The Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC) is a collaborative of organizations and individuals with the mission to improve the quality of public education for all children, with a focus on racial equity. We advocate for fair funding, teaching quality, high-quality curriculum and instructional practices, quality bilingual education for English learners, and enhanced college access and success. The coalition convenes organizations and individuals who advocate in the interest of public school students at the local, state and national levels.
The coalition (originally called the Texas Latino Education Coalition), was organized in 2001 to focus specifically on critical educational issues in Texas and improve the state of education for Latino students in public schools. In 2019, the coalition expanded and adopted a name change to reflect the goals of its diverse member organizations.
Its education agenda is framed around key target issues, each with an overarching vision for schools in Texas.
- Advocate Meaningful Assessment and Fair Accountability
- Invest in Public School Students
- Promote Quality Bilingual Education
- Prepare All Students for College Readiness and Success
- Promote Educational Equity in All Aspects of Student Learning
Contact: Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., IDRA (chloe.sikes@idra.org), or Jaime Puente, M.A., Every Texan (puente@everytexan.org), for more information.
Recent Activity
Private School Vouchers Undermine Texas Students’ Ability to Access Equitable Educational Opportunities – TLEEC Testimony on Educational Opportunities in Texas, submitted by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., to the Texas House Committee on Public Education, August 12, 2024
Understanding Texas’s DEI Ban at Public Universities – Infographic
See TLEEC Policy Agenda for the 2023 Legislative Session – Third Special Session
See TLEEC Policy Agenda for the 2023 Legislative Session (English) • (Español)
See TLEEC Statements and Testimony from 2023
Follow TLEEC on social media: @TxTLEEC
To be a part of TLEEC, complete the TLEEC New Member Form
Members of TLEEC
ARISE Adelante
Asian Texans for Justice
Austin Justice Coalition
Big Thought
Black Parents and Families Collective
Breakthrough Central Texas
Children at Risk
Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
Culturingua
Dr. Hector P. García G.I. Forum
Easterseals Central Texas
Educators in Solidarity (EIS)
Ethnic Studies Network of Texas (ESNTX)
Every Texan
Houston Community Voices for Public Education
IDRA
McNeil Educational Foundation for Ecumenical Leadership
Measure
Mexican American Civil Rights Institute (MACRI)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Mexican American School Board Members Association (MASBA)
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) – Tejas Foco
San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
SEAT (Students Engaged in Advancing Texas)
Southwest Region Youth Legislative Action Center
Texas American Federation of Teachers
Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE)
Texas Association for Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE)
Texas Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (TADOHE)
Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC)
Texas Center for Education Policy at the University of Texas – Austin
Texas Hispanics Organized for Political Education (HOPE)
Texas League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Texas NAACP
Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA)
The Arc of Texas
UnidosUS (formerly known as NCLR)
UP Partnership
History
At the Texas Capitol in 2001, the Intercultural Development Research Association convened a group of organizations and individuals for the founding event of the Texas Latino Education Coalition. Representing thousands of Texans, founding member organizations included: IDRA, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Mexican American School Board Members Association, League of United Latin American Citizens, among many others.
The core group framed the education agenda for the coalition based on trends and historical inequities in public education. Members recognized that while overall test scores for school districts were rising, growing numbers of schools, especially those serving poor and minority students: (1) did not have adequate financial resources and support to provide quality education; (2) were losing students to attrition; and (3) were set up to provide little or no information for accessing colleges and succeeding in higher education. Founding members agreed that it was a crucial time to unite efforts through a statewide coalition to take aggressive steps to ensure a brighter future for our children.
TLEEC’s founding mission would be to improve public education for Latino children, which will impact the quality of education for all children, focusing specifically on fair funding, teaching quality, school holding power, and college access and success. And it would serve as a collaborative of organizations and individuals who advocate the rights of Latinos at the local, state and national levels.
Today, TLEEC is moving its agenda forward by creating and executing strategies that educate the media, inform public policy at state and local levels, mobilize communities, and synthesize and disseminate information.
See TLEEC Statements and Testimony from 2021 and 2022
See TLEC/TLEEC Statements and Testimony from Previous Sessions
