The Spanish/Tejano Contribution to the American Revolution
The 4th of July and why we should celebrate
by
Dan Arellano
Author/Historian
In all of the wars that this great country has been involved in Americans of Mexican/Spanish descent have always been amongst the first to fight, the most to die, the last to leave but unfortunately the ones least appreciated. With all of the anti-Hispanic hate legislation being passed across the country it is more important now than ever to remind others of the contributions of our ancestors to the development of this country. After WWII it was Senator Dennis Chavez from New Mexico that describes our plight best of all “When we march off to war we are Americans, but upon our return we are merely Mexicans.”
In 1779 General George Washington sends a courier with a letter to the then Governor of Spanish Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez requesting aid and assistance in fighting the British. A voluntary contribution was collected from the Tejano citizens of Texas which we believe to have been approximately 10,000 pesos. Galvez also orders that cattle be rounded up and driven north to feed the armies of George Washington. 100 years before the famous Goodnight and Chisholm Trails Tejano Vaqueros, Tejano Rancheros and Mission Indians were driving cattle up El Camino Real all the way to Louisiana and continuing further north. Many of these vaqueros were to remain and fight against the British in the army of Don Bernardo de Galvez. Galvez, of which Galveston Texas and Galveston Bay are named after, was successful in defeating the British in key battles including the Battle of New Orleans, Pensacola and Mobile Alabama. Don Bernardo was successful in preventing access to the Mississippi River thus preventing the British the use of the river to supply their troops
Many Americans believe that they alone were responsible for the defeat of the British during the War of Independence, but that is not so. While Bernardo de Galvez was planning his assault on Pensacola word is received on April 18, 1781 that his father Don Matias de Galvez Captain General of Guatemala had received the surrender of all British forces in Honduras. These forces were prevented from joining the British armies already in America. Don Jose de Galvez Field Marshal of the Spanish Army and later Visitor General of New Spain had commissioned his brother Don Matias to engage and defeat all British forces from the area of the Gulf of Honduras, which he executed with a splendid military victory. Although he did not participate in the war against the British, Antonio Miguel Joaquin de Galvez rose to the rank of Military Commander to the port of Cadiz and oversaw the shipment of supplies and aid to the American colonists
There were other Spaniards that contributed to the American Revolution but I believe there was no other family that contributed more than the Galvez family, especially Don Bernardo de Galvez.
Ref: Bernardo de Galvez Spanish Hero of the American Revolution by G. Roland Vela Muzquiz
Acacia Press 2006
Friday, June 24, 2011
SPANISH COLONIALS LOST AGAIN IN CENSUS REPORT
Fascinating re-counting of the racial categorization system that the Spanish brought to our continent by Dr. Richard Santos.
Angela
SPANISH COLONIALS LOST AGAIN IN CENSUS REPORT
BY
Richard G. Santos
richardgsantos@yahoo.com
The U. S. Census bureau report of the self-reported Latinos in the nation is most interesting. The state with the highest number is California with over three million accounted for. Texas is second with over 2.7 million registered. Florida came in third with over 1.5 million Latinos. Combative Arizona where it is not safe to be a Latino reported more than 599,500. New York State has the fifth largest Latino population at more than 549,300. Illinois reported at sixth place with more than 497,300. Small New Jersey surprisingly came in at seventh place with more than 437,900. Eight place went to anti-immigrant Georgia with more than 418,400. Colorado reported over 303,100 and tenth state as New Mexico with over 188,100.
As impressive as the numbers may seem, there are problems with the report. First, not all Latinos, whether legal or not, self registered by not filling out and returning the Census form. No matter how much they were assured that they would not be reported to La Migra, most illegal immigrants refused self register. Second, how many Black Latinos (first to fourth generation) did not identify themselves as Latinos? Due to stereotyping and racism, countless third and fourth Black Latinos are identified, or identify themselves, as Black and not Latino. Third, how many Latinos with non-Hispanic surnames identified themselves or are identified as Latinos? In this regard please consider the descendants of the Spanish colonial families of Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. Some have preserved the Hispanic surname but not the cultural/ethnic identity. The same applies to the descendants of the Spanish Colonial families of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and
California.
In this regard it is best to first clarify who were the Spanish Colonial families who settled Texas pre 1836 and the Southwest pre 1848. The Spanish Catholic Church and Spanish Colonial government identified and classified people at baptism within 28 castas (genealogical background). Due to the worldwide nature of the Spanish Empire, Spanish citizens in the New World were mainly European born, or born on the American Continent. The top five socially and politically identified castas were (1) European born (2) Europeans born on the American Continent, (3) Native American, (4) Black and (5) Asian. The children and descendants of the mixture of the first five categories composed the remaining 23 castas.
The European born, if native to Spain or Portugal were called peninsular . If born in Spanish states outside the peninsular such as Italy, Greece, Sicily, Genoa, Rhodes or the Netherlands, they were commonly called Gachupin . Moreover, if a Spanish citizen did not speak Spanish he/she was called a gringo/gringa. If of French background he/she was called a bolillo/bolilla or gabacho/gabacha . A person of European stock born in the New World without Native American, Black or Asian mix was called an espanol or criollo. The European born Spanish citizens held all top political, military and religious positions from Viceroy to Governors, Generals and Archbishops. The American Continent born espanoles/criollos held the secondary positions including Lieutenant Governors, Colonels, mayors, council members, clerks, majordomos and priests.
Socially, the third class was composed of the mestizos and castizos who were the product of the union of European and Native American parents. Originally, a mestizo had a European father and a Native American mother. The castizo was the product of a European mother and Native American father. In time the term castizo was dropped and mestizo was universally used to identify a person of European and Native American parentage.
Ironically, the Native Americans composed the fourth social class. They fell into three categories. First the “ gente de razon ” (people of reason) who had been culturally assimilated into the Spanish American culture. They were Spanish speaking Roman Catholics who dressed like the Spaniards and were relied upon as colonists, militiamen, and management level labor. The second Native American social category were the mission or converted Native Americans. One step removed from becoming gente de razon , they were the farmers, cowboys, sheep herders, masons, carpenters, and usually the Spanish-Native American Language bilingual manual labor class. It is interesting to note based on the actas de fundacion of the villages of New Mexico, that many of the Native American slaves bought or traded by the Manitos from the Plains Indians were able to socially move upward and called jenizaros as the equivalent of being gente de razon . Hence by the end of the
Spanish Colonial period the jenizaros of New Mexico were settlers of townships, farmers, ranchers, sheep herders and holders of Spanish land grants.
The fourth social category were the Blacks. They also fell into three sub-groups. The African slaves were bought, sold, bartered and traded in the lucrative slave industry. Black slaves could gain their freedom when the “owner” set them free or when the slave was able to pay his purchase and maintenance cost (very rarely). The third level closely associated with the second just mentioned were the mulattoes. Like the children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally, they were the product of a European father and Black mother.
The Asians composed the fifth social class and unfortunately, they have not been properly studied. Associated with the Manila Galleons trade that sailed from Acapulco to the Philippine Islands, China, Japan, and South America they are mentioned in passing as wives, domestics and maritime labor. However, the chinas and chinitas are mentioned in folklore, music, literature and the unknown Chinese lady of Puebla, Mexico is renowned as La China Poblana. Moreover, in Southern Mexico chinita is a term of endearment as is “mi negra” in La Provincia and El Bajio of north central Mexico.
The afore described top five social, political, religious and military categories of the Spanish North American Colonial period existed in the areas now called Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona California and Puerto Rico. They were the original settlers, colonists absorbed through political treaties into the United States. Many still reside in the land of their ancestors but are lost in the generic Latino – Hispanic census identification label. Que pena.
End ……………………………. End …………………………… end
Zavala County Sentinel ,,,,,,,, 22 – 23 June 2011
Angela
SPANISH COLONIALS LOST AGAIN IN CENSUS REPORT
BY
Richard G. Santos
richardgsantos@yahoo.com
The U. S. Census bureau report of the self-reported Latinos in the nation is most interesting. The state with the highest number is California with over three million accounted for. Texas is second with over 2.7 million registered. Florida came in third with over 1.5 million Latinos. Combative Arizona where it is not safe to be a Latino reported more than 599,500. New York State has the fifth largest Latino population at more than 549,300. Illinois reported at sixth place with more than 497,300. Small New Jersey surprisingly came in at seventh place with more than 437,900. Eight place went to anti-immigrant Georgia with more than 418,400. Colorado reported over 303,100 and tenth state as New Mexico with over 188,100.
As impressive as the numbers may seem, there are problems with the report. First, not all Latinos, whether legal or not, self registered by not filling out and returning the Census form. No matter how much they were assured that they would not be reported to La Migra, most illegal immigrants refused self register. Second, how many Black Latinos (first to fourth generation) did not identify themselves as Latinos? Due to stereotyping and racism, countless third and fourth Black Latinos are identified, or identify themselves, as Black and not Latino. Third, how many Latinos with non-Hispanic surnames identified themselves or are identified as Latinos? In this regard please consider the descendants of the Spanish colonial families of Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. Some have preserved the Hispanic surname but not the cultural/ethnic identity. The same applies to the descendants of the Spanish Colonial families of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and
California.
In this regard it is best to first clarify who were the Spanish Colonial families who settled Texas pre 1836 and the Southwest pre 1848. The Spanish Catholic Church and Spanish Colonial government identified and classified people at baptism within 28 castas (genealogical background). Due to the worldwide nature of the Spanish Empire, Spanish citizens in the New World were mainly European born, or born on the American Continent. The top five socially and politically identified castas were (1) European born (2) Europeans born on the American Continent, (3) Native American, (4) Black and (5) Asian. The children and descendants of the mixture of the first five categories composed the remaining 23 castas.
The European born, if native to Spain or Portugal were called peninsular . If born in Spanish states outside the peninsular such as Italy, Greece, Sicily, Genoa, Rhodes or the Netherlands, they were commonly called Gachupin . Moreover, if a Spanish citizen did not speak Spanish he/she was called a gringo/gringa. If of French background he/she was called a bolillo/bolilla or gabacho/gabacha . A person of European stock born in the New World without Native American, Black or Asian mix was called an espanol or criollo. The European born Spanish citizens held all top political, military and religious positions from Viceroy to Governors, Generals and Archbishops. The American Continent born espanoles/criollos held the secondary positions including Lieutenant Governors, Colonels, mayors, council members, clerks, majordomos and priests.
Socially, the third class was composed of the mestizos and castizos who were the product of the union of European and Native American parents. Originally, a mestizo had a European father and a Native American mother. The castizo was the product of a European mother and Native American father. In time the term castizo was dropped and mestizo was universally used to identify a person of European and Native American parentage.
Ironically, the Native Americans composed the fourth social class. They fell into three categories. First the “ gente de razon ” (people of reason) who had been culturally assimilated into the Spanish American culture. They were Spanish speaking Roman Catholics who dressed like the Spaniards and were relied upon as colonists, militiamen, and management level labor. The second Native American social category were the mission or converted Native Americans. One step removed from becoming gente de razon , they were the farmers, cowboys, sheep herders, masons, carpenters, and usually the Spanish-Native American Language bilingual manual labor class. It is interesting to note based on the actas de fundacion of the villages of New Mexico, that many of the Native American slaves bought or traded by the Manitos from the Plains Indians were able to socially move upward and called jenizaros as the equivalent of being gente de razon . Hence by the end of the
Spanish Colonial period the jenizaros of New Mexico were settlers of townships, farmers, ranchers, sheep herders and holders of Spanish land grants.
The fourth social category were the Blacks. They also fell into three sub-groups. The African slaves were bought, sold, bartered and traded in the lucrative slave industry. Black slaves could gain their freedom when the “owner” set them free or when the slave was able to pay his purchase and maintenance cost (very rarely). The third level closely associated with the second just mentioned were the mulattoes. Like the children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally, they were the product of a European father and Black mother.
The Asians composed the fifth social class and unfortunately, they have not been properly studied. Associated with the Manila Galleons trade that sailed from Acapulco to the Philippine Islands, China, Japan, and South America they are mentioned in passing as wives, domestics and maritime labor. However, the chinas and chinitas are mentioned in folklore, music, literature and the unknown Chinese lady of Puebla, Mexico is renowned as La China Poblana. Moreover, in Southern Mexico chinita is a term of endearment as is “mi negra” in La Provincia and El Bajio of north central Mexico.
The afore described top five social, political, religious and military categories of the Spanish North American Colonial period existed in the areas now called Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona California and Puerto Rico. They were the original settlers, colonists absorbed through political treaties into the United States. Many still reside in the land of their ancestors but are lost in the generic Latino – Hispanic census identification label. Que pena.
End ……………………………. End …………………………… end
Zavala County Sentinel ,,,,,,,, 22 – 23 June 2011
U.S. Education Secretary Duncan Challenges Nation to Work Together to Make Hispanic Educational Excellence a Priority
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011
CONTACTS: Toby Chaudhuri at toby.chaudhuri@ed.gov or Ida Kelley at Ida. Kelley@ed.gov
U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN CHALLENGES NATION TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE HISPANIC EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE A PRIORITY
New Report on Comprehensive National and State Performance Data Shows Hispanic-White Achievement Gap Unchanged Over Last Two Decades
WASHINGTON – U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today urged parents, educators and school leaders at every level of government to make Hispanic educational excellence a national priority. Secretary Duncan’s challenge follows the release of a sobering new report on the Hispanic achievement gap by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the U.S. Department of Education’s statistical center.
Mathematics and reading scores for Hispanic students have increased over time, but the gap between Hispanic students and their white counterparts on the National Assessment of Educational Progress has not changed since the 1990s, according to the comprehensive report by NCES. Over the same period, the gap between non-limited English proficient Hispanic students and their white peers narrowed.
In the knowledge economy, Secretary Duncan said it is more vital than ever that every child in America be able to go as far as his or her potential, talent and energy will allow.
“Race and ethnicity shouldn’t be factors in the success of any child in America,” said Secretary Duncan. “Hispanic students are the largest minority group in our nation’s schools. But they face grave educational challenges that are hindering their ability to pursue the American dream. We must expand their educational opportunities at every level of the P–12 system to compete with the rest of the world.”
Expanding opportunities is crucial to reaching the Obama Administration’s goal of having the world’s highest share of college graduates by 2020. “We cannot achieve the 2020 goal without challenging every level of government to make the educational success of Latinos a top priority,” said Secretary Duncan. “America’s future depends on it.”
Juan Sepúlveda, the director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, noted that the Obama Administration is working in partnership with communities across the country.
“Low Hispanic educational attainment levels aren’t just a problem for the Latino community. Every American has a stake in this,” said Sepúlveda. “We’ve brought major organizations and key people from inside and outside the education system together to tackle this challenge. We’re focused on advancing and accelerating achievement, access and attainment for Hispanic students so they’re ready for college and a career and to compete globally.”
At the national level, the achievement gaps between Hispanic and white students at grades 4 and 8 in mathematics and reading are about 20 points on the NAEP scale, according to the NCES report. California and Connecticut each had a Hispanic-white gap larger than that of the nation for grades 4 and 8 in mathematics and for grade 4 in reading, while Department of Defense Education Activity schools, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri and Wyoming had smaller gaps than those of the nation for both reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8.
# # #
**NOTE: An electronic copy of the full NCES achievement gap report is available at http://go.usa.gov/W6E.**
STATE-BY-STATE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
Hispanic-white achievement score gap in mathematics and reading for public school students, by state (2009), from the National Center for Education Statistics’ June 2011 report
[STATE, NAEP gap in Mathematics Grade 4, Mathematics Grade 8, Reading Grade 4, Reading Grade 8]
--NATIONAL PUBLIC, 21, 26, 25, 24
--ALABAMA, 17, 20, 25, 19
--ALASKA, 17, 18*, 11*, 9*
--ARIZONA, 23, 26, 27, 24
--ARKANSAS, 12, 15*, 22, 17
--CALIFORNIA, 28*, 33*, 31*, 28
--COLORADO, 23, 32*, 32*, 24
--CONNECTICUT, 26*, 34*, 33*, 27
--DELAWARE, 18, 16*, 18*, 16
--DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 43*, n/a, 49*, n/a
--DOD EDU ACTIVITY, 10*, 13*, 11*, 9*
--FLORIDA, 12*, 15*, 10*, 11*
--GEORGIA, 15*, 19*, 21, 14
--HAWAII, 17, 6*, 12*, 15
--IDAHO, 19, 28, 24, 28
--ILLINOIS, 21, 25, 28, 21
--INDIANA, 16, 18*, 24, 18
--IOWA, 22, 21, 16*, 18
--KANSAS, 18, 20, 19, 22
--KENTUCKY, 14*, 10*, 13*, 3*
--LOUISIANA, 10*, n/a, 13*, n/a
--MARYLAND, 17, 28, 15*, 20
--MASSACHUSETTS, 26*, 34, 30, 28
--MICHIGAN, 16, 17*, 19, 15
--MINNESOTA, 23, 31, 36*, 28
--MISSISSIPPI, n/a, n/a, 12, n/a
--MISSOURI, 8*, 6*, 12*, 10*
--MONTANA, 6*, 17, 9*, n/a
--NEBRASKA, 21, 29, 21, 19
--NEVADA, 19, 25, 23, 22
--NEW HAMPSHIRE, 18, 23, 13, 14
--NEW JERSEY, 24, 30, 24, 25
--NEW MEXICO, 21, 26, 22, 24
--NEW YORK, 17*, 32*, 22, 27
--NORTH CAROLINA, 18, 23, 26, 22
--OHIO, 16, 24, 15, 22
--OKLAHOMA, 12*, 19*, 16, 18
--OREGON, 21, 26, 27, 22
--PENNSYLVANIA, 22, 28, 31, 28
--RHODE ISLAND, 28*, 31*, 31, 26
--SOUTH CAROLINA, 13, 23, 22, 8*
--SOUTH DAKOTA, 13, 27, 11*, n/a
--TENNESSEE, 14, 12*, 22, 16
--TEXAS, 20, 24, 22, 22
--UTAH, 27*, 30, 31*, 24
--VIRGINIA, 17, 19*, 20, 16
--WASHINGTON, 20, 32*, 28, 24
--WISCONSIN, 22, 26, 25, 21
--WYOMING, 13*, 20*, 13*, 11*
* Difference (p<.05) is statistically significant from the national public schools scores when comparing the results of one state at a time to the national score.
**NOTE: Figures for Maine, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and selected categories in other states (n/a) were not included because reporting standards were not met due to Hispanic student population size or because unrounded average scores were insufficient for comparison.**
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011
CONTACTS: Toby Chaudhuri at toby.chaudhuri@ed.gov or Ida Kelley at Ida. Kelley@ed.gov
U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN CHALLENGES NATION TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE HISPANIC EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE A PRIORITY
New Report on Comprehensive National and State Performance Data Shows Hispanic-White Achievement Gap Unchanged Over Last Two Decades
WASHINGTON – U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today urged parents, educators and school leaders at every level of government to make Hispanic educational excellence a national priority. Secretary Duncan’s challenge follows the release of a sobering new report on the Hispanic achievement gap by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the U.S. Department of Education’s statistical center.
Mathematics and reading scores for Hispanic students have increased over time, but the gap between Hispanic students and their white counterparts on the National Assessment of Educational Progress has not changed since the 1990s, according to the comprehensive report by NCES. Over the same period, the gap between non-limited English proficient Hispanic students and their white peers narrowed.
In the knowledge economy, Secretary Duncan said it is more vital than ever that every child in America be able to go as far as his or her potential, talent and energy will allow.
“Race and ethnicity shouldn’t be factors in the success of any child in America,” said Secretary Duncan. “Hispanic students are the largest minority group in our nation’s schools. But they face grave educational challenges that are hindering their ability to pursue the American dream. We must expand their educational opportunities at every level of the P–12 system to compete with the rest of the world.”
Expanding opportunities is crucial to reaching the Obama Administration’s goal of having the world’s highest share of college graduates by 2020. “We cannot achieve the 2020 goal without challenging every level of government to make the educational success of Latinos a top priority,” said Secretary Duncan. “America’s future depends on it.”
Juan Sepúlveda, the director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, noted that the Obama Administration is working in partnership with communities across the country.
“Low Hispanic educational attainment levels aren’t just a problem for the Latino community. Every American has a stake in this,” said Sepúlveda. “We’ve brought major organizations and key people from inside and outside the education system together to tackle this challenge. We’re focused on advancing and accelerating achievement, access and attainment for Hispanic students so they’re ready for college and a career and to compete globally.”
At the national level, the achievement gaps between Hispanic and white students at grades 4 and 8 in mathematics and reading are about 20 points on the NAEP scale, according to the NCES report. California and Connecticut each had a Hispanic-white gap larger than that of the nation for grades 4 and 8 in mathematics and for grade 4 in reading, while Department of Defense Education Activity schools, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri and Wyoming had smaller gaps than those of the nation for both reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8.
# # #
**NOTE: An electronic copy of the full NCES achievement gap report is available at http://go.usa.gov/W6E.**
STATE-BY-STATE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
Hispanic-white achievement score gap in mathematics and reading for public school students, by state (2009), from the National Center for Education Statistics’ June 2011 report
[STATE, NAEP gap in Mathematics Grade 4, Mathematics Grade 8, Reading Grade 4, Reading Grade 8]
--NATIONAL PUBLIC, 21, 26, 25, 24
--ALABAMA, 17, 20, 25, 19
--ALASKA, 17, 18*, 11*, 9*
--ARIZONA, 23, 26, 27, 24
--ARKANSAS, 12, 15*, 22, 17
--CALIFORNIA, 28*, 33*, 31*, 28
--COLORADO, 23, 32*, 32*, 24
--CONNECTICUT, 26*, 34*, 33*, 27
--DELAWARE, 18, 16*, 18*, 16
--DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 43*, n/a, 49*, n/a
--DOD EDU ACTIVITY, 10*, 13*, 11*, 9*
--FLORIDA, 12*, 15*, 10*, 11*
--GEORGIA, 15*, 19*, 21, 14
--HAWAII, 17, 6*, 12*, 15
--IDAHO, 19, 28, 24, 28
--ILLINOIS, 21, 25, 28, 21
--INDIANA, 16, 18*, 24, 18
--IOWA, 22, 21, 16*, 18
--KANSAS, 18, 20, 19, 22
--KENTUCKY, 14*, 10*, 13*, 3*
--LOUISIANA, 10*, n/a, 13*, n/a
--MARYLAND, 17, 28, 15*, 20
--MASSACHUSETTS, 26*, 34, 30, 28
--MICHIGAN, 16, 17*, 19, 15
--MINNESOTA, 23, 31, 36*, 28
--MISSISSIPPI, n/a, n/a, 12, n/a
--MISSOURI, 8*, 6*, 12*, 10*
--MONTANA, 6*, 17, 9*, n/a
--NEBRASKA, 21, 29, 21, 19
--NEVADA, 19, 25, 23, 22
--NEW HAMPSHIRE, 18, 23, 13, 14
--NEW JERSEY, 24, 30, 24, 25
--NEW MEXICO, 21, 26, 22, 24
--NEW YORK, 17*, 32*, 22, 27
--NORTH CAROLINA, 18, 23, 26, 22
--OHIO, 16, 24, 15, 22
--OKLAHOMA, 12*, 19*, 16, 18
--OREGON, 21, 26, 27, 22
--PENNSYLVANIA, 22, 28, 31, 28
--RHODE ISLAND, 28*, 31*, 31, 26
--SOUTH CAROLINA, 13, 23, 22, 8*
--SOUTH DAKOTA, 13, 27, 11*, n/a
--TENNESSEE, 14, 12*, 22, 16
--TEXAS, 20, 24, 22, 22
--UTAH, 27*, 30, 31*, 24
--VIRGINIA, 17, 19*, 20, 16
--WASHINGTON, 20, 32*, 28, 24
--WISCONSIN, 22, 26, 25, 21
--WYOMING, 13*, 20*, 13*, 11*
* Difference (p<.05) is statistically significant from the national public schools scores when comparing the results of one state at a time to the national score.
**NOTE: Figures for Maine, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and selected categories in other states (n/a) were not included because reporting standards were not met due to Hispanic student population size or because unrounded average scores were insufficient for comparison.**
Monday, June 20, 2011
IDRA Guiding Principles on Texas Bilingual Education
These recommendations are timeless and they underscore just how far off our current de-funding policies are headed--to the tune of $4Billion! That is, if school funding is jeopardizing the status of public education, generally, how much more severe will this impact our growing population of English language learners and truly, Texas' historically progressive goal of at least waging the political battles that align to these principles laid out by San Antonio's tried and true Intercultural Development Research Association headed by my dear friend and colleague Dr. Cuca Robledo Montecel.
-Angela
IDRA Guiding Principles on Texas Bilingual Education
Texas enrolls more than 800,000 students whose first language is not English and who, therefore, require specialized instruction to address their unique needs. Though there is some policy infrastructure to support the education of limited-English-proficient (LEP) elementary school students in Texas, additional improvements are needed, particularly as it relates to funding and requirements for services provided to secondary level English language learner (ELL) students. Texas must address the following.
Principle 1: All children should be provided all the resources needed to be successful in school, particularly ensuring access to equitable and excellent public schools accountable to their communities.
Principle 2: Federal courts (Lau vs. Nichols) and civil rights authorities (May 25th Office for Civil Rights) have ruled that providing the same (all-English) instruction to students with specialized needs is insufficient and thus is an inappropriate response for meeting the needs of ELL students, and that doing so violates equal protection requirements. Any new efforts must comply with the Lau provisions.
Principle 3: Research, including national analyses of best practices and state-level successful school studies, has established that LEP students require specialized instructional programs in order to have equal access to instruction and that bilingual education is the best means to ensure that equitable access to instruction is available for LEP students. Bilingual programs must be required at the state level and should never left as a local district option.
Principle 4: Texas bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) policies for serving LEP students, though not perfect, provide the framework for delivering appropriate instruction to the state’s LEP students. ELL student performance levels at the secondary level, however, indicate that improvements to Texas’ secondary level ELL programs are critically needed. These secondary-level ELL program reforms include improved monitoring of ELL student identification and placement procedures and comprehensive staff development for all content area teachers who serve ELL students in their classrooms.
Principle 5: Lack of state education monitoring and oversight serves to undermine required implementation of bilingual education and ESL programs and supports inappropriate and/or total non-compliance with state and federal laws. Areas of concern include lack of compliance with LEP identification and placement procedures and lack of monitoring of program effectiveness, specifically at the school level.
Principle 6: Current Texas funding formulae for bilingual education and ESL program service delivery do not reflect actual costs for providing instructional services. In Texas and many other states, funding for LEP students is less than half of what research studies have indicated is needed to provide appropriate instructional programs; funding of LEP programs should be based on actual costs rather than arbitrary allocations.
Principle 7: Using funding weights as the mechanisms to deliver supplemental funding for LEP instruction is preferable to a fixed dollar amount approach. This mechanism provides automatic adjustments tied to any increases in regular program funding and eliminates the need to wage individual battles for increased funding for LEP instructional programs.
Principle 8: Other variations of bilingual instruction including late exit and dual language variations of bilingual education are permissible, as local option programs under existing state bilingual education and related dual language laws. However, existing programs required under state and federal mandates must be funded first, and any excess funding should be available to encourage second language proficiency among native English speaking students.
IDRA is an independent, private non-profit organization, directed by María Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., dedicated to strengthening public schools to work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team for more than three decades, IDRA has worked with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.
-Angela
IDRA Guiding Principles on Texas Bilingual Education
Texas enrolls more than 800,000 students whose first language is not English and who, therefore, require specialized instruction to address their unique needs. Though there is some policy infrastructure to support the education of limited-English-proficient (LEP) elementary school students in Texas, additional improvements are needed, particularly as it relates to funding and requirements for services provided to secondary level English language learner (ELL) students. Texas must address the following.
Principle 1: All children should be provided all the resources needed to be successful in school, particularly ensuring access to equitable and excellent public schools accountable to their communities.
Principle 2: Federal courts (Lau vs. Nichols) and civil rights authorities (May 25th Office for Civil Rights) have ruled that providing the same (all-English) instruction to students with specialized needs is insufficient and thus is an inappropriate response for meeting the needs of ELL students, and that doing so violates equal protection requirements. Any new efforts must comply with the Lau provisions.
Principle 3: Research, including national analyses of best practices and state-level successful school studies, has established that LEP students require specialized instructional programs in order to have equal access to instruction and that bilingual education is the best means to ensure that equitable access to instruction is available for LEP students. Bilingual programs must be required at the state level and should never left as a local district option.
Principle 4: Texas bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) policies for serving LEP students, though not perfect, provide the framework for delivering appropriate instruction to the state’s LEP students. ELL student performance levels at the secondary level, however, indicate that improvements to Texas’ secondary level ELL programs are critically needed. These secondary-level ELL program reforms include improved monitoring of ELL student identification and placement procedures and comprehensive staff development for all content area teachers who serve ELL students in their classrooms.
Principle 5: Lack of state education monitoring and oversight serves to undermine required implementation of bilingual education and ESL programs and supports inappropriate and/or total non-compliance with state and federal laws. Areas of concern include lack of compliance with LEP identification and placement procedures and lack of monitoring of program effectiveness, specifically at the school level.
Principle 6: Current Texas funding formulae for bilingual education and ESL program service delivery do not reflect actual costs for providing instructional services. In Texas and many other states, funding for LEP students is less than half of what research studies have indicated is needed to provide appropriate instructional programs; funding of LEP programs should be based on actual costs rather than arbitrary allocations.
Principle 7: Using funding weights as the mechanisms to deliver supplemental funding for LEP instruction is preferable to a fixed dollar amount approach. This mechanism provides automatic adjustments tied to any increases in regular program funding and eliminates the need to wage individual battles for increased funding for LEP instructional programs.
Principle 8: Other variations of bilingual instruction including late exit and dual language variations of bilingual education are permissible, as local option programs under existing state bilingual education and related dual language laws. However, existing programs required under state and federal mandates must be funded first, and any excess funding should be available to encourage second language proficiency among native English speaking students.
IDRA is an independent, private non-profit organization, directed by María Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., dedicated to strengthening public schools to work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team for more than three decades, IDRA has worked with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Dallas ISD News: SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL HINOJOSA RESIGNS FROM DALLAS ISD Kimberly Reeves Jun 06 03:02PM -0700 ^
Breaking news. -Angela
From: Sandra Guerrero
To: Sandra Guerrero
Sent: Mon, June 6, 2011 5:00:31 PM
Subject: Dallas ISD News: SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL HINOJOSA RESIGNS FROM DALLAS
ISD
Contact Sandra Guerrero or Libby Daniels at (972) 925-3900
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 6, 2011
SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL HINOJOSA RESIGNS FROM DALLAS ISD
Accepts Superintendent Position in Cobb County, Georgia
DALLAS–Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa submitted his letter of
resignation from the Dallas Independent School District today to accept a
similar position in Cobb County, Georgia.
Dr. Hinojosa has served as the superintendent for the state’s
second-largest school district for six years—the longest term since Linus Wright
held the position in the 1980s. His last day with Dallas ISD will be Thursday,
June 30, 2011.
“It has been an honor to serve as superintendent for the school
district I attended as a child and where I started my teaching career,” said
Hinojosa. “I am enormously proud of our shared accomplishments—the biggest of
which is that the number of students graduating from Dallas ISD schools is at
its highest since 1983.”
This school year, Dallas ISD expects to graduate a total of 7,200
students, up from 5,800 four years ago. The number has steadily risen each of
the last four years.
Under Dr. Hinojosa’s leadership, the school district implemented a
systemwide curriculum that was developed by teachers. In addition, principals
for schools that had vacancies during the last six years were selected through a
collaborative process that allowed staff and the community to provide input.
A $1.37 billion bond program to build and improve school facilities
that was approved by voters in 2002 was implemented on schedule and under
budget. Another $1.35 billion bond program that was approved by voters in 2008
will build 14 more schools, 13 additions and provide renovations to more than
200 district facilities.
Dallas ISD also became known throughout the country for its
leadership in arts education. The Wallace Foundation provided an $8 million
grant for the district to partner with Big Thought and the City of Dallas to
provide more arts opportunities for students both during and after school.
Under Dr. Hinojosa’s leadership, schools in the southern sector
received a significant boost. Two early college high schools are now operating,
an all-boys school will open this fall, as will a New Tech High School and three
renovated/new schools will open in Wilmer-Hutchins signaling a rebirth of
education in that community.
Grants from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation enabled the Dallas Independent School District to
become a pioneer in the world of student data. The grants gave principals and
teachers access to data dashboards, as well as established a Parent Portal for
parents to monitor the progress of their students.
During his six-year tenure, Dr. Hinojosa responded to several
crises, including the dissolution of neighboring Wilmer-Hutchins ISD and
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, all of which caused an unexpected influx of
additional students into Dallas ISD. The biggest crisis was a budget
miscalculation that eventually forced the layoff of hundreds of staff during the
2008-09 school year.
Since then, the district has put in place a number of financial
controls and rebuilt its fund balance to safer levels. The district now faces a
significant cut in state funding because of a statewide budget shortfall.
“It certainly isn’t easy to be an urban school superintendent in
today’s environment, but I am proud of what this community has accomplished
during the last six years,” said Hinojosa. “More students are graduating, more
students are scoring at college-ready levels and our teachers and principals are
better-trained. I hope whoever the board chooses as its next superintendent is
provided the same opportunities to make improvements to continue the momentum on
behalf of the students of this community. I am thankful to trustees, our staff
and so many other leaders and stakeholders in Dallas who have been part of this
experience.”
One of Dr. Hinojosa’s hallmarks was to make unannounced visits to
the district’s 225 schools each Wednesday morning. He said the experiences kept
him grounded on what was most important in the life of a large, urban school
district.
“Every school has individuals who are devoted to helping our
students succeed,” said Hinojosa. “I couldn’t help but be moved by the
dedication of so many people—from custodians to food service workers, librarians
to counselors, aides to front office staff and of course, principals and
teachers. The Dallas Independent School District will continue to shine because
of each of them. My address may soon be in Georgia, but a part of me will always
be in Dallas. It has been a privilege.”
Dr. Hinojosa said he is moving to Georgia in part to be closer to
his son whose wife is pregnant with their first child. He has two sons who have
recently graduated from Hillcrest High School in Dallas who will be attending
Ivy League colleges in the fall.
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A timeline of Dr. Hinojosa’s tenure as superintendent is included:
Dallas Independent School District
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa
Timeline, 2005-11
May 12, 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s first day on the job; initiates Entry Plan—a series of interviews with individual board members, community leaders, selected principals, executive staff and teacher organizations to discuss expectations of the position.
July 2005
Wilmer-Hutchins ISD dissolves; is consolidated into Dallas ISD.
August 2005
School uniform policy for students in grades pre-K-8 implemented throughout district. (Policy approved in early 2005.)
August 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa blocks off Wednesday mornings on his calendar to make unannounced visits to school campuses throughout the district; completes Entry Plan and reports to Trustees.
September 2005
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastate parts of the gulf coast, Dallas ISD absorbs thousands of displaced students.
October 2005
Dr. Hinojosa contracts the National Center for Educational Achievement (NCEA) to conduct a best practices audit of the district’s curriculum and instructional programs.
November 29, 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and the Board of Trustees announce Dallas Achieves!, a new plan that establishes aggressive five-year performance targets to make the Dallas ISD the top urban school district by 2010.
December 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa implements new “RFP” process for replacing principals who leave district campuses, due to retirement, resignation or reassignment. The “RFP” process stands for Request for Principals and calls for school staff, community members and parents from schools to be part of the interview team for selecting new principals.
December 2005
The National Center for Educational Accountability provides a report regarding Dallas ISD’s curriculum and instructional programs and proposes significant changes for improvement.
April 4, 2006
Dallas Achieves! Commission, comprising more than 60 community leaders, issues a report to trustees urging more resources devoted to classroom instruction.
May 2006
The School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center is named the top public high school in the country by Newsweek. The School for Science and Engineering is ranked #8.
June 2006
The district rolls out a newly designed and rigorous “vertically aligned” curriculum, developed in conjunction with the National Center for Educational Accountability and Institute for Learning. The district adopts a common set of instructional best practices, the “Principles of Learning”, from the Institute for Learning.
June 5, 2006
Dallas ISD begins offering courses in its new, tiered teacher training program. Based on tenure with district and their performance, teachers are divided into levels and remain in the same level for three years. The training for each year builds on training from the previous year and provides skills teachers need to be successful in the classroom.
June 22, 2006
Board of Trustees approve performance incentive bonuses for Dallas ISD principals whose schools and students perform at a high academic level. The district identifies “Master Teachers” who, as a result of high student achievement results, take on district instructional leadership roles: providing professional development for other teachers, developing curriculum, etc.
July 13, 2006
The Texas Education Agency announces that the Dallas ISD has been awarded a Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics grant to create a T-STEM Academy. The academies are designed to improve instruction and academic performance in science- and math-related subjects in secondary schools. The academy will be created at Emmett J. Conrad High School.
August 9, 2006
The Dallas Education Foundation is launched to raise funds to supplement programs and initiatives that enhance the education of Dallas ISD students. The foundation’s board is comprised of Dallas’ corporate and civic giants. To kick off the school year, the district invites all employees to the Dallas ISD Back-to-School Kickoff at the American Airlines Center. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa introduces staff to the district’s singularity of purpose: “to educate and graduate students ready for college.”
August 14, 2006
The district opens 11 new campuses with new attendance zones, returning students to their neighborhood schools. Most sixth-graders begin attending middle schools rather than elementary schools.
August 29, 2006
After a series of articles in The Dallas Morning News regarding lax accountability of the district’s purchasing procedures (use of P-cards), Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announces a five-point initiative to address a need for greater accountability, which includes the creation of the Office of District Integrity (later re-named the Office of Professional Responsibility) and an internal affairs task force, a fraud hotline, and the use of EthicsPoint resources.
October 2006
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa creates a district-wide principals’ leadership team. The group, which meets regularly to discuss strategies and initiatives, is made up of principals who have demonstrated sustained academic success at every school to which they have been assigned.
The superintendent also convenes the first-ever Teacher Advisory Committee, made up of the previous year’s Teacher of the Year finalists. Committee members are briefed on district issues and are given opportunities to share concerns and ask questions.
October 2006
To give his Executive Leadership team more input from campus-level staff, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa names an area superintendent and a principal to the team on a rotating basis.
November 2006
Dallas ISD is awarded a $22 million Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement performance pay in 59 schools.
January 2007
The National Center for Education Accountability presents its one-year review to Board of Trustees, noting that overall, Dallas ISD has made tremendous progress in only 10 months and that there is a positive shift in the district culture.
January 11, 2007
District presents recommendations to redesign the way high school is taught. The goal of the recommendations is to increase rigor, relevance and relationships in high school so that all students graduate ready for college.
February 2007
The Wallace Foundation awards $8 million during the next three years to Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit arts group, to help start the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative. The initiative seeks to increase the amount and quality of arts education in Dallas ISD elementary schools.
February 24, 2007
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and the Board of Trustees host the first of several community forums to gain input on matters dealing with governance, academics, and support of the district and to increase public awareness and participation in issues facing the district.
April 30, 2007
The Dallas Independent School District is one of six districts nationwide selected by the Center for Reform of School Systems to participate in Reform Governance in Action, a comprehensive two-year training program for school boards and superintendents.
May 2007
District schools are grouped into learning communities—geographically by grade level—allowing for better collaboration among schools that share the same characteristics and making it easier for instructional leaders and teachers to focus on learning rather than administrative matters. Secondary schools are grouped by east and west, so as to remove long-standing barriers between north and south. In addition, 14 middle and high schools are grouped together based on their shared needs and challenges to more effectively concentrate resources and strategies to help these schools overcome obstacles that have stood in the way of their success.
May 2007
In its May 28 issue, Newsweek magazine ranks the School for the Talented and Gifted and the School of Science and Engineering first and second on its annual list of "America's Best High Schools." It is the second year in a row the magazine has ranked the Talented and Gifted magnet the top public high school in the country. W.T. White High School ranked 138 and Hillcrest High School ranked 635. According to Newsweek, the top high schools do the best job in preparing their students for college.
June 2007
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa begins the process of de-layering and restructuring central administration. The “service-oriented restructuring” is intended to make central administration more efficient, effective and responsive to campus and student needs. More than 160 positions are eliminated.
August 27, 2007
The district begins a new school year, opening three new campuses and adjusting attendance zones to add six more middle schools offering 6th grade.
September 2007
The district further enhances its parent outreach by implementing an automated call system that broadcasts recorded messages to parents and guardians and to its staff by telephone. Messages are sent to alert parents of testing dates, parent conferences, PTA meetings, school activities, and to verify their child’s attendance at school.
October 9, 2007
The Texas Instruments Foundation, Harold Simmons Foundation, and the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas each donate $1 million to support the district’s initiative to become the top urban school district in the country. The funds will be used on a range of needs, such as providing more tailored professional development and coaching for teachers and principals.
October 25, 2007
The Board of Trustees approves opening a second early college high school, which will open for the 2008-2009 school year. The Early College High School at Mountain View, which opened the previous year, was the first such school in the district. At early colleges, students can simultaneously earn a high school and associate degree or up to two years of credit toward a bachelor’s degree, tuition free, in a college environment.
November 2007
Monthly school board meetings are streamed live for the first time on the district’s web site, beginning a new era of digital transparency. In addition, board agenda items with corresponding documents are made available. Citizens can now access video of previous discussions on agenda items on demand.
November 2007
For a second year, the Dallas ISD shows improvement in implementing the National Center for Educational Accountability’s recommendations to enhance teaching and learning. In a report released by the NCEA the district received improved grades in 12 of the 17 recommendations based on work performed during the 2006-2007 school year. The district was commended for being involved in work that addresses fundamental changes needed in the district’s classrooms.
November 29, 2007
Performance bonuses of up to $10,000 are awarded to 56 Dallas ISD principals for their success in leading their schools and students to a high level of academic performance for the 2006-2007 school year. The awards are based on the schools having met the Federal Adequate Yearly Progress standard and the district’s five performance indicators.
February 26, 2008
A $5 million donation from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation enables Dallas ISD to have instant access to student academic backgrounds from preschool to graduation. The grant will be used to create a database of student academic information that will allow educators to keep track of the district’s students and their learning patterns.
May 10, 2008
Dallas voters pass a $1.35 billion bond proposal. The 2008 bond program will pay for the construction of 15 new schools, including eight elementary schools, four middle schools and three high schools. Twelve existing schools will receive additions to provide 177 new classrooms, and more than 200 schools will be renovated. In addition, science labs, kitchen renovations, lunchroom expansions, and updated classroom and lab computers are included.
June 12, 2008
For the second year in a row, cuts are made in the district’s central administration. The cuts, estimated to save $2.5 million, were made necessary because of increases in utility and fuel costs, as well as a decrease in local and state revenue. The cuts become effective Sept. 1.
Aug. 1, 2008
The Texas Education Agency names 103 Dallas ISD schools exemplary or recognized for 2008—a sharp increase from the previous year’s total of 47 schools. Twenty-six schools earned the top rating of exemplary, an increase from 14 in 2007. The number of recognized schools jumped from 33 in 2007 to 77 in 2008. Moreover, Dallas students improved their scores in every grade and subject except seventh-grade writing.
August 20, 2008
Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa invites school-based employees to kick off the 2008-2009 school year at the American Airlines Center with a celebration of past accomplishments and a discussion of future goals. Student Dalton Sherman delivers “Do You Believe in Me?” speech.
August 25, 2008
The 2008-09 school year begins with two new schools, Francisco F. “Pancho” Medrano Middle School and Early College High School with Cedar Valley College. Six high schools begin offering students additional opportunities to explore their future through career pathways, including health sciences, architecture and construction, communications, law, information technology, business, or hospitality and tourism. Students attending the redesigned high schools are expected to meet high academic standards and take dual credit or Advanced Placement courses.
September 6, 2008
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and City of Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert participate in Operation Comeback, a statewide initiative uniting mayors and school district officials to reach students who are potential dropouts. The mayor and superintendent walk from home to home to visit the homes of students who have not returned to school yet and may become potential dropouts.
September 10, 2008
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announces that the Dallas ISD had an estimated $64 million shortfall for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The district uses part of its $120 million fund balance to cover the deficit. The shortfall is the result of a major budgeting error, caused by hiring additional campus staff but not properly reflecting it in the budget. The superintendent announces a major reorganization of the district’s finance and business services departments.
September 29, 2008
As a first step to address the district’s budget shortfall, roughly 160 central staff positions are eliminated, 63 of which had been filled by employees. The elimination of the positions saves the district up to $3.6 million for the 2008-2009 school year. Because central staff employees are considered at-will employees, their release does not need board approval.
September 2008
The Dallas ISD is awarded a grant from the Meadows Foundation to implement a coaching program for high school principals. The goal of the program is to improve student achievement; increase school effectiveness; and increase the campus-level, consumer confidence for participating schools. The program will also work to ensure that these campuses maintain or earn the rating of Academically Acceptable or better during the coming school year.
Oct. 16, 2008
The Dallas Independent School District implements a reduction in force by releasing employees from their positions. All totaled, approximately 375 teachers are released from their positions, almost 200 less than originally estimated. About 40 assistant principals and counselors are also released. In addition, approximately 460 teachers are transferred to other district schools.
October 2008
A task force forms to begin the development of the district’s first all-male academy. The B.F. Darrell Male Leadership Academy (later named Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy) is projected to open for the 2011-2012 school year at what is now B.F. Darrell Math, Science, and Technology Vanguard.
November 6, 2008
The Dallas ISD is given high marks for "impressive" improvement by the National Center for Educational Achievement. NCEA presents its annual audit on the district's academic systems to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees. The audit shows improvement in nine of 17 areas, with decreases in only two of the areas. NCEA officials tell the board, "You are pointing your system in the right direction and we cannot urge you enough to stay the course."
November 20, 2008
New Executive CFO Larry Throm is hired from Austin ISD to oversee a reorganized financial structure in Dallas ISD. Throm is asked to provide leadership to the district’s financial operations and correct weaknesses identified in previous external audits.
January 12, 2009
The Dallas ISD holds the first of 22 community meetings during the months of January and February. Meetings are held in each high school feeder pattern to inform and engage parents and the community about efforts to improve district schools under the Dallas Achieves! initiative.
In addition, the district announces that scorecards have been developed for 218 of the district’s schools and are available in English and Spanish on the district’s Web site. The performance measures used to create the scorecards go beyond test scores to include outcomes such as graduation rates, college readiness, attendance, and other key measures of success.
January 22, 2009
The Texas Education Agency announces its nominations for the 2009 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Award, including four Dallas ISD schools: George Bannerman Dealey International Academy, Victor H. Hexter Elementary School, George Peabody Elementary School, and the School of Health Professions at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center.
January 23, 2009
The Dallas ISD receives a $3.77 million data performance grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the district’s efforts to track student performance and improve college readiness, the key to the district’s Dallas Achieves initiative. The district has been a pioneer in the field of data by piloting real-time scorecard and dashboards thanks to a $5 million initial investment from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The Gates grant builds on this work to establish Dallas ISD as a national exemplar in data-driven decision making.
January 2009
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa begins after school “Dialogue with the Superintendent” sessions with staff throughout the district organized by high school feeder patterns. The informal sessions allow staff members to ask questions on all topics. The superintendent also begins weekly coffee meetings with small groups of parents at schools throughout the city.
February 2009
A study released by The Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., states that from 2000 to 2007: "Dallas ISD has improved more than any other urban district in Texas and more than all but one urban district in the country in narrowing the achievement gap."
March 16, 2009
James B. Bonham Elementary School is among only 12 schools nationwide to receive the National Center for Urban Transformation's National Excellence in Urban Education Award. William L. Cabell Elementary School is among 18 other schools named to the NCUST 2009 Honor Roll.
March 2009
The National Center for Educational Achievement announces that five Dallas ISD schools have been named to its Just for the Kids list of highest performing schools in all subject areas. Forty-two other Dallas ISD schools received the highest performing rating in at least one subject area.
June 24, 2009
“Dallas ISD is now viewed as one of the nation’s top-performing urban school districts,” according to a report by the Council of the Great City Schools. In addition, the Council finds that Dallas ISD is well within the range of comparison districts in terms of overall administrative staff compared to students, as well as administrative staff to total number of teachers and staff.
July 27, 2009
A two-week program for rising ninth-graders, the High School Early Start Academy, will help rising ninth-graders polish their math, science and language arts skills as they prepare to enter high school. The program is supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The academy is offered at all 22 comprehensive Dallas ISD high school campuses.
August 2009
TEA Accountability Ratings indicate 46 Dallas ISD schools are rated exemplary and 82 are rated recognized – the most ever in the school district’s history. TAKS scores climbed for the fifth consecutive year, as did the percentage of students passing at college-ready levels.
August 6, 2009
The Texas Education Agency releases Adequate Yearly Progress results indicating both gains and challenges for the Dallas ISD. While the number of district schools that did not meet the AYP standards dropped from 50 to 24, the district’s rating is listed as “Missing AYP-Stage 1.” The rating is the result of testing more than 3 percent of its special education students with alternative tests, exceeding the 1 percent and 2 percent caps.
August 27, 2009
Dallas ISD trustees approve a salary schedule that includes pay raises for all employees during the 2009-2010 school year. This marks the first pay raise for support staff in three years. Beginning teachers on the Bachelor Pay schedule receive $45,350.
September 12, 2009
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, other elected officials and community volunteers visit the homes of students who had not reported to school. The second annual Operation: Comeback initiative is designed to motivate the 1,700 students listed as no-shows to return and enroll in school. As part of the first initiative in 2008, 85 Dallas ISD students returned to school.
September 15, 2009
Four Dallas ISD schools are named Blue Ribbon Schools for 2009 by the U.S. Department of Education. The award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior, or have made dramatic gains in student achievement and helped close gaps in achievement among minority and disadvantaged students. The four Dallas ISD schools awarded are: George Bannerman Dealey International Academy, George Peabody Elementary School, School of Health Professions at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center and Victor H. Hexter Elementary School.
October 7, 2009
Eleven Dallas ISD schools are among only 254 schools in Texas named to the 2009 Texas Business and Education Coalition Honor Roll. The Honor Roll represents less than 4 percent of all public schools in Texas. The schools improved their commended performance — the state’s highest standard for academic achievement — from 2008, and every school was required to have a minimum of 20 percent of students tested performing at the commended level on all tests.
November 17, 2009
The Dallas ISD Audit Committee is presented a preliminary report of the district’s 2008-09 audit from independent auditors Deloitte and Touche, which shows significant improvement from the previous two audits conducted by the firm.
The 2008-09 audit notes three material weaknesses, down from eight the year before. In addition, the total number of material weaknesses and various deficiencies decreased from 36 in 2007-08 to 22 in 2008-09. The audit also notes that the district’s fund balance, of June 30, 2009, was $37.6 million, up from a projected fund balance to end the fiscal year of $30 million.
December 10, 2009
The School for the Talented and Gifted and the School of Science and Engineering, both at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, are named two of the top public high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The School for the Talented and Gifted ranked fifth while the School of Science and Engineering was eighth.
January 8, 2010
The Dallas ISD, in cooperation with Alliance-AFT, is selected to participate in a two-year national research project designed to develop the new Measures of Effective Teaching project. Underwritten by a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dallas is one of only six districts in the country to be selected for the project, to be implemented in middle schools.
January 21, 2010
Fifty-five Dallas ISD schools are named to the National Center for Educational Achievement’s 2009 Just for the Kids Higher Performing Schools list. All of the schools on the list received a higher-performing rating in at least one subject area: math, science, social studies, reading and writing. In 2008, the district had 47 schools on the list.
January 26, 2010
In an effort to provide parents with a choice when it comes to selecting their child’s secondary school, Dallas ISD sponsors the 2010-2011 High School Redesign Showcase for current eighth-grade students and their families. The program offers career pathways available to entering ninth-grade students, with limited space to focus on instruction that teaches in areas such as technology and communications, marketing, business skills and many others.
February 8, 2010
The Texas Education Agency’s Division of NCLB Program Coordination recognizes 24 Dallas ISD elementary schools as distinguished campuses for outstanding performance over the last three years. Schools making the list are Title 1, Part A campuses rated exemplary for 2009-2010, met AYP for 2008 & 2009, and have a student population of 40 percent or more low-income students.
February 11, 2010
Dallas ISD breaks ground on Ebby Halliday Elementary School, the first of 14 new schools being built as part of the 2008 bond program. The school is scheduled to open in August 2011.
March 10, 2010
Dallas ISD’s Nathan Adams Elementary School is among only 13 schools nationwide to receive the National Center for Urban School Transformation's 2010 National Excellence in Urban Education Award. To be eligible, schools are required to meet 11 rigorous criteria in the areas of proficiency rates, high attendance and graduation rates, attainment of No Child Left Behind adequate yearly progress, and other indicators. Nathan Adams Elementary is the second school in Dallas ISD to receive the National Excellence in Urban Education Award. James Bonham Elementary School was the recipient of the award in 2009.
March 11, 2010
Dallas ISD receives a $1.45 million federal grant from NASA, secured by the Foundation for Community Empowerment, to implement a Math, Science, and Technology Initiative in the district and in a number of pre-school programs in Dallas.
April 1, 2010
Dallas ISD announces that parents will have online access to key information about their child’s academic progress, attendance, homework, class schedule, and more through a parent portal initially launched in three Dallas ISD schools. The portal will eventually be expanded to all district campuses.
April 23, 2010
Dallas ISD breaks ground on Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy, a $21.5 million facility to house the district’s second Early College High School, to be built as part of the 2008 bond program. The school is scheduled to open in August 2011.
June 3, 2010
Results of 2010 TAKS tests show continued improvement of students both passing and passing at college-ready levels. Gains are made in every grade and every subject with the exception of 6th and 8th grade reading.
June 6, 2010
First class from Trini Garza Early College High School graduates. 76 students graduate, all of whom have earned multiple college credits.
June 14, 2010
TAG Magnet listed as Best High School in the Country by Newsweek; Science and Engineering Magnet listed as #4. The four other magnet schools at Townview, as well as Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, W.T. White and Woodrow Wilson also make list of top high schools in the country.
July 29, 2010
The Texas Education Agency releases school ratings. 66 Dallas ISD schools are rated Exemplary; 59 are rated Recognized.
August 23, 2010
2010-11 school year begins with the opening of John Leslie Patton Academic Center, a school for students on a different grade level than their peers of the same age because they lack high school credits. The school offers flexible schedules, small class-sizes and individualized tutoring.
September 10, 2010
H.S. Thompson and James Bonham Elementary Schools are named 2010 Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.
September 20, 2010
$1.5 million grant announcement from TI Foundation extends AP Incentive program to all high schools. In 2010, 1,760 Dallas ISD students passed AP exams in math, science and English, up from 157 in 1995.
October 11, 2010
Ground is broken for the new W.H. Adamson High School as part of the 2008 bond program.
November 15, 2010
Audit by Deloitte and Touche from 2009-10 school year completed on time shows no material weaknesses for first time in four years. District posts surplus of $62.4 million, showing fund balance at the end of the school year of $100 million.
February 10, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 1.0 presented to Board of Trustees indicates the possibility of having to cut $252 million from district budget because of state shortfall.
February 24, 2011
Board approves early resignation incentive for contract employees. Employees will receive 15% of their salary up to $10,000 by notifying the school district by March 8 of plans to resign at the end of the school year. More than 700 employees accept the school district’s offer, saving an estimated $45 million.
March 10, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 2.0 presented to trustees envisions a $150 million cut to district services. Board begins discussion of offering early resignation incentive for at-will employees.
March 31, 2011
Board approves early resignation incentive for at-will employees. 321 employees accept offer saving more than $12 million.
April 14, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 3.0 presented to trustees predicts a $110 million cut to district services.
April 29, 2011
Approximately 450 central staff positions eliminated. The figure includes hundreds of central staff employees released, vacancies eliminated and the number of individuals who accepted the district’s resignation offer. The elimination of positions saves approximately $25 million.
May 12, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 4.0 presented to trustees envisions a $120 million cut to district services.
May 16, 2011
Dallas ISD selected as one of five school districts in the country to share a $3 million Breakfast in the Classroom grant from the Walmart Foundation.
May 19, 2011
Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa named lone finalist for superintendent position in Cobb County, Georgia.
May 20, 2011
School of Science and Engineering named top high school in the country by The Washington Post. TAG Magnet rated #2. Other Dallas ISD schools to make the list: Law Magnet, School of Business and Management, School of Health Professions, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, W.T. White, Woodrow Wilson and Hillcrest.
May 26, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 5.0 presented to trustees envisions a $100 million cut to district services.
June 3, 2011
District expects 7,200 graduates during the 2010-11 school year, up from 5,800 in 2006-07. It is the largest number of Dallas ISD graduates since the 1982-83 school year.
From: Sandra Guerrero
To: Sandra Guerrero
Sent: Mon, June 6, 2011 5:00:31 PM
Subject: Dallas ISD News: SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL HINOJOSA RESIGNS FROM DALLAS
ISD
Contact Sandra Guerrero or Libby Daniels at (972) 925-3900
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 6, 2011
SUPERINTENDENT MICHAEL HINOJOSA RESIGNS FROM DALLAS ISD
Accepts Superintendent Position in Cobb County, Georgia
DALLAS–Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa submitted his letter of
resignation from the Dallas Independent School District today to accept a
similar position in Cobb County, Georgia.
Dr. Hinojosa has served as the superintendent for the state’s
second-largest school district for six years—the longest term since Linus Wright
held the position in the 1980s. His last day with Dallas ISD will be Thursday,
June 30, 2011.
“It has been an honor to serve as superintendent for the school
district I attended as a child and where I started my teaching career,” said
Hinojosa. “I am enormously proud of our shared accomplishments—the biggest of
which is that the number of students graduating from Dallas ISD schools is at
its highest since 1983.”
This school year, Dallas ISD expects to graduate a total of 7,200
students, up from 5,800 four years ago. The number has steadily risen each of
the last four years.
Under Dr. Hinojosa’s leadership, the school district implemented a
systemwide curriculum that was developed by teachers. In addition, principals
for schools that had vacancies during the last six years were selected through a
collaborative process that allowed staff and the community to provide input.
A $1.37 billion bond program to build and improve school facilities
that was approved by voters in 2002 was implemented on schedule and under
budget. Another $1.35 billion bond program that was approved by voters in 2008
will build 14 more schools, 13 additions and provide renovations to more than
200 district facilities.
Dallas ISD also became known throughout the country for its
leadership in arts education. The Wallace Foundation provided an $8 million
grant for the district to partner with Big Thought and the City of Dallas to
provide more arts opportunities for students both during and after school.
Under Dr. Hinojosa’s leadership, schools in the southern sector
received a significant boost. Two early college high schools are now operating,
an all-boys school will open this fall, as will a New Tech High School and three
renovated/new schools will open in Wilmer-Hutchins signaling a rebirth of
education in that community.
Grants from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation enabled the Dallas Independent School District to
become a pioneer in the world of student data. The grants gave principals and
teachers access to data dashboards, as well as established a Parent Portal for
parents to monitor the progress of their students.
During his six-year tenure, Dr. Hinojosa responded to several
crises, including the dissolution of neighboring Wilmer-Hutchins ISD and
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, all of which caused an unexpected influx of
additional students into Dallas ISD. The biggest crisis was a budget
miscalculation that eventually forced the layoff of hundreds of staff during the
2008-09 school year.
Since then, the district has put in place a number of financial
controls and rebuilt its fund balance to safer levels. The district now faces a
significant cut in state funding because of a statewide budget shortfall.
“It certainly isn’t easy to be an urban school superintendent in
today’s environment, but I am proud of what this community has accomplished
during the last six years,” said Hinojosa. “More students are graduating, more
students are scoring at college-ready levels and our teachers and principals are
better-trained. I hope whoever the board chooses as its next superintendent is
provided the same opportunities to make improvements to continue the momentum on
behalf of the students of this community. I am thankful to trustees, our staff
and so many other leaders and stakeholders in Dallas who have been part of this
experience.”
One of Dr. Hinojosa’s hallmarks was to make unannounced visits to
the district’s 225 schools each Wednesday morning. He said the experiences kept
him grounded on what was most important in the life of a large, urban school
district.
“Every school has individuals who are devoted to helping our
students succeed,” said Hinojosa. “I couldn’t help but be moved by the
dedication of so many people—from custodians to food service workers, librarians
to counselors, aides to front office staff and of course, principals and
teachers. The Dallas Independent School District will continue to shine because
of each of them. My address may soon be in Georgia, but a part of me will always
be in Dallas. It has been a privilege.”
Dr. Hinojosa said he is moving to Georgia in part to be closer to
his son whose wife is pregnant with their first child. He has two sons who have
recently graduated from Hillcrest High School in Dallas who will be attending
Ivy League colleges in the fall.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A timeline of Dr. Hinojosa’s tenure as superintendent is included:
Dallas Independent School District
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa
Timeline, 2005-11
May 12, 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s first day on the job; initiates Entry Plan—a series of interviews with individual board members, community leaders, selected principals, executive staff and teacher organizations to discuss expectations of the position.
July 2005
Wilmer-Hutchins ISD dissolves; is consolidated into Dallas ISD.
August 2005
School uniform policy for students in grades pre-K-8 implemented throughout district. (Policy approved in early 2005.)
August 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa blocks off Wednesday mornings on his calendar to make unannounced visits to school campuses throughout the district; completes Entry Plan and reports to Trustees.
September 2005
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastate parts of the gulf coast, Dallas ISD absorbs thousands of displaced students.
October 2005
Dr. Hinojosa contracts the National Center for Educational Achievement (NCEA) to conduct a best practices audit of the district’s curriculum and instructional programs.
November 29, 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and the Board of Trustees announce Dallas Achieves!, a new plan that establishes aggressive five-year performance targets to make the Dallas ISD the top urban school district by 2010.
December 2005
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa implements new “RFP” process for replacing principals who leave district campuses, due to retirement, resignation or reassignment. The “RFP” process stands for Request for Principals and calls for school staff, community members and parents from schools to be part of the interview team for selecting new principals.
December 2005
The National Center for Educational Accountability provides a report regarding Dallas ISD’s curriculum and instructional programs and proposes significant changes for improvement.
April 4, 2006
Dallas Achieves! Commission, comprising more than 60 community leaders, issues a report to trustees urging more resources devoted to classroom instruction.
May 2006
The School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center is named the top public high school in the country by Newsweek. The School for Science and Engineering is ranked #8.
June 2006
The district rolls out a newly designed and rigorous “vertically aligned” curriculum, developed in conjunction with the National Center for Educational Accountability and Institute for Learning. The district adopts a common set of instructional best practices, the “Principles of Learning”, from the Institute for Learning.
June 5, 2006
Dallas ISD begins offering courses in its new, tiered teacher training program. Based on tenure with district and their performance, teachers are divided into levels and remain in the same level for three years. The training for each year builds on training from the previous year and provides skills teachers need to be successful in the classroom.
June 22, 2006
Board of Trustees approve performance incentive bonuses for Dallas ISD principals whose schools and students perform at a high academic level. The district identifies “Master Teachers” who, as a result of high student achievement results, take on district instructional leadership roles: providing professional development for other teachers, developing curriculum, etc.
July 13, 2006
The Texas Education Agency announces that the Dallas ISD has been awarded a Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics grant to create a T-STEM Academy. The academies are designed to improve instruction and academic performance in science- and math-related subjects in secondary schools. The academy will be created at Emmett J. Conrad High School.
August 9, 2006
The Dallas Education Foundation is launched to raise funds to supplement programs and initiatives that enhance the education of Dallas ISD students. The foundation’s board is comprised of Dallas’ corporate and civic giants. To kick off the school year, the district invites all employees to the Dallas ISD Back-to-School Kickoff at the American Airlines Center. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa introduces staff to the district’s singularity of purpose: “to educate and graduate students ready for college.”
August 14, 2006
The district opens 11 new campuses with new attendance zones, returning students to their neighborhood schools. Most sixth-graders begin attending middle schools rather than elementary schools.
August 29, 2006
After a series of articles in The Dallas Morning News regarding lax accountability of the district’s purchasing procedures (use of P-cards), Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announces a five-point initiative to address a need for greater accountability, which includes the creation of the Office of District Integrity (later re-named the Office of Professional Responsibility) and an internal affairs task force, a fraud hotline, and the use of EthicsPoint resources.
October 2006
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa creates a district-wide principals’ leadership team. The group, which meets regularly to discuss strategies and initiatives, is made up of principals who have demonstrated sustained academic success at every school to which they have been assigned.
The superintendent also convenes the first-ever Teacher Advisory Committee, made up of the previous year’s Teacher of the Year finalists. Committee members are briefed on district issues and are given opportunities to share concerns and ask questions.
October 2006
To give his Executive Leadership team more input from campus-level staff, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa names an area superintendent and a principal to the team on a rotating basis.
November 2006
Dallas ISD is awarded a $22 million Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement performance pay in 59 schools.
January 2007
The National Center for Education Accountability presents its one-year review to Board of Trustees, noting that overall, Dallas ISD has made tremendous progress in only 10 months and that there is a positive shift in the district culture.
January 11, 2007
District presents recommendations to redesign the way high school is taught. The goal of the recommendations is to increase rigor, relevance and relationships in high school so that all students graduate ready for college.
February 2007
The Wallace Foundation awards $8 million during the next three years to Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit arts group, to help start the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative. The initiative seeks to increase the amount and quality of arts education in Dallas ISD elementary schools.
February 24, 2007
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and the Board of Trustees host the first of several community forums to gain input on matters dealing with governance, academics, and support of the district and to increase public awareness and participation in issues facing the district.
April 30, 2007
The Dallas Independent School District is one of six districts nationwide selected by the Center for Reform of School Systems to participate in Reform Governance in Action, a comprehensive two-year training program for school boards and superintendents.
May 2007
District schools are grouped into learning communities—geographically by grade level—allowing for better collaboration among schools that share the same characteristics and making it easier for instructional leaders and teachers to focus on learning rather than administrative matters. Secondary schools are grouped by east and west, so as to remove long-standing barriers between north and south. In addition, 14 middle and high schools are grouped together based on their shared needs and challenges to more effectively concentrate resources and strategies to help these schools overcome obstacles that have stood in the way of their success.
May 2007
In its May 28 issue, Newsweek magazine ranks the School for the Talented and Gifted and the School of Science and Engineering first and second on its annual list of "America's Best High Schools." It is the second year in a row the magazine has ranked the Talented and Gifted magnet the top public high school in the country. W.T. White High School ranked 138 and Hillcrest High School ranked 635. According to Newsweek, the top high schools do the best job in preparing their students for college.
June 2007
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa begins the process of de-layering and restructuring central administration. The “service-oriented restructuring” is intended to make central administration more efficient, effective and responsive to campus and student needs. More than 160 positions are eliminated.
August 27, 2007
The district begins a new school year, opening three new campuses and adjusting attendance zones to add six more middle schools offering 6th grade.
September 2007
The district further enhances its parent outreach by implementing an automated call system that broadcasts recorded messages to parents and guardians and to its staff by telephone. Messages are sent to alert parents of testing dates, parent conferences, PTA meetings, school activities, and to verify their child’s attendance at school.
October 9, 2007
The Texas Instruments Foundation, Harold Simmons Foundation, and the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas each donate $1 million to support the district’s initiative to become the top urban school district in the country. The funds will be used on a range of needs, such as providing more tailored professional development and coaching for teachers and principals.
October 25, 2007
The Board of Trustees approves opening a second early college high school, which will open for the 2008-2009 school year. The Early College High School at Mountain View, which opened the previous year, was the first such school in the district. At early colleges, students can simultaneously earn a high school and associate degree or up to two years of credit toward a bachelor’s degree, tuition free, in a college environment.
November 2007
Monthly school board meetings are streamed live for the first time on the district’s web site, beginning a new era of digital transparency. In addition, board agenda items with corresponding documents are made available. Citizens can now access video of previous discussions on agenda items on demand.
November 2007
For a second year, the Dallas ISD shows improvement in implementing the National Center for Educational Accountability’s recommendations to enhance teaching and learning. In a report released by the NCEA the district received improved grades in 12 of the 17 recommendations based on work performed during the 2006-2007 school year. The district was commended for being involved in work that addresses fundamental changes needed in the district’s classrooms.
November 29, 2007
Performance bonuses of up to $10,000 are awarded to 56 Dallas ISD principals for their success in leading their schools and students to a high level of academic performance for the 2006-2007 school year. The awards are based on the schools having met the Federal Adequate Yearly Progress standard and the district’s five performance indicators.
February 26, 2008
A $5 million donation from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation enables Dallas ISD to have instant access to student academic backgrounds from preschool to graduation. The grant will be used to create a database of student academic information that will allow educators to keep track of the district’s students and their learning patterns.
May 10, 2008
Dallas voters pass a $1.35 billion bond proposal. The 2008 bond program will pay for the construction of 15 new schools, including eight elementary schools, four middle schools and three high schools. Twelve existing schools will receive additions to provide 177 new classrooms, and more than 200 schools will be renovated. In addition, science labs, kitchen renovations, lunchroom expansions, and updated classroom and lab computers are included.
June 12, 2008
For the second year in a row, cuts are made in the district’s central administration. The cuts, estimated to save $2.5 million, were made necessary because of increases in utility and fuel costs, as well as a decrease in local and state revenue. The cuts become effective Sept. 1.
Aug. 1, 2008
The Texas Education Agency names 103 Dallas ISD schools exemplary or recognized for 2008—a sharp increase from the previous year’s total of 47 schools. Twenty-six schools earned the top rating of exemplary, an increase from 14 in 2007. The number of recognized schools jumped from 33 in 2007 to 77 in 2008. Moreover, Dallas students improved their scores in every grade and subject except seventh-grade writing.
August 20, 2008
Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa invites school-based employees to kick off the 2008-2009 school year at the American Airlines Center with a celebration of past accomplishments and a discussion of future goals. Student Dalton Sherman delivers “Do You Believe in Me?” speech.
August 25, 2008
The 2008-09 school year begins with two new schools, Francisco F. “Pancho” Medrano Middle School and Early College High School with Cedar Valley College. Six high schools begin offering students additional opportunities to explore their future through career pathways, including health sciences, architecture and construction, communications, law, information technology, business, or hospitality and tourism. Students attending the redesigned high schools are expected to meet high academic standards and take dual credit or Advanced Placement courses.
September 6, 2008
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and City of Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert participate in Operation Comeback, a statewide initiative uniting mayors and school district officials to reach students who are potential dropouts. The mayor and superintendent walk from home to home to visit the homes of students who have not returned to school yet and may become potential dropouts.
September 10, 2008
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announces that the Dallas ISD had an estimated $64 million shortfall for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The district uses part of its $120 million fund balance to cover the deficit. The shortfall is the result of a major budgeting error, caused by hiring additional campus staff but not properly reflecting it in the budget. The superintendent announces a major reorganization of the district’s finance and business services departments.
September 29, 2008
As a first step to address the district’s budget shortfall, roughly 160 central staff positions are eliminated, 63 of which had been filled by employees. The elimination of the positions saves the district up to $3.6 million for the 2008-2009 school year. Because central staff employees are considered at-will employees, their release does not need board approval.
September 2008
The Dallas ISD is awarded a grant from the Meadows Foundation to implement a coaching program for high school principals. The goal of the program is to improve student achievement; increase school effectiveness; and increase the campus-level, consumer confidence for participating schools. The program will also work to ensure that these campuses maintain or earn the rating of Academically Acceptable or better during the coming school year.
Oct. 16, 2008
The Dallas Independent School District implements a reduction in force by releasing employees from their positions. All totaled, approximately 375 teachers are released from their positions, almost 200 less than originally estimated. About 40 assistant principals and counselors are also released. In addition, approximately 460 teachers are transferred to other district schools.
October 2008
A task force forms to begin the development of the district’s first all-male academy. The B.F. Darrell Male Leadership Academy (later named Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy) is projected to open for the 2011-2012 school year at what is now B.F. Darrell Math, Science, and Technology Vanguard.
November 6, 2008
The Dallas ISD is given high marks for "impressive" improvement by the National Center for Educational Achievement. NCEA presents its annual audit on the district's academic systems to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees. The audit shows improvement in nine of 17 areas, with decreases in only two of the areas. NCEA officials tell the board, "You are pointing your system in the right direction and we cannot urge you enough to stay the course."
November 20, 2008
New Executive CFO Larry Throm is hired from Austin ISD to oversee a reorganized financial structure in Dallas ISD. Throm is asked to provide leadership to the district’s financial operations and correct weaknesses identified in previous external audits.
January 12, 2009
The Dallas ISD holds the first of 22 community meetings during the months of January and February. Meetings are held in each high school feeder pattern to inform and engage parents and the community about efforts to improve district schools under the Dallas Achieves! initiative.
In addition, the district announces that scorecards have been developed for 218 of the district’s schools and are available in English and Spanish on the district’s Web site. The performance measures used to create the scorecards go beyond test scores to include outcomes such as graduation rates, college readiness, attendance, and other key measures of success.
January 22, 2009
The Texas Education Agency announces its nominations for the 2009 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Award, including four Dallas ISD schools: George Bannerman Dealey International Academy, Victor H. Hexter Elementary School, George Peabody Elementary School, and the School of Health Professions at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center.
January 23, 2009
The Dallas ISD receives a $3.77 million data performance grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the district’s efforts to track student performance and improve college readiness, the key to the district’s Dallas Achieves initiative. The district has been a pioneer in the field of data by piloting real-time scorecard and dashboards thanks to a $5 million initial investment from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The Gates grant builds on this work to establish Dallas ISD as a national exemplar in data-driven decision making.
January 2009
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa begins after school “Dialogue with the Superintendent” sessions with staff throughout the district organized by high school feeder patterns. The informal sessions allow staff members to ask questions on all topics. The superintendent also begins weekly coffee meetings with small groups of parents at schools throughout the city.
February 2009
A study released by The Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., states that from 2000 to 2007: "Dallas ISD has improved more than any other urban district in Texas and more than all but one urban district in the country in narrowing the achievement gap."
March 16, 2009
James B. Bonham Elementary School is among only 12 schools nationwide to receive the National Center for Urban Transformation's National Excellence in Urban Education Award. William L. Cabell Elementary School is among 18 other schools named to the NCUST 2009 Honor Roll.
March 2009
The National Center for Educational Achievement announces that five Dallas ISD schools have been named to its Just for the Kids list of highest performing schools in all subject areas. Forty-two other Dallas ISD schools received the highest performing rating in at least one subject area.
June 24, 2009
“Dallas ISD is now viewed as one of the nation’s top-performing urban school districts,” according to a report by the Council of the Great City Schools. In addition, the Council finds that Dallas ISD is well within the range of comparison districts in terms of overall administrative staff compared to students, as well as administrative staff to total number of teachers and staff.
July 27, 2009
A two-week program for rising ninth-graders, the High School Early Start Academy, will help rising ninth-graders polish their math, science and language arts skills as they prepare to enter high school. The program is supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The academy is offered at all 22 comprehensive Dallas ISD high school campuses.
August 2009
TEA Accountability Ratings indicate 46 Dallas ISD schools are rated exemplary and 82 are rated recognized – the most ever in the school district’s history. TAKS scores climbed for the fifth consecutive year, as did the percentage of students passing at college-ready levels.
August 6, 2009
The Texas Education Agency releases Adequate Yearly Progress results indicating both gains and challenges for the Dallas ISD. While the number of district schools that did not meet the AYP standards dropped from 50 to 24, the district’s rating is listed as “Missing AYP-Stage 1.” The rating is the result of testing more than 3 percent of its special education students with alternative tests, exceeding the 1 percent and 2 percent caps.
August 27, 2009
Dallas ISD trustees approve a salary schedule that includes pay raises for all employees during the 2009-2010 school year. This marks the first pay raise for support staff in three years. Beginning teachers on the Bachelor Pay schedule receive $45,350.
September 12, 2009
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, other elected officials and community volunteers visit the homes of students who had not reported to school. The second annual Operation: Comeback initiative is designed to motivate the 1,700 students listed as no-shows to return and enroll in school. As part of the first initiative in 2008, 85 Dallas ISD students returned to school.
September 15, 2009
Four Dallas ISD schools are named Blue Ribbon Schools for 2009 by the U.S. Department of Education. The award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior, or have made dramatic gains in student achievement and helped close gaps in achievement among minority and disadvantaged students. The four Dallas ISD schools awarded are: George Bannerman Dealey International Academy, George Peabody Elementary School, School of Health Professions at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center and Victor H. Hexter Elementary School.
October 7, 2009
Eleven Dallas ISD schools are among only 254 schools in Texas named to the 2009 Texas Business and Education Coalition Honor Roll. The Honor Roll represents less than 4 percent of all public schools in Texas. The schools improved their commended performance — the state’s highest standard for academic achievement — from 2008, and every school was required to have a minimum of 20 percent of students tested performing at the commended level on all tests.
November 17, 2009
The Dallas ISD Audit Committee is presented a preliminary report of the district’s 2008-09 audit from independent auditors Deloitte and Touche, which shows significant improvement from the previous two audits conducted by the firm.
The 2008-09 audit notes three material weaknesses, down from eight the year before. In addition, the total number of material weaknesses and various deficiencies decreased from 36 in 2007-08 to 22 in 2008-09. The audit also notes that the district’s fund balance, of June 30, 2009, was $37.6 million, up from a projected fund balance to end the fiscal year of $30 million.
December 10, 2009
The School for the Talented and Gifted and the School of Science and Engineering, both at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, are named two of the top public high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The School for the Talented and Gifted ranked fifth while the School of Science and Engineering was eighth.
January 8, 2010
The Dallas ISD, in cooperation with Alliance-AFT, is selected to participate in a two-year national research project designed to develop the new Measures of Effective Teaching project. Underwritten by a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dallas is one of only six districts in the country to be selected for the project, to be implemented in middle schools.
January 21, 2010
Fifty-five Dallas ISD schools are named to the National Center for Educational Achievement’s 2009 Just for the Kids Higher Performing Schools list. All of the schools on the list received a higher-performing rating in at least one subject area: math, science, social studies, reading and writing. In 2008, the district had 47 schools on the list.
January 26, 2010
In an effort to provide parents with a choice when it comes to selecting their child’s secondary school, Dallas ISD sponsors the 2010-2011 High School Redesign Showcase for current eighth-grade students and their families. The program offers career pathways available to entering ninth-grade students, with limited space to focus on instruction that teaches in areas such as technology and communications, marketing, business skills and many others.
February 8, 2010
The Texas Education Agency’s Division of NCLB Program Coordination recognizes 24 Dallas ISD elementary schools as distinguished campuses for outstanding performance over the last three years. Schools making the list are Title 1, Part A campuses rated exemplary for 2009-2010, met AYP for 2008 & 2009, and have a student population of 40 percent or more low-income students.
February 11, 2010
Dallas ISD breaks ground on Ebby Halliday Elementary School, the first of 14 new schools being built as part of the 2008 bond program. The school is scheduled to open in August 2011.
March 10, 2010
Dallas ISD’s Nathan Adams Elementary School is among only 13 schools nationwide to receive the National Center for Urban School Transformation's 2010 National Excellence in Urban Education Award. To be eligible, schools are required to meet 11 rigorous criteria in the areas of proficiency rates, high attendance and graduation rates, attainment of No Child Left Behind adequate yearly progress, and other indicators. Nathan Adams Elementary is the second school in Dallas ISD to receive the National Excellence in Urban Education Award. James Bonham Elementary School was the recipient of the award in 2009.
March 11, 2010
Dallas ISD receives a $1.45 million federal grant from NASA, secured by the Foundation for Community Empowerment, to implement a Math, Science, and Technology Initiative in the district and in a number of pre-school programs in Dallas.
April 1, 2010
Dallas ISD announces that parents will have online access to key information about their child’s academic progress, attendance, homework, class schedule, and more through a parent portal initially launched in three Dallas ISD schools. The portal will eventually be expanded to all district campuses.
April 23, 2010
Dallas ISD breaks ground on Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy, a $21.5 million facility to house the district’s second Early College High School, to be built as part of the 2008 bond program. The school is scheduled to open in August 2011.
June 3, 2010
Results of 2010 TAKS tests show continued improvement of students both passing and passing at college-ready levels. Gains are made in every grade and every subject with the exception of 6th and 8th grade reading.
June 6, 2010
First class from Trini Garza Early College High School graduates. 76 students graduate, all of whom have earned multiple college credits.
June 14, 2010
TAG Magnet listed as Best High School in the Country by Newsweek; Science and Engineering Magnet listed as #4. The four other magnet schools at Townview, as well as Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, W.T. White and Woodrow Wilson also make list of top high schools in the country.
July 29, 2010
The Texas Education Agency releases school ratings. 66 Dallas ISD schools are rated Exemplary; 59 are rated Recognized.
August 23, 2010
2010-11 school year begins with the opening of John Leslie Patton Academic Center, a school for students on a different grade level than their peers of the same age because they lack high school credits. The school offers flexible schedules, small class-sizes and individualized tutoring.
September 10, 2010
H.S. Thompson and James Bonham Elementary Schools are named 2010 Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.
September 20, 2010
$1.5 million grant announcement from TI Foundation extends AP Incentive program to all high schools. In 2010, 1,760 Dallas ISD students passed AP exams in math, science and English, up from 157 in 1995.
October 11, 2010
Ground is broken for the new W.H. Adamson High School as part of the 2008 bond program.
November 15, 2010
Audit by Deloitte and Touche from 2009-10 school year completed on time shows no material weaknesses for first time in four years. District posts surplus of $62.4 million, showing fund balance at the end of the school year of $100 million.
February 10, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 1.0 presented to Board of Trustees indicates the possibility of having to cut $252 million from district budget because of state shortfall.
February 24, 2011
Board approves early resignation incentive for contract employees. Employees will receive 15% of their salary up to $10,000 by notifying the school district by March 8 of plans to resign at the end of the school year. More than 700 employees accept the school district’s offer, saving an estimated $45 million.
March 10, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 2.0 presented to trustees envisions a $150 million cut to district services. Board begins discussion of offering early resignation incentive for at-will employees.
March 31, 2011
Board approves early resignation incentive for at-will employees. 321 employees accept offer saving more than $12 million.
April 14, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 3.0 presented to trustees predicts a $110 million cut to district services.
April 29, 2011
Approximately 450 central staff positions eliminated. The figure includes hundreds of central staff employees released, vacancies eliminated and the number of individuals who accepted the district’s resignation offer. The elimination of positions saves approximately $25 million.
May 12, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 4.0 presented to trustees envisions a $120 million cut to district services.
May 16, 2011
Dallas ISD selected as one of five school districts in the country to share a $3 million Breakfast in the Classroom grant from the Walmart Foundation.
May 19, 2011
Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa named lone finalist for superintendent position in Cobb County, Georgia.
May 20, 2011
School of Science and Engineering named top high school in the country by The Washington Post. TAG Magnet rated #2. Other Dallas ISD schools to make the list: Law Magnet, School of Business and Management, School of Health Professions, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, W.T. White, Woodrow Wilson and Hillcrest.
May 26, 2011
Budget Reduction Plan 5.0 presented to trustees envisions a $100 million cut to district services.
June 3, 2011
District expects 7,200 graduates during the 2010-11 school year, up from 5,800 in 2006-07. It is the largest number of Dallas ISD graduates since the 1982-83 school year.
Joint Statement by MALDEF, TABE and LULAC Helps Defeat Plan to Abolish Bilingual Education
Compliments of LUAC:
For a copy of the article which explains the meeting in detail visit the Dallas Morning New of June 14 page 2B, article entitled Irving: New trustees defeated on English plan.
Angela
LULAC Addresses Irving Independent School District Board
Joint Statement by MALDEF, TABE and LULAC Helps Defeat Plan to Abolish Bilingual Education
Newly elected Deputy State Director for the Elderly Richard Sambrano on Monday night addressed the Irving Independent School District Board of Trustees before a standing room only crowd to oppose the two new trustees’ proposal to create an optional English immersion program for Spanish-speaking children.
During public comments, speakers argued against newcomers Steven Jones and Gail Wells’ proposal and defended Superintendent Dana Bedden, whose conduct during the election drew criticism from Jones and Wells not unlike the tactics employed by the Tea Party against President Obama.
Quoting from a letter from a coalition including LULAC, MALDEF and the Texas Association of Bilingual Educators sent to the president of the school board and superintendent, which was circulated to all board members and the media, Sambrano among other things said: According to a story printed in the Dallas Morning News on June 13,2011 (“Irving ISD board meeting Monday has packed agenda, new trustees propose several items”), trustees Steven Jones and Gail Wells are advocating for a structured English immersion program for Spanish-speaking limited English proficient students. It is our understanding that the pair has also placed an item on the agenda proposing to eliminate the District’s bilingual program for grades K-5. We strongly believe this “sink-or-swim” approach would not only be a disservice to Irving students, but also a violation of ELL students’ rights under state law.
The letter continues: The academic debate is over in terms of which language programs work and which do not. All credible research shows that the longer a student receives instruction in their native language, the better they achieve academically and Irving ISD’s efforts to move toward structured English immersion would not only adversely affect student performance in the long run but would also likely hamper the District’s accountability ratings. Structured Immersion programs result in superficial success where students are playground-proficient in English, but not academically proficient in English and prepared to take standardized tests. Immersion programs have failed miserably wherever they have been implemented the evidence is there from California to Arizona to Massachusetts. In fact, dual language is now the most popular and successful Bilingual program in Texas, as more than 1 in 3 schools (over 800) now implement them in every regional education center across the state.
The letter went on to say that it not only makes sense educationally to offer high quality Bilingual Education programs, but it is required under Texas law. In addition, the Commissioner’s regulations require that school districts provide to students ”information describing the bilingual education, its benefits to the student, and its being an integral part of the school program to ensure that the parents understand the purposes and content of the program.”
Finally, the letter, signed by David Hinojosa of MALDEF, Dr. Richard Gomez of TABE, and Jorge Rivera president of the LULAC council in Irving, urges the Irving ISD to abandon policies that have failed in district by district and will only lead to failing grades and higher dropout rates.. Instead they urged the district to continue implementing and supporting strong bilingual programs, like dual language.
This can be seen as a tremendous victory for Hispanics throughout the state as it places on call other districts that may try to abolish bilingual education. The vote was 5-2 against the two new trustees’ proposition and in favor of MADEF, TABE and LULAC.
Among a host of speakers were the founder of a former Irving LULAC council and plaintiff in a redistricting lawsuit in federal court Manuel Benavidez, former LULAC member, and Accion America president Carlos Quintania. Many thanks to Jorge Rivera who mobilized the Hispanic community as not seen in a long time in Irving.
For a copy of the article which explains the meeting in detail visit the Dallas Morning New of June 14 page 2B, article entitled Irving: New trustees defeated on English plan.
Angela
LULAC Addresses Irving Independent School District Board
Joint Statement by MALDEF, TABE and LULAC Helps Defeat Plan to Abolish Bilingual Education
Newly elected Deputy State Director for the Elderly Richard Sambrano on Monday night addressed the Irving Independent School District Board of Trustees before a standing room only crowd to oppose the two new trustees’ proposal to create an optional English immersion program for Spanish-speaking children.
During public comments, speakers argued against newcomers Steven Jones and Gail Wells’ proposal and defended Superintendent Dana Bedden, whose conduct during the election drew criticism from Jones and Wells not unlike the tactics employed by the Tea Party against President Obama.
Quoting from a letter from a coalition including LULAC, MALDEF and the Texas Association of Bilingual Educators sent to the president of the school board and superintendent, which was circulated to all board members and the media, Sambrano among other things said: According to a story printed in the Dallas Morning News on June 13,2011 (“Irving ISD board meeting Monday has packed agenda, new trustees propose several items”), trustees Steven Jones and Gail Wells are advocating for a structured English immersion program for Spanish-speaking limited English proficient students. It is our understanding that the pair has also placed an item on the agenda proposing to eliminate the District’s bilingual program for grades K-5. We strongly believe this “sink-or-swim” approach would not only be a disservice to Irving students, but also a violation of ELL students’ rights under state law.
The letter continues: The academic debate is over in terms of which language programs work and which do not. All credible research shows that the longer a student receives instruction in their native language, the better they achieve academically and Irving ISD’s efforts to move toward structured English immersion would not only adversely affect student performance in the long run but would also likely hamper the District’s accountability ratings. Structured Immersion programs result in superficial success where students are playground-proficient in English, but not academically proficient in English and prepared to take standardized tests. Immersion programs have failed miserably wherever they have been implemented the evidence is there from California to Arizona to Massachusetts. In fact, dual language is now the most popular and successful Bilingual program in Texas, as more than 1 in 3 schools (over 800) now implement them in every regional education center across the state.
The letter went on to say that it not only makes sense educationally to offer high quality Bilingual Education programs, but it is required under Texas law. In addition, the Commissioner’s regulations require that school districts provide to students ”information describing the bilingual education, its benefits to the student, and its being an integral part of the school program to ensure that the parents understand the purposes and content of the program.”
Finally, the letter, signed by David Hinojosa of MALDEF, Dr. Richard Gomez of TABE, and Jorge Rivera president of the LULAC council in Irving, urges the Irving ISD to abandon policies that have failed in district by district and will only lead to failing grades and higher dropout rates.. Instead they urged the district to continue implementing and supporting strong bilingual programs, like dual language.
This can be seen as a tremendous victory for Hispanics throughout the state as it places on call other districts that may try to abolish bilingual education. The vote was 5-2 against the two new trustees’ proposition and in favor of MADEF, TABE and LULAC.
Among a host of speakers were the founder of a former Irving LULAC council and plaintiff in a redistricting lawsuit in federal court Manuel Benavidez, former LULAC member, and Accion America president Carlos Quintania. Many thanks to Jorge Rivera who mobilized the Hispanic community as not seen in a long time in Irving.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Another Look at UT Productivity Report
On the subject of faculty productivity at UT.
Angela
Guest Column: Another Look at UT Productivity Report
by Joseph Daniel Ura 6/9/2011 8 Comments
KEYWORDS: Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), Texas Colleges and Universities, Tier One Universities, Texas A&M University-College Station, University of Texas-Austin
Enlargephoto illustration by: Kumar Appaiah / Todd Wiseman
A report on teaching productivity at the University of Texas at Austin by Richard Vedder and his colleagues at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) concludes that there is a “sharp disparity in the teaching loads for individual faculty members” at UT. Strikingly, they find that the top 20 percent of “faculty with respect to teaching loads teaches 57% of all student credit hours” while the bottom 20 percent teach “only 2% of all student credit hours.” On this basis, Dr. Vedder and his coauthors argue that substantial financial savings are available to UT by increasing the average teaching loads of faculty and eliminating a large number of positions held by “the least productive” faculty members. This recommendation was repeated Dr. Vedder in an editorial in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, calling for “the faculty to teach, on average, about 150-160 students a year.”
The CCAP report is technically accurate but substantively misleading. In particular, the CCAP provides a muddled picture of teaching at UT by describing the distribution of teaching duties for the university’s entire faculty together, lumping together data on full-time faculty with data on part-time faculty and data from graduate colleges and programs with data from colleges and programs that mainly serve undergraduates. As a result, the CCAP report creates a false impression of inequity in the assignment of teaching duties at UT and overstates the feasibility of reducing faculty costs without undermining the quality of UT’s academic programs.
First, much of the skew in teaching duties observed by the CCAP report authors is simply a function of the fact that UT employs a large number of part-time faculty. Nearly a third (33 percent) of UT’s faculty are appointed at 50 percent effort or less. (The percentage of effort employed is defined as a “faculty member's percent of time in relation to a full or normal workload, summed and averaged across … fall 2009 and spring 2010” and reported in the UT data as “Average Percent Appointment.”) As one might expect, the part-time instructors and professors teach fewer students and credit hours, on average, than full-time faculty.
Table 1: Employment Status and Relative Teaching Output
Faculty Appointment Percent Effort
Productivity Cohort 0-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100%
Most Productive 1.1 7.9 5.8 85.2
Second Quintile 1.7 17.5 4.2 76.7
Third Quintile 5.0 23.2 3.1 68.7
Fourth Quintile 12.7 30.0 4.5 52.7
Least Productive 39.4 24.5 3.7 32.4
% All Faculty 12.0 20.6 4.3 63.1
Indeed, as Table 1 shows, nearly two-thirds of the bottom quintile is faculty appointments of 50 percent or less. Many of the remaining faculty members in the bottom teaching productivity quintile are assigned to other, nonteaching duties in the university such as student services and academic support. All in all, nearly 75 percent of the least productive fifth of UT faculty are part-time employees (50 percent or less) or are explicitly assigned to other, nonteaching duties in the university for at least 50 percent of their appointment. Though the preliminary data provided by UT provide little insight into the reasons for the modest teaching assignments of the remaining 25 percent of the bottom quintile, it is clear that the bottom fifth of faculty at UT in terms of student credit hour productivity are not principally full-time faculty members shirking their teaching obligations.
Table 2: Mean and Median Total Credit Hours (TCH) by Employment Status
Employment Status Mean TCH Median TCH % Faculty % TCH
100-76% Appointment 388.1 254.5 63.1 77.9
51-75% Appointment 405.7 228.9 4.3 5.6
26-50% Appointment 199.7 138.0 20.6 13.0
0-25% Appointment 78.3 45.0 12.0 3.5
The relationship between employment status and teaching productivity is further evident in the average (mean and median) student credit hours produced by members of each employment status cohort (Table 2). Full-time faculty and more-than-half-time faculty typically teach substantially more student credit hours than faculty members appointed for half time or less.
Additionally, the differences in the mean and median values of the total student hours taught by various groups of faculty suggest that some of the variance in the number of student credit hours taught by faculty members follows from a distribution of teaching duties in which some faculty members are assigned introductory courses (which may enroll hundreds of students in any given section) while others lead advanced undergraduate courses (which often only enroll 35 or fewer students) or graduate courses (which may have as few as 5 students).
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A three-hour introductory course with 300 students will produce 900 credit hours, while a three-hour advanced course with 30 students will produce only 90. Yet, it is a serious mistake to presume that the former represents ten times as much work or educational value as the latter. The instructor of an introductory course may convey basic material to a large number of students, but the instructor of the small course provides careful, individual attention to students’ intellectual development and academic skills. Conclusions of substantial skewness in teaching duties at UT rely, in part, on a false equivalence between the quality of student credit hours in large introductory courses and small advanced courses. This impression is exacerbated in the analysis of a single year of data, which is unlikely to reflect faculty members’ rotation between introductory and advanced or graduate courses over time.
Breaking down average teaching productivity by faculty appointment type (percentage effort) and college provides a more useful picture of teaching at UT than simply looking at the distribution of teaching duties across all faculty and programs. The table below reports the average (mean) number of students taught per year (presuming 3.0 credit hours per student) by faculty in each of UT’s colleges by appointment type. The table separates colleges in which a majority of credit hours are earned by graduate students from those in which a majority of credit hours are earned by undergraduate students. The table also reports the average teaching load for faculty in each college weighted by the appointment types of its faculty.
Table 3: Average Estimated Number of Students Taught by College and Appointment Level
Faculty % Appointment (100%=Normal, Full-Time Appointment)
College 100-76% 75-51% 50-26% 25-0% Weighted Average
Majority Undergraduate Credit Hours
Business 177.2 294.5 142.3 50.2 212.7
Natural Sciences 209.8 127 96.8 26.7 176.9
Communications 171.2 75.2 75 28.7 169.5
Liberal Arts 136 184.5 59.4 31.9 140.3
Engineering 123.2 144.3 82.6 32.9 136.8
Education 106.6 77.7 67.5 25.2 115.9
Architecture 96.6 78.5 29.9 22.5 88.5
Fine Arts 65 86.9 67.8 12.6 85.9
Nursing 63.9 26.5 23.8 8.5 59.4
Majority Graduate Credit Hours
Information 58.5 -- 118.8 66.3 191.2
Pharmacy 81.4 55.9 63.8 18.4 184
Social Work 81.2 64.9 40.9 22.3 93.6
Law 89.9 12.5 23.7 12.8 80.3
Public Affairs 52.2 30.5 16.4 16.2 59.1
Overall
Undergrad Colleges 135.5 143.3 68.8 30.4 143.8
Grad Colleges 78.8 38.6 42.3 20.6 110.6
All Colleges 129.4 135.2 66.6 26.1 139.5
Though these are precisely the same data analyzed by the CCAP report, dissecting the data by faculty appointment type and college provides a very different view of teaching at UT.
First, CCAP’s aggregate analysis of UT’s data masks the existence of much high volume teaching already in place at UT. Indeed, several of colleges at UT already exceed the productivity guidelines suggested by Dr. Vedder’s Wall Street Journal editorial. Faculty in the colleges of Business, Communication, Natural Sciences, and Pharmacy all teach a weighted average of more than 150 students each year. Also, faculty in the colleges of Liberal Arts and Engineering are within 10 percent of a 150 student per year target (weighted average), as is the university as a whole. Thus, in colleges for which economies of scale may be reasonably leveraged to provide instruction to large numbers of students, average faculty teaching productivity is quite high.
In contrast, lower teaching loads are centered in colleges that principally serve graduate students or require the close supervision of students in clinical, practical, or performance settings. Half of the colleges with weighted average faculty teaching loads of less than 100 students per year — the colleges of Law, Public Affairs, and Social Work- — are exclusively or predominantly oriented towards graduate and professional studies. Among low-teaching load colleges that principally serve undergraduate students, the academic programs offered by the colleges of Architecture, Nursing, and Fine Arts almost certainly deal with subject matter that simply requires closer supervision of students than we might expect in other undergraduate colleges on average.
Inequalities in the assignment of nominal teaching duties across UT’s faculty is, therefore, seemingly driven by faculty members’ appointment types, class sizes, and fields of expertise. Making modest efforts to account for these factors shows a much more reasonable current distribution of teaching duties across UT’s faculty than the CCAP report would suggest. This alternative analysis of the UT data argues against the feasibility and wisdom of attempting to generate financial savings from the redistribution of teaching work loads as proposed by the CCAP report and repeated in Dr. Vedder’s Wall Street Journal editorial.
First, eliminating the least productive quintile of teachers at UT means purging many part-time faculty positions. These instructors are often working professionals who provide valuable supplements to the scholarly expertise of tenured and tenure-track faculty. Dismissing them for “low productivity” without accounting for their part-time status or the programs in which they teach is short-sighted and threatens the quality of many academic programs.
Second, expanding class sizes to achieve arbitrary teaching productivity targets threatens the viability of academic programs that rely on close attention to and supervision of students, such as professional programs in law and public policy, undergraduate programs in nursing and laboratory sciences, and doctoral programs in nearly every area of the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
Finally, increasing teaching loads will undermine the university’s research mission, which has the twin objectives of generating new knowledge and promoting expert teaching. Forty percent of UT’s tenured and tenure-track faculty have received external research support in the past five years, and many more are nationally and internationally prominent experts in their fields of expertise. Increasing teaching loads will, by definition, crowd out at least some of this scholarly work. This will constrain the body of knowledge produced by UT’s faculty and limit the extent to which the university’s teaching is informed by cutting-edge research.
Tuition and fees for most in-state undergraduate students at UT will be less than $10,000 next year compared with about $12,000 at the University of Michigan and $33,000 at Rice University in Houston. Ultimately, the reforms proposed by CCAP may generate additional savings for UT’s students and the state of Texas. These savings are not without a price, though. Eliminating part-time faculty positions, expanding class sizes, and increasing full-time faculty members’ teaching loads will come at the expense of the scope and quality of the academic programs offer by the University of Texas — turning UT from a top-tier research university into just another second-rate institution. That may be a tradeoff the people of Texas are willing to make, but reducing faculty costs at UT is not a free lunch.
Joseph Daniel Ura is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University in College Station.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca's response to Ruben Navarrette's "Why Are We Still Naming Things for Cesar Chavez?"
Nota: This is Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca's response to the earlier posted article by Ruben Navarrette, Jr., Why Are We Still Naming Things for Cesar Chavez? CNN Contributor, June 3, 2011, posted to this lista. Excellent response. - Roberto R. Calderon, Historia Chicana [Historia]
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Historia Chicana
15 June 2011
Naming Things for Cesar Chavez
By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
13 June 2011
We are still naming things for Cesar Chavez because this is still the same country it used to be. We may be 50.5 million strong as Latinos, but we are still being treating as interlopers. 32 million of the total Latino population are Mexican Americans, 9 million are Puerto Ricans (including Puerto Rico). That's 41 million Latinos whose history in the United States is historically different from the other 9.5 million Latinos (including the 1.9 million Cuban Americans). Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are "territorial minorities"--the other Latinos are Americans by ingress.
In Spanish there’s an expression: “buscando moros con tranchetes,” loosely meaning “looking for Moors carrying spears” or “looking for shadows armed with spears.” In other words, “on guard for trouble because there’s always trouble everywhere.” This is the posture of the dominant American mainstream: Where there are Latinos there’s going to be trouble. So, let’s get them before they get us. In Brick, New Jersey, on October 20, 1010, Vincent Johnson sent a series of threatening emails to employees of five civil right organizations that challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States and work to improve opportunities for them. At his sentencing, Johnson admitted that his threats were motivated by race and national origin, with language like: “I’m giving you fair warning, if you don’t desist in your help to Latinos you are dead meat.” And “there can be absolutely no argument against the fact that Mexicans are scum as all they know is how to [expletive] and kill.” Johnson was sentenced to 50 months in prison and 3 years supervised release, tantamount to a slap on the wrist, at best, despite Johnson’s acts being described by the U.S. Attorney General’s office as a “hate-fueled campaign of fear to intimidate and terrorize the victims.”
In Arizona, the hullabaloo over Senate Bill 1070 (immigration control) has spilled over into efforts to curtail instruction of Mexican American history and literature by eliminating the Mexican American Studies Program at the Tucson Unified School District on grounds that the program is subversive and teaches hatred of the United States. At a meeting of the school board at the Tucson Unified School District on May 4, 2011, the conference room walls were lined with Tucson police, armed and with riot gear, and a wall of police (5 deep) between the audience and the board members. Police were in the lobby and outside barricading the building. To get inside the conference room, entrants had to go through a full pat down and metal detectors. From the sky, helicopters patrolled the grounds of the building. In his report of the event, Rudy Acuña concluded that the police were not there to protect the Mexican American community but to arrest the Mexican American community. In fact, John Pedicone, Superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District ordered the arrest of Lupe Castillo, an elderly and disabled woman on two crutches, for reading a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. She was wrestled to the ground by police. In the heat of anti-Mexican sentiment in Arizona, Pedicone, Vice President of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference, a right-wing organization, won the superintendence of the Tucson Unified School District with the help of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference and Raytheon money.
According to Acuña, Pedicone considered the Mexican Americans attending the school board meeting as “a bunch of thugs that need a hundred cops with guns and riot gear because there is nothing more dangerous than educating Latinos to the current power structure, which includes the conservative and rich businessmen of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.” Moreover, Mark Stegeman, a University of Arizona Economics Professor and TUSD board president has proposed a resolution to strip Mexican-American History courses of their graduation credit because it does not fulfill an American history credit whereas a European History course does. Protesting Dr. Stegeman’s proposal in solidarity with the TUSD Mexican American high school students, a group of University of Arizona Mexican American students staged a walkout of Stegeman’s Economics lecture class at the U of A. Mexican American educators think that though wrong in defying federal law, Stegeman is stubborn in his opposition to Mexican American Studies at TUSD, characteristic that will bring him down. This stubborn characteristic is the hallmark of rightwing antagonism toward American Latinos especially Mexican Americans.
In Arizona we see the legacy of the Black Legend at its most virulent. Latino students fill nearly half the classroom seats in Arizona's public schools, but HB 2281 signed by Governor Jan Brewer makes it illegal for these students to learn about their Mexican American heritage in the schools. HB 2281 prohibits “schools from offering courses at any grade level that advocate ethnic solidarity, promote overthrow of the US government, or cater to specific ethnic groups.” Per the Acosta et. al. lawsuit, a Judge will rule this summer on the constitutionality of HB2281; the first issue the judge is asked to rule on is a challenge to the vagueness of the statue, specifically that it does not pass the standard required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. HB 2281 was passed because of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's personal distaste for the TUSC’s Chicano studies program, in which 3 percent of the district's 55,000 students participate. “He has been hell-bent on squashing the program ever since learning several years ago that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson High School students that Republicans hate Latinos" (Jessica Calefati, Mother Jones, May 12, 2010).
Given the vitriol against Latinos present in the public arena these days by Republicans, more and more signs are emerging that lend credence to the conclusion: “That Republicans hate Latinos.” In one recent town-hall meeting which Congressman Paul Ryan held in Wisconsin, he told his audience that “anchor babies cost money” which was likened by one Latin@ to saying that while children born to non-Latin@ U.S. citizens cost money it’s worse when they’re Latino children. Then, commenting on border security, Ryan asserted that the past philosophy of “catch and release” by the border patrol didn’t work, he was challenged by a woman in the audience asking him if he was talking about people or fish, a description she considered racist, to which Ryan responded that it was “free speech.” Sara Inés Calderón put that encounter into perspective by explaining that “when people with prejudice want to talk it’s called ‘free speech’ but when DREAMers want to [talk], they’re arrested or escorted out by police” (Twitter @SaraChicaD).
The Georgia legislature has just passed House Bill 87 which Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law and which David Zirin described as “shredding the Civil Rights of the state’s Latino population” (Newsletter of the William C. Velasquez Institute May 17, 2011). Latinos in Georgia are concerned that the law will raise the level of anti-Latino sentiment in the state. News Taco: the Latino Daily reports a rise in racially profiling Latinos in Georgia. Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), asserts that “there’s open discrimination all over the place” in Georgia, adding that “It’s an extremely hostile environment for . . . Latinos in Georgia” (News Taco.com 5-17-11). The battle cry for law enforcement officers in Georgia is: “Let’s go Hispanic hunting,” all of this driven principally by Republicans in Georgia.
In Arizona, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter (52nd District) and member of the House Armed Services Committee lashed out against the Navy’ initiative to name a U.S. cargo ship after Cesar Chavez (U.S. farmworker leader who was a World War II Navy veteran). Despite Cesar Chavez’ national standing, according to Hunter, Cesar Chavez is “unworthy as an American to have a U.S. ship named after him.” Gus Chavez, co-founder of the Latino Defend the Honor initiative and a Navy veteran, decries Duncan Hunter’s diatribe against Cesar Chavez, calling for all Latinos to defend the honor.
In equally lamentable fashion, Santana was booed at the Civil Rights baseball game in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, May 15, when he took the microphone ostensibly to accept a civil rights honor, chastising instead Georgians for the anti-Latino bill signed into law by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Santana started by saying that he was representing all immigrants, continuing with “The people of Arizona and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Cheers turned to boos! Later, in impromptu comments in the Press Box, Santana continued: “Who’s going to change sheets and clean toilets? I invite all Latinos to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy. Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits? I am here to give voice to the invisible” Dave Zirin, the sports commentator, described Santana’s courage as “one hell of an object lesson.” For U.S. Latinos the object lesson is that all Latinos must have the courage to speak up in the face of racism and discrimination.
We still want to name things after Cesar Chavez because racism and discrimination still abound in the United States. Onomastics (naming things) is in the nature of human beings; it's the process by which we make order out of chaos, the process that engenders pride and establishes presence and ownership in the world. Cesar Chavez is symbolic of that which Mexican Americans aspire to achieve--social justice for which more than a million Mexican Americans have fought in every American War since 1848. Ruben Navarrette is right: this flap over naming a street for Cesar Chavez is more than a dust-up about a street. It's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has put it so well.
Chicanos/Latinos are not afraid of the future; It's the white power-structure that's afraid of the browning of America. And still the anti-Hispanic beat goes on, notwithstanding the projection by the U.S. Census Bureau, as reported by John Garrido, that “by the year 2097 50% of the entire population of the United States will be Hispanic, 30% will be black, 13% will be Asian, and only 5% will be white” (Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party, September 5, 2007). One can only ask how historical memory will play out then?
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From: Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph. D. [felipeo@usawide.net]
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 10:05 AM
To: Calderon, Roberto; Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
Subject: Re: [Historia] Ruben Navarrette Jr. l Why Are We Still Naming Thingsfor Cesar Chavez? l CNN Opinion l 3 June 2011
We are still naming things for Cesar Chavez because this is still the same country it used to be. We may be 50.5 million strong as Latinos, but we are still being treating as interlopers. 32 million of the total Latino population are Mexican Americans, 9 million are Puerto Ricans (including Puerto Rico). That's 41 million Latinos whose history in the United States is historically different from the other 9.5 million Latinos (including the 1.9 million Cuban Americans). Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are "territorial minorities"--the other Latinos are Americans by ingress.
In Spanish there’s an expression: “buscando moros con tranchetes,” loosely meaning “looking for Moors carrying spears” or “looking for shadows armed with spears.” In other words, “on guard for trouble because there’s always trouble everywhere.” This is the posture of the dominant American mainstream: Where there are Latinos there’s going to be trouble. So, let’s get them before they get us. In Brick, New Jersey, on October 20, 1010, Vincent Johnson sent a series of threatening emails to employees of five civil right organizations that challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States and work to improve opportunities for them. At his sentencing, Johnson admitted that his threats were motivated by race and national origin, with language like: “I’m giving you fair warning, if you don’t desist in your help to Latinos you are dead meat.” And “there can be absolutely no argument against the fact that Mexicans are scum as all they know is how to [expletive] and kill.” Johnson was sentenced to 50 months in prison and 3 years supervised release, tantamount to a slap on the wrist, at best, despite Johnson’s acts being described by the U.S. Attorney General’s office as a “hate-fueled campaign of fear to intimidate and terrorize the victims.”
In Arizona, the hullabaloo over Senate Bill 1070 (immigration control) has spilled over into efforts to curtail instruction of Mexican American history and literature by eliminating the Mexican American Studies Program at the Tucson Unified School District on grounds that the program is subversive and teaches hatred of the United States. At a meeting of the school board at the Tucson Unified School District on May 4, 2011, the conference room walls were lined with Tucson police, armed and with riot gear, and a wall of police (5 deep) between the audience and the board members. Police were in the lobby and outside barricading the building. To get inside the conference room, entrants had to go through a full pat down and metal detectors. From the sky, helicopters patrolled the grounds of the building. In his report of the event, Rudy Acuña concluded that the police were not there to protect the Mexican American community but to arrest the Mexican American community. In fact, John Pedicone, Superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District ordered the arrest of Lupe Castillo, an elderly and disabled woman on two crutches, for reading a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. She was wrestled to the ground by police. In the heat of anti-Mexican sentiment in Arizona, Pedicone, Vice President of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference, a right-wing organization, won the superintendence of the Tucson Unified School District with the help of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference and Raytheon money.
According to Acuña, Pedicone considered the Mexican Americans attending the school board meeting as “a bunch of thugs that need a hundred cops with guns and riot gear because there is nothing more dangerous than educating Latinos to the current power structure, which includes the conservative and rich businessmen of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.” Moreover, Mark Stegeman, a University of Arizona Economics Professor and TUSD board president has proposed a resolution to strip Mexican-American History courses of their graduation credit because it does not fulfill an American history credit whereas a European History course does. Protesting Dr. Stegeman’s proposal in solidarity with the TUSD Mexican American high school students, a group of University of Arizona Mexican American students staged a walkout of Stegeman’s Economics lecture class at the U of A. Mexican American educators think that though wrong in defying federal law, Stegeman is stubborn in his opposition to Mexican American Studies at TUSD, characteristic that will bring him down. This stubborn characteristic is the hallmark of rightwing antagonism toward American Latinos especially Mexican Americans.
In Arizona we see the legacy of the Black Legend at its most virulent. Latino students fill nearly half the classroom seats in Arizona's public schools, but HB 2281 signed by Governor Jan Brewer makes it illegal for these students to learn about their Mexican American heritage in the schools. HB 2281 prohibits “schools from offering courses at any grade level that advocate ethnic solidarity, promote overthrow of the US government, or cater to specific ethnic groups.” Per the Acosta et. al. lawsuit, a Judge will rule this summer on the constitutionality of HB2281; the first issue the judge is asked to rule on is a challenge to the vagueness of the statue, specifically that it does not pass the standard required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. HB 2281 was passed because of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's personal distaste for the TUSC’s Chicano studies program, in which 3 percent of the district's 55,000 students participate. “He has been hell-bent on squashing the program ever since learning several years ago that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson High School students that Republicans hate Latinos" (Jessica Calefati, Mother Jones, May 12, 2010).
Given the vitriol against Latinos present in the public arena these days by Republicans, more and more signs are emerging that lend credence to the conclusion: “That Republicans hate Latinos.” In one recent town-hall meeting which Congressman Paul Ryan held in Wisconsin, he told his audience that “anchor babies cost money” which was likened by one Latin@ to saying that while children born to non-Latin@ U.S. citizens cost money it’s worse when they’re Latino children. Then, commenting on border security, Ryan asserted that the past philosophy of “catch and release” by the border patrol didn’t work, he was challenged by a woman in the audience asking him if he was talking about people or fish, a description she considered racist, to which Ryan responded that it was “free speech.” Sara Inés Calderón put that encounter into perspective by explaining that “when people with prejudice want to talk it’s called ‘free speech’ but when DREAMers want to [talk], they’re arrested or escorted out by police” (Twitter @SaraChicaD).
The Georgia legislature has just passed House Bill 87 which Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law and which David Zirin described as “shredding the Civil Rights of the state’s Latino population” (Newsletter of the William C. Velasquez Institute May 17, 2011). Latinos in Georgia are concerned that the law will raise the level of anti-Latino sentiment in the state. News Taco: the Latino Daily reports a rise in racially profiling Latinos in Georgia. Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), asserts that “there’s open discrimination all over the place” in Georgia, adding that “It’s an extremely hostile environment for . . . Latinos in Georgia” (News Taco.com 5-17-11). The battle cry for law enforcement officers in Georgia is: “Let’s go Hispanic hunting,” all of this driven principally by Republicans in Georgia.
In Arizona, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter (52nd District) and member of the House Armed Services Committee lashed out against the Navy’ initiative to name a U.S. cargo ship after Cesar Chavez (U.S. farmworker leader who was a World War II Navy veteran). Despite Cesar Chavez’ national standing, according to Hunter, Cesar Chavez is “unworthy as an American to have a U.S. ship named after him.” Gus Chavez, co-founder of the Latino Defend the Honor initiative and a Navy veteran, decries Duncan Hunter’s diatribe against Cesar Chavez, calling for all Latinos to defend the honor.
In equally lamentable fashion, Santana was booed at the Civil Rights baseball game in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, May 15, when he took the microphone ostensibly to accept a civil rights honor, chastising instead Georgians for the anti-Latino bill signed into law by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Santana started by saying that he was representing all immigrants, continuing with “The people of Arizona and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Cheers turned to boos! Later, in impromptu comments in the Press Box, Santana continued: “Who’s going to change sheets and clean toilets? I invite all Latinos to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy. Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits? I am here to give voice to the invisible” Dave Zirin, the sports commentator, described Santana’s courage as “one hell of an object lesson.” For U.S. Latinos the object lesson is that all Latinos must have the courage to speak up in the face of racism and discrimination.
We still want to name things after Cesar Chavez because racism and discrimination still abound in the United States. Onomastics (naming things) is in the nature of human beings; it's the process by which we make order out of chaos, the process that engenders pride and establishes presence and ownership in the world. Cesar Chavez is symbolic of that which Mexican Americans aspire to achieve--social justice for which more than a million Mexican Americans have fought in every American War since 1848. Ruben Navarrette is right: this flap over naming a street for Cesar Chavez is more than a dust-up about a street. It's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has put it so well.
Chicanos/Latinos are not afraid of the future; It's the white power-structure that's afraid of the browning of America. And still the anti-Hispanic beat goes on, notwithstanding the projection
by the U.S. Census Bureau, as reported by John Garrido, that “by the year 2097 50% of the entire population of the United States will be Hispanic, 30% will be black, 13% will be Asian, and only 5% will be white” (Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party, September 5, 2007). One can only ask how historical memory will play out then?
On 6/13/2011 12:37 AM, Calderon, Roberto wrote:
Source: Dorinda Moreno [fuerzamundial@gmail.com]
Historia Chicana
13 June 2011
&
CNN Opinion
URL: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-03/opinion/navarrette.cesar.chavez_1_cesar-chavez-rights-for-farm-workers-honor?_s=PM:OPINION
Accessed: 13 June 2011
Why Are We Still Naming Things for Cesar Chavez?
By Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN Contributor
June 3, 2011
I have to ask: Why are we still naming things for Cesar Chavez?
The iconic labor leader and founder of the United Farm Workers union died in 1993. And since then, dozens of streets, parks, schools, libraries and community centers around the country have been named after him.
Just last month, a Navy cargo ship was named for Chavez in recognition of the fact that he served in that branch of the military during World War II. And in San Antonio, a city that is now more than 60% Latino, the city council voted to rename a downtown street in honor of Chavez.
For a time, these kinds of gestures made sense. After a great American passes away, it's expected that there would be calls to honor him or her by naming this, or renaming that, and for this process to go on for several years. It's a sign of respect.
It's also an American tradition. It's one way for groups to assert that they are part of the national tapestry. When it was decided that a New York airport would be named after Fiorello LaGuardia, who served as mayor from 1934 to 1945, it was as much about honoring the city's Italian-American community as it was a former city leader. And when the name of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is attached to a school, library or street, it's often a nod to the local African-American community.
Likewise, naming something for Cesar Chavez has, in many U.S. cities, become a way of honoring Latinos.
My concern isn't with the worthiness of the individual. I'll stipulate that Chavez was a great American who helped bring fairness and dignity to the fields and the workers who toil there. Before Chavez and the union came along, there were no collective bargaining rights for farm workers, no toilets or clean drinking water in the fields, and little public awareness about pesticides and other dangers that workers must endure to put fruits and vegetables on our table. He helped change all that.
My concern is that there is a time for everything, and this campaign to name things for Chavez has been playing out for nearly 20 years. We're not the same country we used to be.
There are now 50.5 million Latinos in the United States. Two-thirds of them are Mexican or Mexican-American, the subgroup that probably most identifies with Chavez. But, in the remaining third, there are Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Salvadorans and others to whom Chavez means nothing.
Besides, you have to wonder: Why is it that Chavez always winds up with these honors? There are plenty of other distinguished Latino Americans -- of various backgrounds -- who have accomplished great things and deserve wide public recognition. They might get it if political leaders focused less on Chavez as a symbol and took a more comprehensive look at the reality of the Latino community.
After all, these efforts to name things after Chavez are rarely about Chavez. The same goes for any groups who are resistant to changing the name of a street or playground or city center to honor him. Most of that resistance isn't about the labor leader.
The larger drama is about changing demographics, ethnic power-plays and the entrenchment of the fearful. It's about where the Latino community fits into the existing power structure -- what they demand, what they are given and what they take. It's the latest chapter of an immigration and assimilation saga that played out with the Germans in Milwaukee, the Irish in Boston, and the Jews in New York. It's about demanding and receiving respect.
I know. I've seen this story up-close. I grew up in Central California, which was ground zero in the historical drama involving Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
I was living back home in Fresno in October 1993 when the city council there narrowly approved a motion to rename a city street in honor of Chavez. A 10-mile stretch of Kings Canyon Road was transformed into Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Then the powerful farm industry -- no fans of Chavez -- and its supporters, had their say. A few weeks later, at a public meeting with brown faces on one side and white faces on the other, the same council rescinded the order.
I was at that meeting, and I was stunned. I couldn't believe how a government body could treat the city's Latino community so shabbily, without fear of reprisal. For me, that was the bigger issue. That was the outrage. Never mind Chavez. The Fresno City Council wasn't being disrespectful to the dead. They were being disrespectful to the living. That is all that mattered.
Now, the same dynamic is playing out in San Antonio, where naming a street for Chavez has become a way for the Latino majority to flex its muscles, and fighting this change is how the Anglo minority tries to hold onto what little power it has left
When the time came to vote on the name change a few weeks ago, the seven Hispanic members of San Antonio City Council all voted in favor, while the two Anglos, the one African-American and the one Asian-American member voted no.
Who still thinks this dust-up is just about a street?
After the vote, the San Antonio Conservation Society, which had opposed the name change all along, refused to give up. With the tenacity of Davy Crockett fighting off Mexican soldiers at the Alamo, the Conservation Society sued to stop the name change out of concern for what a spokesman called "the integrity of our history."
And a state district court judge granted a temporary restraining order against the name change. There's a public hearing planned for Friday where the Conservation Society is planning to ask that the temporary injunction be made permanent. Let's hope the judge decides otherwise.
And let's also hope that, one day, we can put these silly dramas to rest. Ask yourselves: Which is more ridiculous, demanding that something be named for Cesar Chavez because you want to honor the past or resisting because you're terrified of the future?
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette.
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Historia Chicana
15 June 2011
Naming Things for Cesar Chavez
By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
13 June 2011
We are still naming things for Cesar Chavez because this is still the same country it used to be. We may be 50.5 million strong as Latinos, but we are still being treating as interlopers. 32 million of the total Latino population are Mexican Americans, 9 million are Puerto Ricans (including Puerto Rico). That's 41 million Latinos whose history in the United States is historically different from the other 9.5 million Latinos (including the 1.9 million Cuban Americans). Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are "territorial minorities"--the other Latinos are Americans by ingress.
In Spanish there’s an expression: “buscando moros con tranchetes,” loosely meaning “looking for Moors carrying spears” or “looking for shadows armed with spears.” In other words, “on guard for trouble because there’s always trouble everywhere.” This is the posture of the dominant American mainstream: Where there are Latinos there’s going to be trouble. So, let’s get them before they get us. In Brick, New Jersey, on October 20, 1010, Vincent Johnson sent a series of threatening emails to employees of five civil right organizations that challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States and work to improve opportunities for them. At his sentencing, Johnson admitted that his threats were motivated by race and national origin, with language like: “I’m giving you fair warning, if you don’t desist in your help to Latinos you are dead meat.” And “there can be absolutely no argument against the fact that Mexicans are scum as all they know is how to [expletive] and kill.” Johnson was sentenced to 50 months in prison and 3 years supervised release, tantamount to a slap on the wrist, at best, despite Johnson’s acts being described by the U.S. Attorney General’s office as a “hate-fueled campaign of fear to intimidate and terrorize the victims.”
In Arizona, the hullabaloo over Senate Bill 1070 (immigration control) has spilled over into efforts to curtail instruction of Mexican American history and literature by eliminating the Mexican American Studies Program at the Tucson Unified School District on grounds that the program is subversive and teaches hatred of the United States. At a meeting of the school board at the Tucson Unified School District on May 4, 2011, the conference room walls were lined with Tucson police, armed and with riot gear, and a wall of police (5 deep) between the audience and the board members. Police were in the lobby and outside barricading the building. To get inside the conference room, entrants had to go through a full pat down and metal detectors. From the sky, helicopters patrolled the grounds of the building. In his report of the event, Rudy Acuña concluded that the police were not there to protect the Mexican American community but to arrest the Mexican American community. In fact, John Pedicone, Superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District ordered the arrest of Lupe Castillo, an elderly and disabled woman on two crutches, for reading a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. She was wrestled to the ground by police. In the heat of anti-Mexican sentiment in Arizona, Pedicone, Vice President of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference, a right-wing organization, won the superintendence of the Tucson Unified School District with the help of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference and Raytheon money.
According to Acuña, Pedicone considered the Mexican Americans attending the school board meeting as “a bunch of thugs that need a hundred cops with guns and riot gear because there is nothing more dangerous than educating Latinos to the current power structure, which includes the conservative and rich businessmen of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.” Moreover, Mark Stegeman, a University of Arizona Economics Professor and TUSD board president has proposed a resolution to strip Mexican-American History courses of their graduation credit because it does not fulfill an American history credit whereas a European History course does. Protesting Dr. Stegeman’s proposal in solidarity with the TUSD Mexican American high school students, a group of University of Arizona Mexican American students staged a walkout of Stegeman’s Economics lecture class at the U of A. Mexican American educators think that though wrong in defying federal law, Stegeman is stubborn in his opposition to Mexican American Studies at TUSD, characteristic that will bring him down. This stubborn characteristic is the hallmark of rightwing antagonism toward American Latinos especially Mexican Americans.
In Arizona we see the legacy of the Black Legend at its most virulent. Latino students fill nearly half the classroom seats in Arizona's public schools, but HB 2281 signed by Governor Jan Brewer makes it illegal for these students to learn about their Mexican American heritage in the schools. HB 2281 prohibits “schools from offering courses at any grade level that advocate ethnic solidarity, promote overthrow of the US government, or cater to specific ethnic groups.” Per the Acosta et. al. lawsuit, a Judge will rule this summer on the constitutionality of HB2281; the first issue the judge is asked to rule on is a challenge to the vagueness of the statue, specifically that it does not pass the standard required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. HB 2281 was passed because of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's personal distaste for the TUSC’s Chicano studies program, in which 3 percent of the district's 55,000 students participate. “He has been hell-bent on squashing the program ever since learning several years ago that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson High School students that Republicans hate Latinos" (Jessica Calefati, Mother Jones, May 12, 2010).
Given the vitriol against Latinos present in the public arena these days by Republicans, more and more signs are emerging that lend credence to the conclusion: “That Republicans hate Latinos.” In one recent town-hall meeting which Congressman Paul Ryan held in Wisconsin, he told his audience that “anchor babies cost money” which was likened by one Latin@ to saying that while children born to non-Latin@ U.S. citizens cost money it’s worse when they’re Latino children. Then, commenting on border security, Ryan asserted that the past philosophy of “catch and release” by the border patrol didn’t work, he was challenged by a woman in the audience asking him if he was talking about people or fish, a description she considered racist, to which Ryan responded that it was “free speech.” Sara Inés Calderón put that encounter into perspective by explaining that “when people with prejudice want to talk it’s called ‘free speech’ but when DREAMers want to [talk], they’re arrested or escorted out by police” (Twitter @SaraChicaD).
The Georgia legislature has just passed House Bill 87 which Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law and which David Zirin described as “shredding the Civil Rights of the state’s Latino population” (Newsletter of the William C. Velasquez Institute May 17, 2011). Latinos in Georgia are concerned that the law will raise the level of anti-Latino sentiment in the state. News Taco: the Latino Daily reports a rise in racially profiling Latinos in Georgia. Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), asserts that “there’s open discrimination all over the place” in Georgia, adding that “It’s an extremely hostile environment for . . . Latinos in Georgia” (News Taco.com 5-17-11). The battle cry for law enforcement officers in Georgia is: “Let’s go Hispanic hunting,” all of this driven principally by Republicans in Georgia.
In Arizona, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter (52nd District) and member of the House Armed Services Committee lashed out against the Navy’ initiative to name a U.S. cargo ship after Cesar Chavez (U.S. farmworker leader who was a World War II Navy veteran). Despite Cesar Chavez’ national standing, according to Hunter, Cesar Chavez is “unworthy as an American to have a U.S. ship named after him.” Gus Chavez, co-founder of the Latino Defend the Honor initiative and a Navy veteran, decries Duncan Hunter’s diatribe against Cesar Chavez, calling for all Latinos to defend the honor.
In equally lamentable fashion, Santana was booed at the Civil Rights baseball game in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, May 15, when he took the microphone ostensibly to accept a civil rights honor, chastising instead Georgians for the anti-Latino bill signed into law by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Santana started by saying that he was representing all immigrants, continuing with “The people of Arizona and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Cheers turned to boos! Later, in impromptu comments in the Press Box, Santana continued: “Who’s going to change sheets and clean toilets? I invite all Latinos to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy. Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits? I am here to give voice to the invisible” Dave Zirin, the sports commentator, described Santana’s courage as “one hell of an object lesson.” For U.S. Latinos the object lesson is that all Latinos must have the courage to speak up in the face of racism and discrimination.
We still want to name things after Cesar Chavez because racism and discrimination still abound in the United States. Onomastics (naming things) is in the nature of human beings; it's the process by which we make order out of chaos, the process that engenders pride and establishes presence and ownership in the world. Cesar Chavez is symbolic of that which Mexican Americans aspire to achieve--social justice for which more than a million Mexican Americans have fought in every American War since 1848. Ruben Navarrette is right: this flap over naming a street for Cesar Chavez is more than a dust-up about a street. It's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has put it so well.
Chicanos/Latinos are not afraid of the future; It's the white power-structure that's afraid of the browning of America. And still the anti-Hispanic beat goes on, notwithstanding the projection by the U.S. Census Bureau, as reported by John Garrido, that “by the year 2097 50% of the entire population of the United States will be Hispanic, 30% will be black, 13% will be Asian, and only 5% will be white” (Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party, September 5, 2007). One can only ask how historical memory will play out then?
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From: Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph. D. [felipeo@usawide.net]
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 10:05 AM
To: Calderon, Roberto; Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
Subject: Re: [Historia] Ruben Navarrette Jr. l Why Are We Still Naming Thingsfor Cesar Chavez? l CNN Opinion l 3 June 2011
We are still naming things for Cesar Chavez because this is still the same country it used to be. We may be 50.5 million strong as Latinos, but we are still being treating as interlopers. 32 million of the total Latino population are Mexican Americans, 9 million are Puerto Ricans (including Puerto Rico). That's 41 million Latinos whose history in the United States is historically different from the other 9.5 million Latinos (including the 1.9 million Cuban Americans). Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are "territorial minorities"--the other Latinos are Americans by ingress.
In Spanish there’s an expression: “buscando moros con tranchetes,” loosely meaning “looking for Moors carrying spears” or “looking for shadows armed with spears.” In other words, “on guard for trouble because there’s always trouble everywhere.” This is the posture of the dominant American mainstream: Where there are Latinos there’s going to be trouble. So, let’s get them before they get us. In Brick, New Jersey, on October 20, 1010, Vincent Johnson sent a series of threatening emails to employees of five civil right organizations that challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States and work to improve opportunities for them. At his sentencing, Johnson admitted that his threats were motivated by race and national origin, with language like: “I’m giving you fair warning, if you don’t desist in your help to Latinos you are dead meat.” And “there can be absolutely no argument against the fact that Mexicans are scum as all they know is how to [expletive] and kill.” Johnson was sentenced to 50 months in prison and 3 years supervised release, tantamount to a slap on the wrist, at best, despite Johnson’s acts being described by the U.S. Attorney General’s office as a “hate-fueled campaign of fear to intimidate and terrorize the victims.”
In Arizona, the hullabaloo over Senate Bill 1070 (immigration control) has spilled over into efforts to curtail instruction of Mexican American history and literature by eliminating the Mexican American Studies Program at the Tucson Unified School District on grounds that the program is subversive and teaches hatred of the United States. At a meeting of the school board at the Tucson Unified School District on May 4, 2011, the conference room walls were lined with Tucson police, armed and with riot gear, and a wall of police (5 deep) between the audience and the board members. Police were in the lobby and outside barricading the building. To get inside the conference room, entrants had to go through a full pat down and metal detectors. From the sky, helicopters patrolled the grounds of the building. In his report of the event, Rudy Acuña concluded that the police were not there to protect the Mexican American community but to arrest the Mexican American community. In fact, John Pedicone, Superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District ordered the arrest of Lupe Castillo, an elderly and disabled woman on two crutches, for reading a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. She was wrestled to the ground by police. In the heat of anti-Mexican sentiment in Arizona, Pedicone, Vice President of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference, a right-wing organization, won the superintendence of the Tucson Unified School District with the help of the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference and Raytheon money.
According to Acuña, Pedicone considered the Mexican Americans attending the school board meeting as “a bunch of thugs that need a hundred cops with guns and riot gear because there is nothing more dangerous than educating Latinos to the current power structure, which includes the conservative and rich businessmen of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.” Moreover, Mark Stegeman, a University of Arizona Economics Professor and TUSD board president has proposed a resolution to strip Mexican-American History courses of their graduation credit because it does not fulfill an American history credit whereas a European History course does. Protesting Dr. Stegeman’s proposal in solidarity with the TUSD Mexican American high school students, a group of University of Arizona Mexican American students staged a walkout of Stegeman’s Economics lecture class at the U of A. Mexican American educators think that though wrong in defying federal law, Stegeman is stubborn in his opposition to Mexican American Studies at TUSD, characteristic that will bring him down. This stubborn characteristic is the hallmark of rightwing antagonism toward American Latinos especially Mexican Americans.
In Arizona we see the legacy of the Black Legend at its most virulent. Latino students fill nearly half the classroom seats in Arizona's public schools, but HB 2281 signed by Governor Jan Brewer makes it illegal for these students to learn about their Mexican American heritage in the schools. HB 2281 prohibits “schools from offering courses at any grade level that advocate ethnic solidarity, promote overthrow of the US government, or cater to specific ethnic groups.” Per the Acosta et. al. lawsuit, a Judge will rule this summer on the constitutionality of HB2281; the first issue the judge is asked to rule on is a challenge to the vagueness of the statue, specifically that it does not pass the standard required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. HB 2281 was passed because of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's personal distaste for the TUSC’s Chicano studies program, in which 3 percent of the district's 55,000 students participate. “He has been hell-bent on squashing the program ever since learning several years ago that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson High School students that Republicans hate Latinos" (Jessica Calefati, Mother Jones, May 12, 2010).
Given the vitriol against Latinos present in the public arena these days by Republicans, more and more signs are emerging that lend credence to the conclusion: “That Republicans hate Latinos.” In one recent town-hall meeting which Congressman Paul Ryan held in Wisconsin, he told his audience that “anchor babies cost money” which was likened by one Latin@ to saying that while children born to non-Latin@ U.S. citizens cost money it’s worse when they’re Latino children. Then, commenting on border security, Ryan asserted that the past philosophy of “catch and release” by the border patrol didn’t work, he was challenged by a woman in the audience asking him if he was talking about people or fish, a description she considered racist, to which Ryan responded that it was “free speech.” Sara Inés Calderón put that encounter into perspective by explaining that “when people with prejudice want to talk it’s called ‘free speech’ but when DREAMers want to [talk], they’re arrested or escorted out by police” (Twitter @SaraChicaD).
The Georgia legislature has just passed House Bill 87 which Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law and which David Zirin described as “shredding the Civil Rights of the state’s Latino population” (Newsletter of the William C. Velasquez Institute May 17, 2011). Latinos in Georgia are concerned that the law will raise the level of anti-Latino sentiment in the state. News Taco: the Latino Daily reports a rise in racially profiling Latinos in Georgia. Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), asserts that “there’s open discrimination all over the place” in Georgia, adding that “It’s an extremely hostile environment for . . . Latinos in Georgia” (News Taco.com 5-17-11). The battle cry for law enforcement officers in Georgia is: “Let’s go Hispanic hunting,” all of this driven principally by Republicans in Georgia.
In Arizona, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter (52nd District) and member of the House Armed Services Committee lashed out against the Navy’ initiative to name a U.S. cargo ship after Cesar Chavez (U.S. farmworker leader who was a World War II Navy veteran). Despite Cesar Chavez’ national standing, according to Hunter, Cesar Chavez is “unworthy as an American to have a U.S. ship named after him.” Gus Chavez, co-founder of the Latino Defend the Honor initiative and a Navy veteran, decries Duncan Hunter’s diatribe against Cesar Chavez, calling for all Latinos to defend the honor.
In equally lamentable fashion, Santana was booed at the Civil Rights baseball game in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, May 15, when he took the microphone ostensibly to accept a civil rights honor, chastising instead Georgians for the anti-Latino bill signed into law by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Santana started by saying that he was representing all immigrants, continuing with “The people of Arizona and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Cheers turned to boos! Later, in impromptu comments in the Press Box, Santana continued: “Who’s going to change sheets and clean toilets? I invite all Latinos to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy. Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits? I am here to give voice to the invisible” Dave Zirin, the sports commentator, described Santana’s courage as “one hell of an object lesson.” For U.S. Latinos the object lesson is that all Latinos must have the courage to speak up in the face of racism and discrimination.
We still want to name things after Cesar Chavez because racism and discrimination still abound in the United States. Onomastics (naming things) is in the nature of human beings; it's the process by which we make order out of chaos, the process that engenders pride and establishes presence and ownership in the world. Cesar Chavez is symbolic of that which Mexican Americans aspire to achieve--social justice for which more than a million Mexican Americans have fought in every American War since 1848. Ruben Navarrette is right: this flap over naming a street for Cesar Chavez is more than a dust-up about a street. It's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has put it so well.
Chicanos/Latinos are not afraid of the future; It's the white power-structure that's afraid of the browning of America. And still the anti-Hispanic beat goes on, notwithstanding the projection
by the U.S. Census Bureau, as reported by John Garrido, that “by the year 2097 50% of the entire population of the United States will be Hispanic, 30% will be black, 13% will be Asian, and only 5% will be white” (Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party, September 5, 2007). One can only ask how historical memory will play out then?
On 6/13/2011 12:37 AM, Calderon, Roberto wrote:
Source: Dorinda Moreno [fuerzamundial@gmail.com]
Historia Chicana
13 June 2011
&
CNN Opinion
URL: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-03/opinion/navarrette.cesar.chavez_1_cesar-chavez-rights-for-farm-workers-honor?_s=PM:OPINION
Accessed: 13 June 2011
Why Are We Still Naming Things for Cesar Chavez?
By Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN Contributor
June 3, 2011
I have to ask: Why are we still naming things for Cesar Chavez?
The iconic labor leader and founder of the United Farm Workers union died in 1993. And since then, dozens of streets, parks, schools, libraries and community centers around the country have been named after him.
Just last month, a Navy cargo ship was named for Chavez in recognition of the fact that he served in that branch of the military during World War II. And in San Antonio, a city that is now more than 60% Latino, the city council voted to rename a downtown street in honor of Chavez.
For a time, these kinds of gestures made sense. After a great American passes away, it's expected that there would be calls to honor him or her by naming this, or renaming that, and for this process to go on for several years. It's a sign of respect.
It's also an American tradition. It's one way for groups to assert that they are part of the national tapestry. When it was decided that a New York airport would be named after Fiorello LaGuardia, who served as mayor from 1934 to 1945, it was as much about honoring the city's Italian-American community as it was a former city leader. And when the name of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is attached to a school, library or street, it's often a nod to the local African-American community.
Likewise, naming something for Cesar Chavez has, in many U.S. cities, become a way of honoring Latinos.
My concern isn't with the worthiness of the individual. I'll stipulate that Chavez was a great American who helped bring fairness and dignity to the fields and the workers who toil there. Before Chavez and the union came along, there were no collective bargaining rights for farm workers, no toilets or clean drinking water in the fields, and little public awareness about pesticides and other dangers that workers must endure to put fruits and vegetables on our table. He helped change all that.
My concern is that there is a time for everything, and this campaign to name things for Chavez has been playing out for nearly 20 years. We're not the same country we used to be.
There are now 50.5 million Latinos in the United States. Two-thirds of them are Mexican or Mexican-American, the subgroup that probably most identifies with Chavez. But, in the remaining third, there are Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Salvadorans and others to whom Chavez means nothing.
Besides, you have to wonder: Why is it that Chavez always winds up with these honors? There are plenty of other distinguished Latino Americans -- of various backgrounds -- who have accomplished great things and deserve wide public recognition. They might get it if political leaders focused less on Chavez as a symbol and took a more comprehensive look at the reality of the Latino community.
After all, these efforts to name things after Chavez are rarely about Chavez. The same goes for any groups who are resistant to changing the name of a street or playground or city center to honor him. Most of that resistance isn't about the labor leader.
The larger drama is about changing demographics, ethnic power-plays and the entrenchment of the fearful. It's about where the Latino community fits into the existing power structure -- what they demand, what they are given and what they take. It's the latest chapter of an immigration and assimilation saga that played out with the Germans in Milwaukee, the Irish in Boston, and the Jews in New York. It's about demanding and receiving respect.
I know. I've seen this story up-close. I grew up in Central California, which was ground zero in the historical drama involving Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
I was living back home in Fresno in October 1993 when the city council there narrowly approved a motion to rename a city street in honor of Chavez. A 10-mile stretch of Kings Canyon Road was transformed into Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Then the powerful farm industry -- no fans of Chavez -- and its supporters, had their say. A few weeks later, at a public meeting with brown faces on one side and white faces on the other, the same council rescinded the order.
I was at that meeting, and I was stunned. I couldn't believe how a government body could treat the city's Latino community so shabbily, without fear of reprisal. For me, that was the bigger issue. That was the outrage. Never mind Chavez. The Fresno City Council wasn't being disrespectful to the dead. They were being disrespectful to the living. That is all that mattered.
Now, the same dynamic is playing out in San Antonio, where naming a street for Chavez has become a way for the Latino majority to flex its muscles, and fighting this change is how the Anglo minority tries to hold onto what little power it has left
When the time came to vote on the name change a few weeks ago, the seven Hispanic members of San Antonio City Council all voted in favor, while the two Anglos, the one African-American and the one Asian-American member voted no.
Who still thinks this dust-up is just about a street?
After the vote, the San Antonio Conservation Society, which had opposed the name change all along, refused to give up. With the tenacity of Davy Crockett fighting off Mexican soldiers at the Alamo, the Conservation Society sued to stop the name change out of concern for what a spokesman called "the integrity of our history."
And a state district court judge granted a temporary restraining order against the name change. There's a public hearing planned for Friday where the Conservation Society is planning to ask that the temporary injunction be made permanent. Let's hope the judge decides otherwise.
And let's also hope that, one day, we can put these silly dramas to rest. Ask yourselves: Which is more ridiculous, demanding that something be named for Cesar Chavez because you want to honor the past or resisting because you're terrified of the future?
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette.
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