It is sad to learn that the teachers union for the San Antonio Independent School District is endorsing candidates to oppose the board’s president and one other member, as well as backing a critic of the board for an open East Side seat.
This, simply put, is the best board SAISD has had in at least 50 years. I’ve lived in the district for most of the past four decades and I could tell some stories. In fact, I have told some stories.
There was the school board member who took the most junkets of any of the trustees, yet hadn’t paid her school property taxes for years. She had repeatedly voted for the law firm of the late Oliver Heard to collect the district’s unpaid taxes, and the firm had neglected to go after her delinquent account.
“It fell through the cracks,” a spokeswoman for the firm told me with a straight face.
There was the time the board waited until the superintendent was out of town to post a last-minute agenda item to place a magnet school in each of the district’s eight high schools. Without any consultation or advance study, they then horse-traded which schools would get which themes for their magnets.
The trustee for Lanier High School on the West Side chose banking. Did he think a large number of 14-year-olds in his neighborhoods (or in any neighborhood) dreamed of being bankers? More likely were the rumors that his job was in danger of being eliminated with the closing of Kelly Air Force Base and he wanted to develop contacts with bankers.
There were also significant stretches of time that the district couldn’t pass bond issues because of the strong smell of corruption. There were cases where administrators were pressed to help raise campaign funds for board members, and getting to be a principal was based not on competence but on closeness to a trustee.
The current board did have one incident of corruption. A board member was indicted on federal bribery charges for taking gifts and trips from businessmen who received her vote for insurance contracts. She was acquitted, but only because a jury believed her testimony that she was too stupid to understand that they were bribes. She’s gone.
I’m not too worried that the union, the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, is going to win the control over the board it seeks. The board president, Patti Radle, has been serving the people in her West Side district for 50 years, running a food pantry and a school for troubled dropouts, and leading other initiatives. When she ran for City Council in 2003 she was opposed by longtime SAISD trustee Tom Lopez and whipped him. Her performance at City Hall paved the way for her election to the school board, where she has served with great energy and skill. Her opponent can’t match her reputation or her history of service.
To oppose Christina Martinez, who works at Big Brothers Big Sisters and was appointed two years ago to replace her indicted predecessor, the union is backing a 19-year-old recent graduate of Edison High School, now a freshman at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He’s also a father. He has plenty on his plate without taking on the demands of a trustee of a large urban school district.
That the union can’t field a stronger slate is disturbing, but I’m more concerned about their criticism of the ambitious efforts by the board and Superintendent Pedro Martinez to improve the schools and better serve the students.
One of these is a collection of magnet programs and in-district charter schools that are attracting affluent families from outside SAISD. The union feels those seats should be reserved for SAISD students. But it is precisely for the benefit of its own students that SAISD is devising programs that can put them in classrooms with children from wealthier families.
Considerable research nationally indicates that economic integration is a powerful dynamic in improving academic success for students from low-income families while not having an adverse academic impact on children of wealthier families.
For SAISD, fostering economically diverse classes is challenging. Ninety percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and San Antonio neighborhoods are among the most economically segregated in the nation. That leads to one of the nation’s lowest rates of upward mobility, pointed out Mohammed Choudhury, SAISD’s chief innovation officer.
Simply establishing magnet schools and in-district charter schools is not what Choudhury considers innovation. The problem, he says, is that if you establish good programs and let the market decide who goes there, they will soon be filled with affluent students whose families have more social capital and sophistication than low-income families. So the programs he has set up are carefully engineered.
For one thing, a minimum of 50 percent of the slots go to students from low-income families. At CAST Tech High School and at the CAST Med School opening this fall, half the students can come from outside the district. The reason, he says, is that SAISD school district lines make it a segregated district economically. So lines need to be crossed.
The other “diverse-by-design schools” – such as Steele Montessori Academy, the Mark Twain Dual Language Academy, the Advanced Learning Academy, the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, and others – allow as many as 25 percent of their students to come from outside SAISD lines.
To engineer these mixtures, the district holds two lotteries for each school: One for students from economically disadvantaged families and one for students from more affluent families.
Choudhury says these schools don’t work simply because a poor kid is sitting next to an affluent kid. Integrated schools work because they have a constituency that demands high standards and holds school officials and teachers accountable.
It’s too early to measure the schools’ success but Choudhury, who has been here less than two years, claims the first such school he helped establish in Dallas four years ago, an elementary school named Solar Prep, has already closed the achievement gap between rich and poor kids and won an “A” rating in the latest state accountability round.
Of course, districts like SAISD can’t just improve the lot of lucky lottery winners. They also must improve the performance of low-income neighborhood schools. That’s a tougher, longer job than starting new schools. Choudhury and SAISD Board President Radle say they are making headway, but that’s a story for another day.
Mr. Casey, you have an impressive record as a journalist, but not as a teacher. Nor are you reporting on the experiences of the families impacted by these decisions. Yours is an “opinion” formulated by a corporate “on paper” reasoning designed to sway readers and justify privatization, rather than a perspective founded on an intimate and insightful understanding of these communities in SAISD and the intention of enlightenment education.
Your intent is especially transparent when you state that the young candidate, Eduardo Torres (he has a name, but you failed to mention it) “has to much on his plate”, being a father and student to be on the board. Really? Who are you to make this kind of determination? Other board members have families and jobs, including the candidate Mr. Torres is running against. And why? A recently graduated student from SAISD who has experienced first hand the impact of the Board decisions on education seems to me to be a uncommon, and especially relevant candidate to bring much needed insight to the Board.
There is much more to this story, but I guess the experiences of actual families and students in the communities of SAISD will be “left for another day” as with the “headway” begin made by Board President Ms. Radle and her associate in the SAISD District administration.
Exactly!
There is a lot to this. Her as someone that should stand for us is not there. We have a good 50 meetings with her and every time we tell her what’s going on it like a deer in headlights
Yes I have a learning disability with ready and writing. Didn’t think I had to put her name ( Radle). This is why we want and need someone different.
Ha. They deleted my post to which you wrote exactly. What a bogu thing Rivard Report is.
Yes, they deleted my response to you, Robert, even though it did not violate any of the standards for commentary? What gives?
To set the record straight, I emphasized the fact that Rick Casey reflects an apparent attitude of SAISD administration that does not value the insight and experience of youth. In its irony, it is also telling. Why wouldn’t they welcome a board member who has experienced the impact of charter schools, has a child who will be going to school in the District, and cares deeply enough to serve on the board? What insights does Mr. Torres have that they do not want to become a public issue held for debate, not from citizens to be heard, but from within the SAISD Board itself? I want to know!
Blackbird, it’s very easy to be so candid and harsh, whether you are right or wrong, when done so anonymously.
Put your name to your words so unaffected people like me can form opinions based on transparency and candor. I live in this district so my vote counts. And regardless of how qualified a 19yo might be, he/she simply does not have the life maturity to deal with such demanding and sophisticated issues so no he will not make a viable trustee. You should push that he finish college first and then serve rather than add an ambitious schedule that you KNOW will affect his ability to study AND be another SAISD statistic of dropping out of college. Seriously, there are no other candidates the union could put forth? The latter alone is sad.
Robert, your response is evidence of the point I am endeavoring to make. Your point of view (that youth equates to weakness and irresponsibility), left unchecked or balanced by those with experience either in teaching or being taught in our schools, will no doubt lead to negative consequences for future students and, in reality, the future of all of us. I prefer not to wait for those consequences to become inevitable. Your post has convinced me more than ever that it may critical for the quality of education of our students that Mr. Torres and others with his sense of genuine motivation and experience should be elected to the SAISD Board. And soon!
Full disclosure: I am not a member of the union or an employee of SAISD.
Maybe he should be mayor then, this wunderkind.
Actually, if enough people vote like you SAISD will eventually be taken over by the state as a failed institution. Maybe that would be best for all involved.
While I don’t personally know Mr. Torres, there are many opportunities for him to engage with his school district and not only learn more about how public schools function…or don’t function as the case may be…and prove himself to be a capable and informed leader and then run for trustee. The reality of failure in public schools has more to do with a failed governance model as much as anything else. Look what has already been proven by high performing charters with a better governance model.
The telling paragraph in this commentary is the last one: “Of course, districts like SAISD can’t just improve the lot of lucky lottery winners. They also must improve the performance of low-income neighborhood schools. That’s a tougher, longer job than starting new schools.”
This approach of creating a separate and unequal school system where the lucky few—wealthy and low-income—attend the dynamic, shiny new school while their unfortunate peers, those whose parents can’t lobby for them, fall farther behind in the deteriorating, older schools is morally reprehensible.
If you do not get into the new school, you will not be able to keep pace with your peer across the street or from across town at the new school. Teachers will not want to teach in the “bad” schools, there will be constant turnover of principals, and the drop out problem will just get worse. This lottery system also runs the risk of parents bribing or cheating to gain admission into the best schools. One couldn’t blame parents for doing it when so much is at stake for their children.
Why can’t we change our public schools to be more like the reform-minded Finnish people have done? In Finland, it doesn’t matter where one lives since all public schools perform at the same high-achieving level. Teaching there is a highly regarded and selective profession. They do research on the best teaching methods, they observe one another and collaborate, and they make most of the executive decisions about the school. There is almost no testing.
The mistake school boards continually make in this country, as the examples shown here in SAISD illustrate, is not to trust the teachers on the front lines, but to turn to so-called industry experts who allegedly “know more” than those who interact with the students daily. Or we hire for-profit agencies who peddle their own educational materials and streamline their schools to eliminate all the troubled and difficult kids.
We can do so much better.
I have not read all the comments nor do I know the entire context of this discussion about SAISD, but I am an educator and come from a family of educators and this sentiment, “The mistake school boards continually make in this country, as the examples shown here in SAISD illustrate, is not to trust the teachers on the front lines, but to turn to so-called industry experts who allegedly “know more” than those who interact with the students daily” is a very pertinent one.
I get that admin and consultants often spend time in the minutiae and are thus knowledgeable but the issues that really is the elephant in the room, is we simply do not listen to educators enough.
We need smaller classrooms, less standardized testing, more local control that aligns with the state/federal standards, and we must all be willing as educators to collaborate for the collective goal of educating our students and the next generation of students.
*as an aside it is entirely unfair that schools that were built long ago and the districts that are on the hook for them have to compete against new schools, when it is obvious that raising the old standards to the new standards put old school ISD’s in the hole when it comes to funding. Yes charters are a way around this and SAISD has certainly partnered with charters but it is not fair because an old school is not a new school, and also this issue has nothing to do with educating students per se.
I was waiting until someone brought up Finland. Once and for all, while there is much to admire about the Finnish system, you have to appreciate that it has taken place in an environment quite different than San Antonio, much less the USA.
Finland has been far more homogeneous, its total population is under 6 million, and their society has far less economic inequality. Teachers are valued there and given more respect, but the average salary is less than here. Of course, professions that may move here, such as doctors, also get paid less, and all receive much less after tax. It is a decision their society made, but it is easier when you 1/60th the population here.
Of course, professions that pay more here, such as doctors, also get paid less…
To say this is the “best” board of trustees that SAISD has had in decades is damning by faint praise. Compared to the rank and open corruption you describe from past trustees, it is enough for the current trustees to simply be law abiding citizens to be the best. The bar has been set to low, and these members could be doing so much better.
It is telling that so many of their constituents are disillusioned with their performance. They have not done enough to foster meaningful dialogue with teachers and parents, let alone create actual buy-in. Change is always going to be difficult and sacrifices will sometimes have to be made, but many residents and employees of SAISD feel forgotten and abandoned by the decisions this board has made since Mr. Martinez came to the district. They have lost confidence that the trustees have the best interest of students, parents, employees, and taxpayers.
If they truly want to regain the trust of the community, they need to make themselves visible and available. Hold weekly townhalls around the district. Don’t limit “citizens to be heard” at board meetings to one or two minutes. Meet with students and parents and their convenience, not at the convenience of trustees. They must do something to show the residents of SAISD that they care, otherwise they will soon be voted out.
SAISD needs radical changes. I’m not endorsing Mr. Torres, but the status quo of addressing problems within that district are not working.
NEWS FLASH – Tony Valdivia will be running for ALL of the SAISD seats after he loses the District 8 race.
After college, I moved into the SAISD, where I’ve lived for 20 years. I have kids in different SAISD schools. I agree with Rick’s assessment that this is the BEST school board that they have had in decades. I have seen the schools dramatically improve, and we would not have switched from private to public 4 years ago if the district had continued on their earlier “it’s always been this way” path.
Ya that story is for a other day. That’s what Mr. Martinez and Mrs. Radle always tell us.
Mr. Casey, are you hearing what you are saying? That we have to have affluent families (mostly white) from outside of SAISD send their kids to our SAISD schools in order for our low-income students (mostly of color) to be successful? Do you not grasp how insulting that is to our children and families? Do Mr. Martinez (yes, he’s a Mr., not a Dr. like most superintendents) and his downtown staff not know how to educate low-income kids? And did anyone ask SAISD families about any of this? Of course not. Wealthy white people (and the superintendent they control) never ask for permission. They believe they are entitled to come in and take over our neighborhoods and our schools.
The “best” SAISD Board? Why? Because it refuses to listen to teachers and parents?
The current SAISD Board is composed of robots programmed to solely respond to the superintendent.
My daughters graduated from Brackenridge high school and are doing quite well as a RN and massage therapist.
REAL democracy doesn’t exist at SAISD. It’s time for a change!
Fascinating that you criticize the teachers’ union when they endorsed two women of color who are mothers of students in the district and endorsed a bright, young former SAISD student whose family has deep roots in the Edison area.
“The trustee for Lanier High School on the West Side chose banking. Did he think a large number of 14-year-olds in his neighborhoods (or in any neighborhood) dreamed of being bankers?” Are you freaking joking? There probably are valid, non-racist, arguments on both sides of this issue, but the “Mexicans don’t want to be bankers” argument isn’t one of them.
It appears that acountability of our SAISD is still important but tragically the results of our schools as measured by dismally low college readiness rates and NOT by graduation rates which now are around 95% still leave a lot to be be desired. Have we looked at the status of our preschool and kindergarten students and the interest and participation by their parents . Look at the parents’ involvement and it will more than likely predict the academic success of their children. So the innovation efforts by the district should include ways to get more parental involvement no matter whether they are rich or poor from the time their children are babies. Involved parents will make sure that trustees have the best interest of the students . I trust that involved parents will vett candidates for the school board and end up with a good board and not one beholden to other organizations that have other motives in mind.