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Texas News
Zapata County ISD Names Lone Finalist
Upon careful consideration of the applications received from highly qualified individuals, the Zapata County Independent School District is proud to formally name Dr. Roberta G. Ramirez-Trevino as the lone finalist for the District’s next Superintendent of Schools.

Dr. Trevino joins the District with over three decades of experience working in the education field, holding positions as an assistant principal, principal, chief academic officer, chief of staff, interim superintendent, and assistant superintendent for administration, compliance and school safety. Most recently, Dr. Trevino has held the position of assistant superintendent of human resources and leadership development at Laredo Independent School District.

Dr. Trevino obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration in 1988 from Texas State University and her Master of Arts in Educational Leadership in 1999 from St. Mary’s University. Dr. Ramirez-Trevino also received her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2019.
Four PSJA teachers earn Harvard master degrees
Four teachers from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District earned Master’s Degrees in Mathematics through the Harvard Extension School Math for Teaching Graduate Program.

The four are part of the sixth and seventh cohorts of Rio Grande Valley teachers who recently graduated with a Master of Liberal Arts in Mathematics for Teaching from Harvard Extension School.

The program is in partnership with the Texas Graduate Center.
Dallas ISD Superintendent Hinojosa will leave the district earlier than planned
With his former deputy, Stephanie Elizalde, to take over as schools chief on Friday, his last day will now be July 5.

Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa will resign from the district earlier than initially planned. But, he said, that’s not necessarily a signal that he’s launching a mayoral bid.

The district’s trustees originally approved a voluntary resignation agreement that laid out conditions for Hinojosa to remain employed with the district through Dec. 31.
Austin ISD school board approves $1.9B budget, raises teacher pay next year
Austin ISD will boost salaries next school year in a move to keep educators from leaving the district.

School district trustees approved June 23 a nearly $1.9 billion budget for the upcoming school year, which results in a $1,000 annual pay bump for teachers and raises wages for other staff.
The budget plan sets aside $6.3 million for a 2% raise for teachers based on midpoint salaries, according to district officials.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t lose ground with teacher pay and we were competitive,” Eduardo Ramos, AISD’s chief financial officer, said during the board’s budget meeting.
Graduation in Uvalde gives tragedy-stricken town a night of normality
A month after their graduation was postponed by a mass shooting, Uvalde High School seniors finally got to celebrate their graduation on Friday.

Gabby Quirova asked for loose natural curls at the hair salon, which she knew could stand up to the heat and still look intact all throughout Friday’s graduation ceremony. She’d be off to college soon, at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, a place she was originally worried would be too big and confusing to navigate, but she had recently visited and loved all of the professors she met.

She fell in love with teaching during high school and her dream is to become a special education teacher.
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National News
Push Is on to Grow and Nurture Latino Teacher Pipeline
National initiatives to boost the number of teachers of color have advanced thanks to an increasingly multiethnic student population and research on the benefits of a diverse educator workforce. Now, there are new efforts to address recruitment and retention of Latino educators to serve the growing culturally and linguistically diverse Latino student population.

Between fall 2009 and fall 2020, Latino students were the only major racial or ethnic group whose public school enrollment increased, to about 28 percent of the K-12 student body, according to federal data. Yet Latino teachers represent just 9 percent of the teaching profession.
Once again, Boston misses out on its first Hispanic school superintendent
Latinos are the largest demographic student group at the Boston Schools, and yet there’s never been a Hispanic superintendent. Representation matters; but it’s not the only thing that matters.

In the last seven years, Boston has gone through three school superintendent searches. Both in the 2015 and 2019 searches, competent Hispanic finalists were passed over. And in the current search, which produced two finalists, it looks like the incoming leader won’t be Hispanic either.
New Ken Burns PBS Documentary Offers Raw Look at the Youth Mental Health Crisis
After White House screening, “Hiding in Plain Sight” premieres Monday, offering painful view into an enduring problem grown worse during the pandemic

When brothers Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers set out to film a documentary about the mental health struggles of American youth, they knew they were tackling a pervasive problem unspoken about for far too long. What they didn’t realize were the lessons they’d come to uncover about themselves.
‘Keep Kids Fed’ heads to Biden as meal waivers set to expire
In a rare show of bipartisanship, the House voted 376-42 on Thursday to extend some pandemic-era school meal waivers through the next school year with passage of the nearly $3 billion Keep Kids Fed Act. But then late Thursday night the Senate sent the bill back to the House for another vote to account for changes made.

During a House Education and Labor subcommittee hearing Thursday morning on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service’s policies and priorities, legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed support for the newly proposed bill. While some lawmakers backed an extension of universal school meals — which is not included in the legislation — others said it’s time for the policy to end.
Inspiring: A Black Literary Society Helps High Schoolers Fall in Love With Books
For two hours on Friday afternoons, a group of high school students split between Stockton and Sacramento, California, hop on Zoom to discuss the book they’re reading. Though they’ve never gathered in person, these students have created a space where they feel comfortable being vulnerable and engaging in enthusiastic discussion.

What is this virtual literary society that encourages Black students to read and talk about literature that reflects the entirety of the Black experience? Aptly enough, it’s called Black is Lit, and it brings Black youths together, amplifies their voices, and enables them to fall in love with books.
Las Tienditas
This Week’s Featured Sponsor
TALAS sponsors make this newsletter and other TALAS activities possible. Please support them. Click on the logo to learn more!
At Imagine Learning, we believe every child deserves the chance to enjoy learning and the right to fulfill their unique potential.

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David Webb – Regional Partnership Director, Texas – 214.883.2880