Message from the President & CEO

The Mendez and Brown Initiative: Responsing to a Need

 

At IDRA we see equal educational opportunity as a national imperative. We are all in this together, and we have a shared responsibility to protect the common good and build common ground. We believe that equal educational opportunity need not wait another generation.

The Mendez and Brown initiative responds to the need for joint African American and Latino leadership and action to improve high school graduation rates and college success for minority youth. As a community leader, we invite you to participate because of your commitment to excellence and equity in the education of all youth, and particularly African American and Latino youth.

“Neighborhood public schools belong to their communities. The strength and vitality of any community is, in part, dependent upon the strength of its schools. And the reverse is true.”

The two historic cases of Brown vs. Board of Education and Mendez vs. Westminster offered a promise to all children. Communities must work together to embrace our respective leadership roles and develop a plan to ensure this happens. The two cases were not an end. Rather, they were a beginning. They hold a promise, and we must achieve it together for this generation and for those to come.

IDRA’s Quality Schools Action Framework™ informs the process you are about to undertake and provides a way of looking at systems change, including key indicators that can tell us how schools are being transformed to support graduation and success for all students.

While we stress the importance of partnerships among families and communities in education decision-making, one of the most essential elements in the equation for student success is student voice. It is not surprising that students often interpret a local landscape within schools and colleges as void of opportunities for engaging them as key members of the local planning process. This process acknowledges emerging student leaders and communities as critical elements for improving school holding power and broadening access and success for all.

We really appreciate the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its support in making this launch kit possible.

Thank you for what you do each day in your local community and for your partnership with us. We look forward to staying connected and continuing to work together as we create pathways to graduation for all. We wish you success in your local efforts to respond to this call for action.

Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel
IDRA President & CEO