaborates with local and state organizations to improve programs, practices and policy. Voices partners with over 200 organizations on its various initiatives in focus areas of Early Care and Education, Child Abuse/ Neglect and Children’s Health and Mental Health. Working with City and State government and leaders, as well as with the health, education and human service sectors, Voices for Children continues to keep the wellbeing and the future of children at the forefront.

Dr. Kathleen A. Fletcher – President/CEO

St. Peter-St. Joseph Children’s Home is a social service agency operating under the Archdiocese of San Antonio as an independent 501(c)3 non-profit. The mission of St. PJ’s is to be a safe and loving refuge for children in crisis and to accompany them on their journey to healing and wholeness, breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect one child at a time.

Gladys Gonzalez – Executive Director

Boysville provides a safe family environment for children in need so they may become responsible adults. Our campus is designed to help children in crisis who cannot remain in their own home for a variety of reasons. Our children come from homes that are in crisis. By providing food, shelter, clothing and medical services, we are able to provide the basic necessities needed to make the child feel safe and comfortable. We encourage a goof education leading to college, trade or military options. Options that previously seemed like a dream.

Paula Tucker – CEO

Rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as a healer, we commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Our Catholic health ministry is dedicated to spirituality centered, holistic care, which sustains and improves the health of individuals and communities. We are advocates for a compassionate and just society through our actions and words.

At St. Paul Enrichment Center, our first priority is providing a nurturing environment where children’s physical needs are met and they feel emotionally secure.

With that foundation, we can offer.

Since 1982, our mission has been to provide high quality, nationally recognized care that fosters the physical, social, language and cognitive development. We value St. Paul Child healthy relationships with each Enrichment Center child’s family and celebrate the diversity of our families and staff.

Provides a safe, stimulating and nurturing environment where young children can develop age appropriate cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills while simultaneously assimilating the language and culture of Latin America.

Dr. Hugo F. Carvajal – Executive Director Susan Carvajal - Founder Krisana Puccio - Founder

A catalyst for change, supporting individuals and families by providing excellent community services to overcome the impact of poverty. These services include a child development program, afterschool and summer youth enrichment programs, a college readiness program, and family services.

Simon Salas – CEO

IMPORTANT EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS IN SAN ANTONIO Discovery School is a private, nonprofit, nationally accredited multi-denominational preschool governed by a volunteer Parent Board of Directors. To supplement tuition and fees, it maximizes parent participation and fundraising. Offers the highest quality preschool education, employs early childhood specialists, and strives to keep its tuition affordable to a wide community base, as well as offering a scholarship program to assist families in need.

The mission of the Blessed Sacrament Academy Child Development Center is to build the community through Christian programs that develop family success one child at a time. Parents’ Academy exists to empower parents with positive parenting skills that reduce family stress and build family success. Por Vida Academy Charter High School supports success through education by providing our students an innovative educational experience, preparing students for life beyond high school.

Sister Odilia Korenek – Executive Director

Mary Stanchak – Director Seton Home works to break the cycle of abuse and poverty by providing a caring home, education, and support services necessary to transform the lives of pregnant and parenting teen mothers and their children.

We are a multi-purpose service agency offering affordable day care, parenting classes, youth and family services including after school and summer youth programs, assistance to individuals and families in crisis of food, clothing, and utilities assistance, senior nutrition, senior activities and volunteer income tax assistance programs.

Dr. Linda D. Cherry – Chief Executive Officer

Gladys Gonzalez – Executive Director The mission of Healy-Murphy Center is to provide compassionate service to youth-in-crisis by focusing on individualized education in a nontraditional setting, early childhood development and essential support services.

Douglas J. Watson – Executive Director

We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.

Bill Mollison

The Children’s Shelter is a private, nationally accredited nonprofit corporation. Since 1901, we have provided a safe haven for child survivors of abuse, neglect, and abandonment in San Antonio and Bexar County. Today, The Children’s Shelter is a trauma-informed care certified organization that provides a continuity of care through an array of a family of services.

Annette Rodriguez - President and CEO India Chumney – Executive Director

The Department of Human Services (DHS) offers a range of programs and services to provide high quality early childhood education, child care assistance, and after school programming for children and families in the San Antonio and Bexar County community. These services, in conjunction with other community programming, assist in ensuring a consistency in the level of access, quality of services, and continuum of care in the overall community.

Serves families who live in the most economically distressed census tract in San Antonio. Consider these stark numbers: 92 % economically disadvantaged, 70% students academically at risk, 41% adults didn’t graduate high school Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary and San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and his wife, former Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros founded American Sunrise in 2001 in an effort to address these needs and help families lift themselves into more prosperous lives.

The Learning Center provides: After school tutoring; a nutritious meal; Certified teachers and student teachers to equip our young people with the skills they need to succeed in school and throughout their lives.

Verlyn Maldonado – Executive Director

Photo courtesy of KIPP SA

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EXCERPT FROM SA DIGITAL CONNECTS: SAN ANTONIO AND GREATER BEXAR COUNTY COMMUNITY DIGITAL EQUITY PLAN AND ROADMAP Overview of the FCC's ~$7B Emergency Connectivity Fund to be distributed through the E-Rate mechanism First window of applications will apply for purchases for the coming school year (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022) with a second window to reimburse past invoices since the beginning of school closures (March 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021)1 Who is eligible?

What can be purchased?

How do I apply?

San Antonio and Greater Bexar County Community Digital Equity Plan and Roadmap

All E-Rate eligible K-12 schools, libraries, and consortia who made purchases to meet the remote learning needs (e.g., in-home Wi-Fi, loanable devices) of students, staff, and library patrons E-Rate excludes for-profit schools and schools with endowments valued at over $50M

Reasonable support amounts in line with typical solution costs: • $400 reimbursement for devices • $250 reimbursement for hotspot • $10-$25 monthly internet service • Cost of modems & routers (amount under USAC discretion) Schools / libraries can fully cover (vs. the 20-90% E-Rate discount) device and service purchases that support remote learning, excluding the purchase of mobile phones or the building of new networks2

Initiative Details: Education Sponsored

Schools and libraries will apply using the existing E-Rate application Schools must certify that they are only seeking support for students / staff who would otherwise lack devices or broadband sufficient to engage in remote learning Libraries must provide patrons with eligible use policies moving forward, which explains that equipment is for those without access to services sufficient for educational needs

August 2021

Operation Connectivity has stood up a program to support all Texas ISDs through the ECF application 1. If it appears that demand far exceeds supply in the initial window, the FCC may open a second “prospective” window for the coming school year before opening an application window for reimbursements; 2. Network construction is eligible only if no commercially available Internet access service for purchase is available to reach students, school staff, and library patrons in their homes

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“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Nelson Mandela

TIPS TO HELP YOUR STUDENT STAY FOCUSED VARY THE ACTIVITIES While some second graders may be able to stay engaged and read book after book during a session, many will most likely lose interest or get fatigued after reading one or two books. Use the supplemental activities in the trunk: sight word bingo, word work on the whiteboard, summarizing strategies, to break up session and sustain interest and focus.

Consider the order in which you present activities as well. Some students may benefit from a higher energy activity first to build up excitement and motivation, while for others it may be hard for them to refocus and so it may be better to save these activities for the end of sessions.

USE A TIMER For many students knowing exactly how long they need to stay focused for will help keep them on task. Phones are okay to bring out for this purpose. You can turn it on airplane mode if you are worried about texts or emails popping up. Set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes and let the child

PICK A LOCATION TO MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS Tutoring spaces vary from school to school depending on school staff preferences as well as real constraints on available space on campus. However, sometimes making even small changes in location can help to minimize distractions for the student like: moving a table a few feet farther from a neighboring reading buddy or seating the child so they are facing away from the hallway where a class is taking a bathroom break.

LET KIDS GET THEIR “WIGGLES” OUT Some kids are fidgety and need to move. One way to help such students is to give them a short time before you start or as a break in the middle of a session to move around, you can have them do exercises in place e.g. jumping jacks, running in place, hopping on one foot, or a quick game of “Simon Says.”

Another great way to get the wiggles out is to incorporate movement into the learning. Have students jump tall or squat down low to practice short and long vowels, or let students think of a gesture for different characters in the story and do that gesture every time they read that character’s name. There are lots of possibilities, get creative or use the power of Google for more ideas.

know what exactly they will be doing during that time as well as what they will get to do when the timer goes off. When the timer goes off this is the perfect time to utilize a “Get Your Wiggles Out” activity.

Set a timer for this “Brain Break” for 2 to 3 minutes and then when it goes off it is time to continue reading. Repeat this cycle to keep your student focused and on task.

SHOW CHILDREN HOW TO FOCUS The ability to focus is an important skill to have for success in many arenas in life, however, like other skills it has to be learned and practiced over time. Some students may need more explicit guidance about what focused behavior looks like.

You may want to review with them what you do to be focused: look at the page or the speaker, sit up tall, and think about the words you are reading or the question you are answering.

Focusing is not so much a matter of repressing surplus energy, but rather re-directing that energy into the task at hand. You can model productive use of energy by reading with excitement and dramatization, and encouraging the student to do so as well.

Interactions with kids using high affect will help make sessions more enjoyable and engaging.

A final thought to consider about fidgeting is whether it is helping aid concentration or keeping the child from focusing. If a child is bouncing in their seat, but is still actively participating and not getting distracted it may be that fidgeting is helping them focus and should not be discouraged.

Article Courtesy of San Antonio Youth Literacy

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SAN ANTONIO ISD DATA SHOWS STUDENT ACADEMIC RECOVERY FROM PANDEMIC-RELATED LEARNING LOSS Brooke Crum - February 24, 2022

San Antonio Independent School District students either performed better on midyear progress tests or didn’t lose as much academic ground since the beginning of the school year as they did last year, school officials said.

On reading tests, 47% of SAISD students tested at the national average or above for their grade levels, down from 52% in the fall and 50% in 2020-21. In math, 41% of students tested at the national average or above, up from 38% in the fall and 40% last year.

Students in grades 3-8 performed better overall on midyear math assessments, compared to last school year and in the fall, said Theresa Urrabazo, senior executive director for Data Operations and Services, during a school board meeting this week. On reading, students in those same grades performed slightly worse on reading tests, compared to their performance in the fall and last school year.

Moreover, Urrabazo said, the national averages for student performance on these academic progress tests reflect student scores from pre-pandemic years, so evaluating students based on those metrics after years of virtual instruction is not entirely accurate.

SAISD also tested 4-year-old pre-K students, more of whom performed better on math and reading assessments than last school year, Urrabazo said. About 72% of pre-K students tested on track for reading, up from 65% in 2020-21, and 82% were on track for math, compared to 77% last school year.

Urrabazo said the test scores demonstrate students’ ability to gain academic ground from the beginning of the school year to the middle. But when comparing the scores to last year’s results, she emphasized that it was important to note how long students had been learning remotely when they tested last school year.

“It can’t be apples to apples, when one year we were remote, [because] you still have the impact of that remote instruction,” she said.

Across grades 3-8, students performed worse on reading assessments taken at the beginning of this school year than in the 2020-21 school year, but they showed more improvement by the time students tested again in January. In math, students showed improvement from the beginning of the school year to the middle, unlike last school year.

“Growth has never been more important than it is this year, to demonstrate growth, individual student level growth,” she said.

“We need to bounce back so we can close the gap that we saw because of COVID.” Complicating the measure of academic progress, interim Superintendent Robert Jaklich said SAISD saw staggering numbers of student and staff absences in January, when the progress assessments were taken, because of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“From July to December, we had 3,000 positive cases of COVID across the district. But in the month of January, we had 8,200, and out of 8,200, we had 7,100 student [cases],” he said. “It was a very difficult time to gather data.”

Jaklich added that he expected the district to get a better picture of students’ academic recovery toward the end of the school year.

Pre-K students who attended SAISD as 3-year-olds performed significantly better on the progress tests than 4-year-old students who are new to the district, Urrabazo said. About 85% of 4-year-olds who previously attended SAISD tested on track for math compared to 79% who are new to the district. In reading, 75% of 4-year-olds who attended pre-K the previous year were on track compared to 69% who are new to SAISD. Pre-K students took different academic progress tests than kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

Excluding pre-K students, the academic progress tests are good predictions for how students will perform on state standardized exams administered in the spring, Urrabazo said. The tests showed that more students in grades 3-8 would perform better on the reading standardized exams than on the math, but the results vary by grade level.

For example, progress test results predicted that 45% of third graders would pass the reading standardized exams, and 42% did, Urrabazo said. In seventh grade, the tests predicted about 62% of students would pass the reading standardized exams, and roughly 50% did.

“We’re continuing to look at that information to see how well the data predicts,” she said.

State Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) wrote a letter last month to Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, calling for the officials to “take all necessary action” to cancel the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) again this year. Beto O’Rourke, Democratic candidate for governor, also called for the exams to be canceled. Both said the STAAR puts unnecessary pressure on students and teachers during the pandemic.

“It would be irresponsible to place our students and education communities in harm’s way during this pandemic using a system that has repeatedly only set our children and schools up for failure,” Menéndez wrote in the letter.

In 2020, state and federal officials canceled the standardized exams, which are required under federal law. But officials have not made any announcements about possibly waiving testing requirements this year.

IMPORTANT EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS IN TEXAS The Texas Early Learning Council serves as Texas’ State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care as required by the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007. Members of the Council are appointed by the Governor of Texas.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) works with communities to promote safe and healthy families and protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. We do this through investigations, services and referrals, and prevention programs.

The Family Connects Texas program supports parents by linking nurses, community resources, and families.

Our mission is to connect you with resources that nurture your whole family and support your child. It’s about planting seeds for the future. Together, we’re growing healthy babies!

Nurse-Family Partnership empowers first-time moms to transform their lives and create better futures for themselves and their babies.

The Children’s Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

Over more than four decades, research consistently has proven that Nurse-Family Partnership succeeds at its most important goals: keeping children healthy and safe, and improving the lives of moms and babies.

Nurse-Family Partnership works by having specially trained nurses regularly visit young, first-time moms-to-be, starting early in the pregnancy, and continuing through the child’s second birthday.

Bharti Wahi - Executive Director Emily Gardner – Co-acting National Executive Director and Communications Director Parents as Teachers builds strong communities, thriving families and children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn by matching parents and caregivers with trained professionals who make regular personal home visits during a child’s earliest years in life, from prenatal through kindergarten.

Constance Gully - President & CEO

A broad-based coalition of business, civic, education, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations and volunteers, working together to raise awareness about, and advocate for, the importance of high- quality early education for a strong economy tomorrow. Early Matters leaders continuously advocate for increased financial resources allocated to this critical, high return-on-investment area.

In partnership with Early Matters Houston and Early Matters Austin, we work to align efforts to advocate for the children in Texas – 1 of 3 of whom live in our three regions.

Founder – Regen Fearon Kimberly Manns – Executive Director

Advocates for public policy and funding that increases access to high quality early learning programs as a wise investment of public dollars with a strong return on the investment. At both a state and local level we support policies that promote both higher quality and efficiency for high quality full day early childhood education programs (including both PreK and child care).

Seeks to establish the Greater Austin area as a region positioned to incubate, pilot, and scale innovative solutions to challenges of access and affordability in the early childhood sector. Works collaboratively with representatives from the business, health, education and philanthropic sector to create an early childhood innovation hub in Greater Austin. From a business perspective, this will help ensure that public investments are well-managed, coordinated, and resources are invested for maximum impact.

EARLY MATTERS HOUSTON A critical time for Houston We must invest more heavily in the early stages of our children’s learning and development, a time in which we see the highest financial return on investment and the greatest impact on preparing children for a bright and successful future.

Only 1 in 5 will graduate; Only 1 in 5 children in our region are graduating from high school and completing some form of post-high school credential. However, Houston’s rapidly growing employers desperately need employees with post-high school education.

Houston Commitment By 2025, all Greater Houston area students will be reading at or above grade level by the end of 3rd grade.

Collaborative for Children is a nonprofit that strengthens early education throughout Greater Houston. We work with parents, educators, and local leaders to make sure our region’s children are ready to succeed in the long term.

Our mission is to meaningfully improve the quality of early childhood education and care for Greater Houston’s children through those who are most influential in their lives. These are their stories, and the stories of how we’re making a lasting impact on education in Houston.

Early Learning Alliance (The Alliance) formerly known as the Educational Alignment for Young Children – was formed in 2013 as part of national efforts to improve early learning systems in cities.

The Alliance includes more than 50 organizations and individuals representing government, community-based early child care providers, faith-based organizations, educators, school district administrators, training organizations, nonprofit service providers, health and mental health providers, private foundations, the United Way of Tarrant County, Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County and the City of Fort Worth.

Envision a Texas in which all children grow up to be healthy, safe, successful, and on a path to fulfill their promise. A statewide, non-profit, non-partisan, multi-issue children’s policy organization.

Develop policy solutions, produce research, and engage Texas community leaders to educate policymakers, the media, and the public about what works to improve the well-being of Texas children and families. Funded by a variety of foundations and individuals. Work covers child protective services, juvenile justice, mental well-being, maternal and child health, early childhood, and the ways that each of those policy areas work together to shape children’s lives and the future of Texas.

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN TEXAS Strong public schools are one of the best investments that we can make in the future of our State. Creating change in a system with over 1,000 school districts and more than 8,000 public school campuses can be slow, and at times frustrating. It will not happen overnight, and it will not happen without the quality of our public schools being a top concern of every Texan.

Dr. Shari Albright – Executive Director Charles Butt – Founder

Headed by the Commissioner of Education, TEA is the state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education.

The mission of TEA is to provide leadership, guidance and resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students.

Mike Morath – Commisssioner

Through policy and advocacy, Texas Aspires is committed to building a world-class education system that provides every Texas child the opportunity to achieve their full potential and contribute to a stronger Texas. A bipartisan, non-profit organization working in partnership with education, business, and community leaders to provide greater opportunity for Texas children by improving education in the State.

Courtney Boswell – Executive Director TCSA was created to unify, support and grow the charter movement. It has embarked on a planning process designed to assess the current environment, chart a course for the future and define a sustainable business model that enhances vital services for our members and the broader charter school community.

Starlee Coleman – Executive Director

TASB is a statewide educational association that serves and represents local Texas school districts.

A volunteer-based organization, TASB shares information through publications and training to help Texas board members serve their communities more effectively and speak with a unified voice to decision makers to chart the best future for Texas public schools.

Charles Stafford – President

NMSI was formed to address one of this nation’s greatest economic and intellectual threats – the declining number of students who are prepared to take rigorous college courses in math and science and are equipped for careers in those fields. To flourish in the 21st Century, our nation must continue to generate intellectual capital that can drive the economic engine of our future prosperity.

Matthew Randazzo – CEO

The development of leadership capacity is critical to the success of Texas public schools. Dynamic partnerships are necessary to carry out our work. We must cultivate a broad network of allies committed to strengthening public education in our state and nation. The participatory nature of the organization is vital to the success of our mission.

The ideals described in Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas are the compelling principles that guide our pursuit of these enduring aspirations.

Dr. Kevin Brown – Executive Director

TEO is a statewide organization that works with parents, educators, community leaders and elected officials to advocate for expanding educational options in Texas.TEO seeks to advance meaningful legislation that would allow for every child in Texas the opportunity to attend the school of their parent’s choice, specifically in the form of an education savings account.

Stacey Hock – Chair Amando Covo – Executive Director

IMPORTANT PK-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN TEXAS CLI at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth is the preeminent resource for learning solutions that produce tested, proven, effective results through scientific research and evidence-based interventions.

The CLI team includes more than 200 experts in the fields of child development, education, medicine, neurodevelopment, research analysis, and more. Services provided include clinical assessment; diagnosis and treatment of learning disorders; cutting-edge research on techniques to enhance a child’s home and learning environments; and development of multi-modal teaching, learning, and coaching platforms.

Dr. Susan H. Landry – CEO

A leading catalyst for progress, Educate Texas is an innovative public-private partnership focused on a common goal: Improving the public education system so that every Texas student is prepared for success in school, in the workforce, and in life. Educate Texas has been nationally recognized for tapping into a bold and collaborative approach for creating transformational change for Texas students.

John Fitzpatrick – Executive Director Children at Risk serves as a catalyst for change to improve the quality of life for children through strategic research, public policy analysis, education, collaboration and advocacy.

Dr. Robert Sanborn – President & CEO

TCC is a statewide, nonprofit, non-partisan, multiissue children’s policy organization that develops research and policy to engage community leaders and educates policymakers, the media, and the public about what works to improve the well-being of Texas children and families. TCC’s work covers child protective services, juvenile justice, mental well-being, health and fitness, and early childhood development.

Stephanie Rubin – CEO

The Dana Center works with our nation’s education systems to ensure that every student leaves school prepared for success in postsecondary education and the contemporary workplace. Work focuses on K–16 mathematics and science education with an emphasis on strategies for improving student engagement, motivation, persistence, and achievement. The center strives to develop innovative curricula, tools, protocols, and instructional supports and deliver powerful instructional and leadership development.

Uri Treisman – Executive Director Carolyn Landel – Managing Director The Holdsworth Center is a new training and leadership development center in Austin for school district leaders from across Texas that offers the opportunity for sustainable improvement. Research shows effective teachers and principals are two of the most powerful factors in affecting students’ academic success. The center will be run by educators and will pull from best leadership training practices in education, the military and the private sector.

Charles Butt – Founder Lindsay Worton – Executive Vice President

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