Today, is the birth date of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the district hosted its annual celebration to honor Dr. King at the Carruth Administration Center. A big thank you to the students, staff and families who attended the event to honor Dr. King and his legacy.
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In seeking equal opportunities for African Americans, Martin Luther King, Jr., ignited movements among women, Hispanics, people with disabilities, and other groups. His calls for equal treatment under the law changed and improved the lives of millions all over the world, not just African Americans. He showed us how to seek change by working within the system, while still challenging injustice.
This year, the world lost another giant in the fight for equal rights with the death of Nelson Mandela. Here in Austin, we mourned two local and beloved community leaders, Willie Mae Kirk and pastor Marvin Griffin, who led Ebenezer Baptist Church and was the first African American elected to serve as president of the AISD Board of Trustees beginning in 1978. As I watched the worldwide tributes to Mandela, and the outpouring of love in our city for Mrs. Kirk, and Mr. Griffin, I was so moved by the difference one courageous individual can make in the lives of so many, either on the world stage or in own communities.
In December, I was awarded the 2013 DeWitty/Overton Freedom Award by the NAACP for my commitment to civil rights and social justice. In our academic and facilities work, our district has made strides in alleviating overcrowding, expanding opportunities, and strengthening academic offerings in parts of town that often have been neglected. This I believe Dr. King would be proud of. And we cannot listen to those who say that these changes can wait until next year, or the year after that. Because, every year we wait to make a decision, more students will not graduate, and we will have failed to do our job of preparing all students to take advantage of the opportunities before them.
Here in Austin, Dr. King’s dream was shared by many African American educators, community leaders and political leaders for whom some of our schools are named. Today, I would like to read the list of schools, and the individuals for whom they were named:
Dr. King said “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education.” In our work in public education, we have a unique opportunity and a particular responsibility for making progress towards realizing Dr. King’s dream of equal access and opportunity for all Americans. Our job is to ensure that every student in AISD receives a quality education, regardless of skin color or zip code. We’re not there yet, but there are concrete signs of progress:
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| Kiara Hopkins (left), a student at Webb Middle School, read her essay honoring Dr. King, followed by Rodell Hopkins and Josh Rogers, tudents at Lanier High School and Gavriel Rachael-Homann (right), a student at Garza High School . |
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| The Fulmore Middle School Choir, directed by Yvette Carroll, sang “A Dream Within a Dream” by Ruth Morris Gray and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” a traditional spiritual arranged by Rollo Dilworth with additional text by Langston Hughes. |
In seeking equal opportunities for African Americans, Martin Luther King, Jr., ignited movements among women, Hispanics, people with disabilities, and other groups. His calls for equal treatment under the law changed and improved the lives of millions all over the world, not just African Americans. He showed us how to seek change by working within the system, while still challenging injustice.
This year, the world lost another giant in the fight for equal rights with the death of Nelson Mandela. Here in Austin, we mourned two local and beloved community leaders, Willie Mae Kirk and pastor Marvin Griffin, who led Ebenezer Baptist Church and was the first African American elected to serve as president of the AISD Board of Trustees beginning in 1978. As I watched the worldwide tributes to Mandela, and the outpouring of love in our city for Mrs. Kirk, and Mr. Griffin, I was so moved by the difference one courageous individual can make in the lives of so many, either on the world stage or in own communities.
In December, I was awarded the 2013 DeWitty/Overton Freedom Award by the NAACP for my commitment to civil rights and social justice. In our academic and facilities work, our district has made strides in alleviating overcrowding, expanding opportunities, and strengthening academic offerings in parts of town that often have been neglected. This I believe Dr. King would be proud of. And we cannot listen to those who say that these changes can wait until next year, or the year after that. Because, every year we wait to make a decision, more students will not graduate, and we will have failed to do our job of preparing all students to take advantage of the opportunities before them.
Here in Austin, Dr. King’s dream was shared by many African American educators, community leaders and political leaders for whom some of our schools are named. Today, I would like to read the list of schools, and the individuals for whom they were named:
- Akins High School, educator Charles Akins;
- Anderson High School, educator L.C. Anderson;
- Blackshear Elementary, educator E. L. Blackshear;
- Campbell Elementary, educator Lee Lewis Campbell;
- Hart Elementary, educator and trustee Bernice Hart;
- Jordan Elementary, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan;
- Kealing Middle School, educator Hightower Theodore Kealing;
- Norman Elementary, educator G.W. Norman;
- Overton Elementary, community leader Volma Overton;
- Sims Elementary, educator Mary Jane Sims; and
- The Delco Activity Center, named for Exalton and Wilhelmina Delco, a former trustee and political leader.
Dr. King said “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education.” In our work in public education, we have a unique opportunity and a particular responsibility for making progress towards realizing Dr. King’s dream of equal access and opportunity for all Americans. Our job is to ensure that every student in AISD receives a quality education, regardless of skin color or zip code. We’re not there yet, but there are concrete signs of progress:
- AISD’s most vulnerable student groups have seen increased achievement. In particular African-American, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students have made gains—from increasing attendance and graduation rates, performance on state assessments, school ratings, college readiness and post-secondary enrollment to decreasing dropout rates and disciplinary referrals.
- Graduation rates have increased by 13.9 percentage points to 79.6 percent for African-American students; by 14.7 percentage points to 78.6 percent for Hispanic students; and by 17.7 percentage points to 78.9 for economically disadvantaged students. And, dropout rates have declined by several percentage points.
- During the past four years, AISD also has decreased discretionary removals for African-American, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students by between 76 and 81 percent at the high school level.