San Antonio educator: College-ready kids make poverty-proof adults
| San Antonio, Texas
After years of hard work, Maria Garc铆a-Garc铆a鈥檚 dream finally came true last year: The Young Women鈥檚 Leadership Academy senior won a full scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study engineering. But then she faced perhaps the toughest part of the process: convincing her mother to let her eldest child leave home and move so far away.
Enter Pedro Martinez, the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), who鈥檇 faced a similar hurdle in his route to higher education. Like Ms. Garc铆a-Garc铆a, Mr. Martinez was the oldest child in a large, low-income family, and the first to want to go to college: His father was against it, and Mr. Martinez felt guilty about putting his education ahead of his family who needed him to help make ends meet.
鈥淸He] really helped me to see that this wasn鈥檛 the first time someone was in a situation like this,鈥� says Ms. Garc铆a-Garc铆a, of her conversation with Mr. Martinez at her school last January.
Why We Wrote This
Pedro Martinez grew up in a low-income, Hispanic school district. He feels strongly that getting students into college is important 鈥� but keeping them there is also a school district responsibility.
The district went into overdrive to build her mother鈥檚 trust in the system. Teachers and principals talked to her mom, assuring her MIT would have people her daughter could turn to with any issue. SAISD would stay in touch with its graduate at MIT by phone. Mr. Martinez鈥檚 wife had friends in the Boston area who could help in emergencies.聽
Her mother came around, she says, 鈥渂ecause I was getting all this support she didn鈥檛 expect me to have.鈥�
Ms. Garc铆a-Garc铆a鈥檚 story exemplifies the struggles and successes of Mr. Martinez鈥檚 college initiatives at SAISD.
鈥淯nless they鈥檝e been through college, it鈥檚 very difficult for families to really help and guide their children,鈥� says Mr. Martinez. It 鈥渋s just a normal fear of the unknown. Many of these families have never left San Antonio, so even to go to [the University of Texas at] Austin, which is only an hour and a half away, it鈥檚 a different world for them.鈥�
But, he adds, 鈥淚 have seen personally that education is our best vehicle to help families deal with issues of poverty. In today鈥檚 world, if you don鈥檛 have [a college degree], you鈥檙e not going to have a living-wage job, you鈥檙e not going to be able to support a family [or] to be independent.鈥�
An intense focus on improving academic achievement and preparing students to get into, and stay in, college is a core aspect of how Mr. Martinez is trying to improve the high-poverty school district. His analytics-heavy, private-sector-friendly approach to charters and to partnerships with both businesses and foundations is not without critics: Some believe they marginalize community influence and don鈥檛 do enough for students who can鈥檛 make those academic achievements. But on college readiness, in particular, he has helped deliver marked improvements.聽 聽
Shirley Gonzales, a city councilwoman from San Antonio鈥檚 downtown west side, credits Mr. Martinez鈥檚 strong leadership for much of the success. She credits him for the 鈥渧ery quick results鈥� in student achievement, as well as for a grander vision for the district. When the district was putting forward a successful $1.3 billion bond vote for campus building improvements, she recalls him saying, 鈥淥ur buildings should not reflect the poverty of our community.鈥澛犅�
The roughly 48,000-student, predominantly Hispanic district covers San Antonio鈥檚 urban core. Almost 90% of its students are economically disadvantaged, and more than half are from single-parent households.聽
鈥淎rmor鈥� for students
Mr. Martinez says his college readiness focus aims to give students 鈥渁rmor鈥� to survive the intensity of college.聽
This district covered the cost for students to retake the SAT and ACT to improve scores 鈥� 42% got 鈥渃ollege ready鈥� test scores this year, compared with 25% in 2017. It organizes college visits nationwide for juniors and seniors, and signed agreements with local universities guaranteeing scholarships for a certain number of SAISD graduates.
The district worked with parents to send personalized care packages to graduates at college 鈥� like the bundle of pens, highlighters, a notebook, and chocolate pretzels to 2019 graduate Emmanuel Mendez at Northeastern University in Boston. It is building networks of alumni to support graduates at out-of-state schools, and there are two full-time employees whose only job is to check on recent graduates now in college.聽聽
Statistically, SAISD college readiness 鈥� as defined by the Texas Education Agency 鈥� has increased from 45% of 2017 graduates to 66% in 2020. The value of scholarships won by students has increased from $51 million in 2015 to $99 million last year. In four of the past five years, more than half the district鈥檚 graduates enrolled in college within a year 鈥� above the state average.聽
Critics of his reforms say the focus should be less on the superintendent鈥檚 childhood and more on his career since then 鈥� in particular, his lack of classroom experience and his time at the Broad Academy, a program that trains aspiring education leaders, and has been criticized as too open to private-sector influence on public education.聽聽
鈥淭hroughout his tenure, he鈥檚 made a number of decisions that really take the voice away from the people within a community,鈥� says Alejandra Lopez, president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, the SAISD employee union. She points to the district鈥檚 2018 decision to let Stewart Elementary School be taken over by a New York-based charter school company in a 10-year contract with the private company to operate the school. Ms. Lopez was a second grade teacher at Stewart, but left because of the takeover.
She argues that Mr. Martinez鈥檚 understanding of the district comes from 鈥渁 very deficit-minded place,鈥� overlooking other models and metrics for student success and reinforcing negative perceptions of communities in the district.
鈥淚t perpetuates the mindset that you have to escape your surroundings,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲e want our students to value themselves and their community and work together to improve our conditions as a whole.鈥�
Mr. Martinez, however, believes that doing everything he can to help his students get college degrees helps the community. He points to the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately harmed American workers without higher education. 鈥淎t the end of the day ... you need a degree,鈥� he says.
The Chicago lens
Many parents see the difference he makes, says Yesenia Alvarez-Gonzalez, an SAISD parent and chief program officer of Avance San Antonio, a nonprofit improving access to early childhood education for low-income residents. 鈥淭he communication, the involvement, the interest he has, has been significant,鈥� she says.聽
When Mr. Martinez graduated from high school in 1987, the dropout rate in Chicago Public Schools was around 43%. Half of the city鈥檚 high schools ranked in the bottom 5% in the country on the ACT.聽
His freshman class had 700 students, and as students dropped out, that dwindled to 171 his senior year.聽聽
鈥淭o this day, it still angers me,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hroughout my career, including here [in San Antonio], that is my lens.鈥�
After graduating from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign聽with majors in accounting and finance, he was director of finance for the Archdiocese of Chicago. In 2003 he became chief financial officer for Chicago Public Schools, working under future U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
鈥淭he combination of being great on the financial side, but really, really understanding our city and our kids in a way few can,鈥� says Mr. Duncan, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 what made him an invaluable part of our team.鈥�
He attributes his college initiatives success to a Valero Foundation grant. A $50,000 gift from the San Antonio Area Foundation and Wells Fargo, this funded increased access to technology and the internet for students. The Alamo Colleges District, a community college network, assumed management of three district high schools in November as part of efforts to improve college readiness.
While acknowledging he doesn鈥檛 have much classroom experience, he notes that his business background has enabled him to attract business support that can fund the best hires, which make his programs work.聽
