The Struggle for Mexican American Studies in Texas K-12 Public Schools: A Movement for Epistemic Justice through Creation/Resistance

This article traces how Mexican American Studies (MAS) scholar activists led and supported a statewide movement for MAS in Texas. As a Xicana feminist scholar activist, Saldaña draws from her retrospective memory and personal archive of organizational notes, movement documents, personal testimonies before the State Board of Education, and photos, to document her journey within this epistemic justice movement. In doing so, she narrates the processes of creation/resistance that led to change in a state that has historically excluded Black, Brown, and Indigenous histories from school curricula. As a scholar activist involved in various parts of this movement, Saldaña also examines the various interconnected layers of this movement—from local efforts in San Antonio, where she teaches, to statewide organizing—to chronicle the institutional and grassroots processes that led to this historic victory in Texas.

Strategic Leadership

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the process of building and developing ethnic studies courses, particularly the Mexican American and African American Studies Curriculum for Texas high schools. Dr. Lawrence Scott and the Honorable Marisa Perez-Diaz will discuss their contributions in the passage and implementation of Ethnic Studies courses, particularly as it relates to the African American Studies and Mexican American Studies Courses now offered for high schools around the State of Texas. This chapter explores the inception of both courses, the development, and the process of gaining consensus and concessions for both courses. Both courses were unanimously passed by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), but did see some challenges throughout the process. Dr. Lawrence Scott and Texas State Board of Education Member Marisa Perez-Diaz will also discuss how they employed varying leadership styles, in collaboration with stakeholders from around Texas to help establish, pass, and implement the Mexican American and African American Studies Courses in Texas.

Education

This chapter studies Article IX of the Colorado Constitution, on public schools. Sections 1 and 15 establish the basic structure for administration of the state’s schools. Section 1 provides for an elected State Board of Education. Section 15 authorizes the general assembly to create school districts “of convenient size” and provides for an elected board of education for each, which “have control of instruction in the public schools of their respective districts.” Section 16 forbids the legislature and the State Board of Education from prescribing public school textbooks. Section 2 requires free public schools open to all residents between ages six and twenty-one. Sections 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 concern the state public school fund and trust lands. Section 17 sets minimum levels of financial support for schools. Section 8 bans the teaching of sectarian tenets or doctrines in public schools and the use of religious criteria in hiring teachers or admitting students. Section 11 empowers the general assembly to require school attendance or education by other means.

Do State Boards of Education Offer an Avenue for Public Voice?

Digital technologies provide new opportunities for increased participation by the general public in state and federal governance. In this article, we examine opportunities for public engagement in one type of state-level governmental body: the State Board of Education (SBOE). Limited research has focused on SBOEs, particularly the extent to which these powerful policy actors are accessible to the public. Drawing on the Open Government Maturity Model (OGMM), we examine data on the accessibility and opportunities for public engagement offered by 47 SBOEs to interrogate the validity of the assumption that SBOEs are avenues for public voice. We considered each SBOE to be a unique study participant and their websites to be their “electronic public faces.” Data were collected from SBOE websites on 39 different variables related to SBOE accessibility and used to create an SBOE E-Accessibility Index. Findings suggest that while most SBOEs meet lower levels of the OGMM’s criteria, they do not support meaningful public engagement in SBOE work.

Education

This chapter addresses Article XIII of the Oklahoma constitution, which concerns education. Section 1 mandates establishment and maintenance of a public school system but does not guarantee an equal educational opportunity in the sense of equal expenditures of money for each and every pupil in the state. Section 2 states that “the Legislature shall provide for the establishment and support of institutions for the care and education of persons within the state who are deaf, deaf and mute, or blind.” Meanwhile, Section 3—which was entitled “Separate Schools for White and Colored Children”—was repealed on May 3, 1966. Section 4 states that “the Legislature shall provide for the compulsory attendance at some public or other school, unless other means of education are provided.” Section 5 grants power to the State Board of Education to supervise the instruction in public schools. Section 6 provides for the establishment of a uniform system of textbooks to be used in the public schools, making it clear that the books must be free to students.

Gestão compartilhada da educação: a experiência catarinense

Objetiva socializar algumas experiências de gestão compartilhada que a Associação dos Administradores Escolares de Santa Catarina (AAESC) vem desenvolvendo em diversas regiões, em parceria com a Secretaria de Estado da Educação, secretarias municipais da educação, universidades e outros segmentos representativos da sociedade civil, bem como pretende expressar, com clareza, o envolvimento da AAESC com a qualidade da escola pública, tendo como mediação a gestão compartilhada, permitindo que tanto a associação como os educadores catarinenses possam propor alternativas práticas de administração do projeto pedagógico. Inicia com um breve histórico da AAESC, seguido da discussão dos pressupostos teóricos preliminares e da apresentação das experiências em andamento; ao final, são feitas algumas considerações gerais. Abstract I present this article on behalf of all associates in order to socialize some experiences that the shared administration of the Association of School Admistrators of Santa Catarina (AAESC) has been developping in several regions. This program has been developed in association with the State Board of Education, the Municipal Board of Education, the Universities, and with others representative sections of the civil society. Because of that the purpose of this article is to present clearly the AAESC involvement with the Public School quality, having as mediation the shared administration that allows both the Association and Santa Catarina 's Educators, to propose practical administrative alternatives of the Pedagogic Project. Thus, I proceed to present the general effort in a regional levei, beginning with a brief description of ASASC. In item two I will discuss the preliminary theoretical principies, and in item three I will present some general aspectos of experiences in course. Résumé Cet article que je présente au nom de tous les associés vise à diffuser quelques-unes des expériences de Gestion Partagée que l'Association des Gestionnaires Scolaires de Santa Catarina (AAESC) est en train de développer dans plusieurs régions. Ce travail se fait en collaboration avec le Secrétariat à l'Educacion de l'Etat, avec les secrétariats à l 'education des municipalités, avec les universités et avec d'autres segments représentatifs de la société civile. Voilà pourquoi cet article a pour objectif d'exprimer avec clarté la préoccupation de l'AAESC avec la qualité de l'école publique. Dans cette action, elle a pour médiation la Gestion Partagée qui permet que l 'association tout autant que les éducateurs puissent proposer des alternatives pratiques de Gestion du Projet Pédagogique. Enfin, après un bref historique de l'AAESC, je présente une expérience d'effort collectif au niveau régional; dans la demiente partie, je discuterai des presuposés théoriques préliminaires; dans la troixiéme partie, je présentrai des expériences qui ont lieu en ce moment et, à la fin, quelques considérations générales. Resumen Este artículo está presentado en nombre de todos los asociados, con el objetivo de manifestar algunas experiencias de la Gestión Compartida en la Asociación de los Administradores Escolares de Santa Catarina (AAESC) que viene realizando en conjunto con diversas regiones. Este trabajo que se hace en parceria con Ia Secretaria del Estado de Educación, secretarias municipales de educación, universidades o con otras instituciones representativas de la sociedad civil. Por esto, este artículo pretende expresar con claridad la involucración de la AAESC con la calidad de la escuela pública teniendo como mediación Ia Gestión Compartida que permite a la associàción como los educadores catarinenses, puedan proponer alternativas prácticas de administración al proyecto pedagógico. Por eso estoy presentando el esfuerzo colectivo en nivel regional, iniciando con un brevísimo histórico de la AAESC, en el párrafo dos, procurando una discusión de presupuestos teóricos preliminares, en el tercer párrafo, quedan presentadas las experiencias en los procesos y al final consideraciones generales.

New Jersey’s Leave of Absence

This past June, Governor Phil Murphy helped take a great stride in making sure that every day counts for the students within New Jersey’s Public Schools when he signed a new bill into law. This new policy will work to ensure that schools and districts understand the level to which chronic absenteeism occurs and guarantee that schools disproportionately afflicted have plans to help fight absenteeism. Specifically, the policy identifies schools who have a greater than 10% absentee rate and requires them to establish a plan for improving attendance. It also requires schools to report the percent of students who are absent more than ten percent of the time on their School Report Card. Attendance is one of the most important aspects in ensuring a successful education for students of all ages. The Governor and state legislature, alongside advocacy groups like Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ), have taken the first steps in fighting one of the largest issues within New Jersey schools. With that being said, it is still extremely important to consider how the state board of education, along with individual districts and schools, will interpret and comply with the law.