For nearly 20 years, the Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC) has advocated for racial and educational justice as a matter of civil rights. TLEEC was founded on the principle that educational equity is a cornerstone of racial justice that Black and Latino communities have long been denied.
TLEEC condemns police brutality and white supremacy in all forms. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and numerous other murders of Black people at the hands of police throughout the country, demonstrators took to the streets to advocate for racial justice. Law enforcement across the country and in many Texas major cities met demonstrators with anger, violence and intentional brutality. These are not just instances of violence. These are expressions of systemic oppression fueled by white supremacist ideology that breeds and motivates racial injustice.
We see this systemic oppression in our school discipline systems that push out Black and Latino youth at disproportionate rates. We see it in our state’s obstinate refusal to equitably fund bilingual education. We see it in the movement to starve our public schools through school privatization in the forms of privately-managed charter schools, vouchers and voucher-like mechanisms. We see it in the double standards to which Black and Brown students are held, compared to their White peers, in school behavior and engagement. We see it in standardized tests that better predict students’ household income than their true knowledge and academic achievement. We have experienced it, witnessed it and continue to see it happen through the targeted policing that happens in our Black and Brown communities.
The member organizations of TLEEC unequivocally support demonstrations and demands for racial justice and condemn police violence toward Black Americans and all of our communities. We will continue to advocate for racial justice and educational equity and stand in solidarity with those also in pursuit of these objectives.
Forward together! Black Lives Matter! ¡Adelante! ¡Las Vidas Negras Importan!
June 10, 2020 • See PDF version
Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition Members: Dr. Hector P. García G.I. Forum • Every Texan (formerly Center for Public Policy Priorities) • Houston Community Voices for Public Education • Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) • McNeil Educational Foundation for Ecumenical Leadership • 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 • Teach Plus Texas • Texas American Federation of Teachers • Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) • Texas Association for Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE) • 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 • The Education Trust • UnidosUS (formerly known as NCLR
