Too Far Afield for a Dean of Social Work at the University of Houston?

The senior faculty guard at the University of Houston School of Social Work took it upon themselves to push out their social justice dean. As stated by this former School of Social Work Dean Alan Dettlaff, it will most definitely have a chilling effect on scholars like him that value racial justice and abolitionist work in the academy.

This story makes me wonder whether the senior faculty actually do not know what abolition means today—a problem that Dr. Dettlaff cites—or whether they actually did know but disapproved. 

Abolitionism is a word and concept that begins in the academy that holds resonance for lots of folks outside of the academy primarily, I think, because it addresses root causes of inequality.

Lest we reinscribe oppression, abolition assumes a stance of assessing harmful systems with the idea of replacing them with one that humanizes and serves everybody fairly and equitably. As long as our focus is on quick policy fixes, we're not addressing root causes.

In the area of high-stakes testing, I have always said that eliminating high-stakes tests is not a policy fix even at its best—should we ever arrive at the day that we abolish them and we very well might. Rather, we have to also attend to the underlying value structure that allows us to even conceive that it's okay to lose some kids and not others. 

Why can we not make a world where failure is more mythic than real. Why can we not make a world with no "dropouts?" In this world, it's not whether a student graduates from high school, but when. One could even graduate early if they were so motivated. In a word, this is abolitionism—and a world that I dream of under any name.

A final thought. Given that abolitionism was an apparent draw for many students to the college, this decision to send Dr. Dettlaff back to the faculty ranks will most definitely not set well with them. All else equal, he is quite admirable. 

It's all pretty devastating to think about. Leaders like him are far and few between. One sees why.

-Angela Valenzuela 

Too Far Afield?

University of Houston pushes its dean of social work back

down to the faculty. He says some professors objected to his 

views on racial justice and abolition.

Colleen Flaherty

 

January 6, 2023 | Inside HigherEd

Alan Dettlaff

 

(Alan Dettlaff/Twitter)

The University of Houston suddenly removed its dean of social work last month. The university has said it did so to better align the Graduate College of Social Work with broader institutional priorities. The former dean, Alan Dettlaff—who is returning to the social work faculty, for now—says his views on racial justice got him fired.

“I’ve said many times, one of the things I’m most proud as dean is that we were focused as a school on racial justice before summer 2020, when a lot of people started to come on board and develop programming and messaging around that—we’ve been focused on that for a long time,” Dettlaff told Inside Higher Ed of the college’s orientation during his seven-year tenure.

Continue reading here.

I'll be posting a lot more than usual on policy and policy agendas to this blog in the coming weeks and months now that we're entering the 88th 2023 Texas Legislative session. Under the guise of House Bill 1006 by Carl Tepper (R-Lubbock), banning Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in Higher Education is on the table. According to this piece in the Texas Monthly by Dan Solomon, it does have a chance of passing considering the current policy climate that seeks to limit the teaching of race in K-12 schools. 

I want to think that it's a little premature to say that this bill has a chance particularly since this involved higher education in a state that is in great need for diverse educational contexts so that the parallel needs of our state's highly diverse public can get addressed.  I would also hope that our higher education leadership at all levels vigorously defends this need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion.

Eyes wide open.

-Angela Valenzuela

A Texas GOP Lawmaker Wants to Increase “Viewpoint Diversity” by Banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Ed

Representative Carl Tepper offers a substantial rewrite to a portion of the Texas education code targeting programs that represent marginalized groups. 

by Dan Solomon | Texas Monthly | December 21, 2022

During the 2023 legislative session, which begins in January, we’ll be taking a close look at the notable—and, yes, silly—bills that come under the consideration of the august bodies that make up our state government to help you understand what your lawmakers are spending their time on.  

The bill: House Bill 1006

Filed by: Carl Tepper, Republican, District 84 (Lubbock)

What it would do: HB 1006 would make a number of changes to the Texas Education Code. Many of them are relatively minor, such as striking the words “serve the public” from the section outlining each institution’s responsibilities and tweaking a line about their duty to “transmit culture” to one about how institutions should “permit the diffusion of culture.” It also adds some new responsibilities to the list. One is to “foster a diversity of viewpoints” and “maintain political, social, and cultural neutrality.” And to a list of enumerated “expressive activities” protected by the First Amendment or the Texas Constitution it adds “published or unpublished faculty research, lectures, writings, and commentary.”

Most of these changes wouldn’t be substantive, and are meant primarily to signal values rather than to create strictly actionable parts of law. One part of the bill calls for a more substantial change, however, to a part of the education code outlining that “each institution of higher education shall adopt a policy detailing students’ rights and responsibilities regarding expressive activities at the institution.” The bill would add a clause that those policies must “demonstrate a commitment to intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity,” and also that they must prohibit the funding, promotion, sponsorship or support of “any office of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” or any office that operates under another name but which supports the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It also adds language to the code prohibiting “the endorsement or dissuasion of, or interference with, any lifestyle, race, sex, religion, or culture.” 

What does all that esoteric jargon mean? In plain language, HB 1006 looks to ban publicly funded colleges and universities from advancing the DEI initiatives that have become increasingly common at such institutions. Those initiatives aren’t generally popular among right-wingers, many of whom see DEI as another oppressive liberal acronym, right up there with CRT (“critical race theory”), ESG (“environmental, social, and governance”), and BDS (“boycott, divestment, and sanctions”), all of which have been the subject of laws in recent legislative sessions. 

How to square a bill that requires universities to “demonstrate a commitment to intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” and also bans establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion offices in any form? The key here is that “viewpoint diversity” is meant to refer to conservative views, and not views such as, “This university would be a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive place for all students if it had an office devoted to ensuring that students from marginalized backgrounds had additional resources to ensure that they receive equal opportunities on campus.” This is how you end up with a bill that seeks to expand “intellectual freedom” by creating new restrictions on what schools are allowed to do. 

Does the bill have a chance of passing? Sure, this bill or something similar could certainly pass. In 2021, an anti-CRT bill, which restricted how race, slavery, and history could be taught in public schools, passed during a special session, just a few months after the passage of an anti-ESG bill that targeted financial firms that divest from oil and gas companies. (An anti-BDS law, which required all state contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel, passed in 2017, was rewritten in 2019, and was found unconstitutional by a federal judge earlier this year). 

The Legislature enjoys passing this sort of bill, even if banning DEI offices in higher education wasn’t on Dan Patrick’s list of top priorities heading into the session. 

Faculty Members Stella Flores, Denisa Gándara and Angela Valenzuela Ranked as Influencers in Educational Practice and Policy

Friends:

Rick Hess Straight Up (RHSU) annually publishes in Edweek rankings of top influencers in education (see 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence: Top 10 Lists). Congrats to all 200 scholars that made the list, and particularly to my fellow colleagues in the College of Education at UT, namely, Dr. Stella Flores and Dr. Denisa Gándara for making it to the list. 

My sense is that most of us aren't actually trying to make "the list," but rather that we're all working hard trying to influence positive change at multiple levels, meaning, local, school district, city, state, and national levels. Thanks to the RHSU team for doing the hard work of generating this annual list and thanks to the College of Education at UT-Austin for posting this notice. Getting acknowledged in this way is affirming, especially considering just how hard we all work.

-Angela Valenzuela

Faculty Members Stella Flores, Denisa Gándara and Angela Valenzuela Ranked as Influencers in Educational Practice and Policy

By Kendall Payne

Jan. 5, 2023

The College of Education congratulates Department of Educational Leadership and Policy faculty members Stella Flores, Denisa Gándara and Angela Valenzuela for being named to the 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Ranking list.

Each year, 200 university-based scholars make the list and are scored in nine publicly available metrics including their Google scholar score, book points, highest Amazon ranking, syllabus points, education press mentions, web mentions, newspaper mentions, congressional record mentions and Twitter score. According to RHSU, these rankings reflect, in roughly equal parts, the influence of a scholar’s academic scholarship and their influence on public debate as reflected in old and new media.

Stella Flores is an associate professor and examines the effects of state and federal policies on college access and completion outcomes for low-income and underrepresented populations including immigrant and English learner students. 

Denisa Gándara is an assistant professor and examines the development of higher education policy decisions and the effects of these decisions on students who have been excluded from and underserved in higher education. An additional line of research she explores is how various approaches to funding colleges and universities might promote or hinder social equity.

Angela Valenzuela is a professor and specializes in urban education from a sociological and multicultural perspective, with a focus on minority youth in schools, particularly at the K-12 level. 

David Yeager, associate professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts, was also named to this year’s list. 

 

Happy New Year! Check out Dr. Angela Valenzuela's Policy Analysis Course Readings in anticipation of the 88th (2023) Texas Legislative Session

Happy New Year, my dear friends and colleagues:

The holidays are always a good time to catch up on readings, social media, news, and videos earmarked for viewing. As a university professor, I am always thinking of my students and my classroom. 

For my master's-level, Policy Analysis class this semester—that conveniently coincides with the 88th Session of the Texas State Legislature—I have my students develop policy briefs and portfolios on the bill (or bills) of their choice that they'll be following throughout the semester. Though not required, invariably, there is always a subset of students that ends up testifying on legislation in House or Senate hearings. All students do a mock presentation based on their policy briefs at the end of the semester so that they can at least simulate the act of giving testimony before a legislative body.

To be specific, my master's students this semester are in the Education Policy and Planning (EPP) program within the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy (ELP). From here, many of them go on to careers in policy think tanks, to work in policy-focused non-profits, external relations for school districts, including assuming positions in the Texas State Legislature, the Texas Education Agency, Washington, D.C. and the like. 

A number have even become heads and leaders of coalitions or legislators themselves. So what our graduate students really appreciate is the opportunity to experience the Texas Legislative Session that meets biennially, or every other year.

This course doesn't always line up with the legislative session so when it does, that's a bonus. We also have a parallel Policy Analysis course for our EPP doctoral students taught by EPP faculty member and colleague, Dr. Christopher Brown whose approach will similarly have his unique signature.

Selecting required readings is never an easy or simply task, yet happy to share these below in case any of this interests you and you'd like to follow along.

 

Required Readings

Bérubé, M., & Ruth, J. (2022). It's not free speech: Race, democracy, and the future of academic freedom. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

Cullen, D. (2019). Parkland: Birth of a movement. London: Hachette UK.

Garcia, D. R. (2022). Teach truth to power: How to engage in education policy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Krochmal, M., & Moye, T. (Eds.). (2021). Civil rights in black and brown: Histories of resistance and struggle in Texas. Austin, Tx: University of Texas Press.

Lopez, F. & Sleeter, C. (2022). Critical Race Theory and its critics: Implications for research and teaching. NY: Teachers College Press.*

Phillips, S. (2022). How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good. NY: The New Press.

 *This book will be available for purchase soon.

In combination with articles that I am also assigning, these are recently-published texts that speak both to the art of policy making together with policy agendas and movements themselves, including, as you might infer from the readings, on today's "culture wars." By the way, for what it's worth, not a single "pinko-Marxist" text in the bunch!

The act of choosing some texts is inescapably the act of not choosing others. That said, the fact that I have had all of these students previously, I can pretty well anticipate what will be the pulse of the classroom and what will serve them well both for the class, but also for their chosen careers in policy. And they, of course, are taking other classes with other faculty in our program, department, college, and university who are making similar judgements like mine.

I'm excited about the semester and feel honored to cap off the entering EPP 2021 master's cohort with what I trust will be a very engaging experience this Spring. I've already informed them that session begins next Tuesday and so it's time to "buckle up" for the ride.

As a personal aside, I always say that those of us in policy have the most fun!

Happy New Year to all.  Feliz año nuevo!

"DISD recruits in Mexico, Colombia to fill ‘hard to fill’ teaching jobs," By José Luis Adriano

We are in a definite teacher retention crisis in our state and nation. This piece is very informative on one of the Dallas Independent School District's creative approaches to addressing this shortage. 

Some number get hired with a J1 visa. Others with a H-1B visa. Via the former route, learn more here about the J-1 Teacher Program that other districts should know about.

Particularly with a district like Dallas where 45.1% of the students are either enrolled in a bilingual education or English as a Second Language learning programs, recruiting quality candidates like this is a definite stopgap measure. Longer term, instead of outsourcing, the teacher ranks can and should get built from within through improving teacher working conditions and establishing Grow Your Own educator pathways into the teaching profession.

-Angela Valenzuela

DISD recruits in Mexico, Colombia to fill ‘hard to fill’ teaching jobs

School district sponsor special talent visas for foreign professionals

DISD recruited in October professionals in Monterrey, Mexico to teach at Dallas schools.(Jorge Martínez/Especial para AL DÍA)

By José Luis Adriano

5:30 AM on Dec 28, 2022

Dallas ISD will hire about 100 professionals from Mexico and Colombia to teach during the 2023-24 school year and alleviate its shortage of teachers.

“We are bringing in the best candidates from Mexico and Colombia to teach our students, which is the most important thing, [and we’re] providing quality educators to our students,” said DISD recruiter Eric Castañeda.

The new educators were recruited at events in late October in Monterrey, Mexico, and in mid-November in Bogotá, Colombia.

Castañeda said hard-to-fill teaching positions in math and science sparked a lot of interest from foreign professionals.

More than 220 people attended the recruiting sessions on Oct. 28-29, in Monterrey. About 80 candidates were interviewed.

The possibility to teach in Dallas generated similar interest in the Bogotá event, held on Nov. 10-13, Castañeda said.

About 71% of the district’s students are Hispanic.

New teachers could make $60,000 annually, about 1.26 million pesos in Mexico, and 290 million pesos in Colombia.

Additionally, bilingual teachers get a $5,000 signing bonus; math, science and special education teachers get a $3,000 bonus.

The teachers selected during international recruiting trips have until Jan. 15, to submit certifications and approve an English proficiency exam as a requirement for getting hired.

Soon after, the district will determine the exact number of teachers hired with either a J1 or H-1B visa. The J-1 Teacher Program is a nonimmigrant cultural exchange program. The H-1B is a visa issued to foreign professionals in specialty occupations. The visas authorize professionals to work in the U.S. for up to six years.

The school district has 50 spots for J1 visas and 50 for H-1B visas to start classes in August 2023.

According to Castañeda, most professional candidates interested in teaching in Dallas are between the ages of 30 to 45, some are career educators, but other applicants are engineers and retired physicians, which fit into the profile of teaching positions DISD struggles to find teachers for —mathematics, physics and chemistry.

“Sometimes people think we bring unqualified teachers, but I can say that these candidates are excellent. They master English as if they were from the U.S. They are very accomplished, hardworking professionals”, Castañeda said.

José Luis Adriano, Reporter. Reportero de Al Día Dallas / Reporter at The Dallas Morning News. Originario de Ciudad de México. Le interesan la cultura latina, la tecnología y las historias locales. / Jose was born in Mexico City and just completed is MA in Data Journalism at the University of Missouri. He's interested in local journalism and technology.

 @adriano_dreamer

Ukraine: Zelensky looks to win a war of symbols, by the Editors of Le Monde

Friends:

I listened to President Zelensky's speech and found it to be powerful and hopeful. Putin has no limits, destroying Ukraine's infrastructure and using the harsh, cold winter as a weapon of war. I fantasized that our country could similarly show a parallel level of compassion and statesmanship for our own humanitarian crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border where many migrants and refugees find themselves at this very moment in freezing temperatures and without food, shelter, or legal representation. Regardless of increased enforcement of the U.S.-Mexico border, desperation will keep migrants coming.

Congressman Joaquin Castro has been calling for a Central American Marshall Plan without which nothing will change. I couldn't agree more. In the meantime, I ask you to join me in a birthday fundraiser for migrants and refugees crossing the U.S.-Mexico border who need many things, including legal representation.

You can learn more about RAICES below or at their website: https://tinyurl.com/4ww33exn.

Thank you for joining me in this fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/donate/483427460481481/10160174261911970/

-Angela Valenzuela

Ukraine: Zelensky looks to win a war of symbols

By visiting Washington, the Ukranian president wanted to thank the United States. He will probably be eager to pay the same tribute to his European allies.

Dec. 22, 2022 | Le Monde

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a Ukrainian national flag to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as US Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during his address to the US Congress in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022. MANDEL NGAN / AFP

Continue reading here: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/12/22/ukraine-zelensky-looks-to-win-war-of-symbols_6008707_4.html?fbclid=IwAR1DG96wLpBlezad1XdHj4NnuX6f7EEozGEUpv-HNdbV1iaoLFhWi8U6F1I

Friends,

We know that there is a connection between demonizing public education, teachers, and school vouchers that involve taking our precious and hard-earned taxpayer dollars that go toward funding public schools and directing them to charter and private schools. 

Economic Opportunity Director Jaime Puente at Every Texan, points to a poll from the Charles Butt Foundation which shows that parents generally love their public schools. The pro-voucher campaign depends of defaming public education for their sway for vouchers to have a chance. Not that public schools are problem-free, but rather that their problems will multiply under a privatization model once robbed of already much-needed revenue.

Be sure to read Jaime Puente's excellent piece titled, "Vouchers: The 'Lost Cause' Fight of Our Generation."

Great interview, Jaime!

-Angela Valenzuela

School vouchers are getting a renewed push at upcoming Texas Legislature

Parents rights’ advocates are pushing for school vouchers in 2023 after two years of pushback at public school board meetings. Despite the controversies that have swirled around public schools since the pandemic, polls show support for public education in Texas remains strong.

By Sarah AschDecember 19, 2022 1:55 pm

                Patricia Lim/KUT

With the Texas legislative session just around the corner, groups that advocate for parents’ rights in education have started to push for school vouchers.

Vouchers, which allow students to attend private schools using taxpayer dollars, are popular with many Republican politicians who argue that vouchers protect parental choice in education.

However, many see vouchers as effectively taking money out of the public school system to send students to private or charter schools. Education advocates against vouchers say efforts over the last year at school districts across the state challenging library books or curriculum about racism may have served as a precursor for the push to expand vouchers in Texas in 2023.

Jaime Puente, the director of economic opportunity with progressive advocacy group Every Texan, said a poll from the Charles Butt Foundation shows that Texans love their public schools. According to the poll, the share of public school parents giving their local public schools an A or B grade is up 12 percentage points in two years — to 68%.

“Parents love the schools and love the teachers that are educating their kids. And the only way to get parents to give that up, or to maybe second-guess their love for their local neighborhood community schools, is to try to tear them down,” he said. “That’s what we’ve seen with attacks on our social studies curriculum, attacks on ethnic studies, attacks on our librarians and the books that they choose. And so really what we’re seeing and what we have seen in the last couple of years is the precursor to what we are expecting in the next legislative session, which is an-all out assault on public education, and an attempt to dismantle our public school finance system through vouchers.”

Vouchers have historically been popular among politicians including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and groups like the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Puente said, adding that not every parent raising curriculum concerns at school board meetings is doing so in the name of advancing vouchers. However, he said, in some cases private school parents — or those who haven’t had children in school for a long time — get involved in the debate with different goals in mind.

“The nature of this argument has been to create a seeming groundswell of support for vouchers, when we know through data courtesy of organizations like the Charles Butt Foundation, parents of public school students love their schools,” he said. “I know most Texans love the public education system. While it has problems, and they know it has problems, they believe in public schools and their ability to educate our students.”

Vouchers often come up during the Texas legislative session. Usually, a coalition of Democratic and Republican lawmakers representing rural districts prevent vouchers from passing into law. Puente said that despite the renewed push for vouchers, he does not expect them to pass given the strength of the opposition among key lawmakers.

“What I am looking forward to is a bipartisan, broad-based coalition of folks who know and love the public schools and are willing to fight for public education,” he said.

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.