Texas board studies new English language arts curriculum

It doesn’t take much to bring Mary Helen Berlanga, the senior member of the Texas State Board of Education, back to her own school days. Sometimes the memories are tough, but it helps drive the daughter of immigrants to fight for what she thinks minority children need to succeed. Berlanga fears many of the state’s children are headed for failure—dropping out and disabling the state from developing a strong work force necessary to keep good-paying jobs.

Berlanga, who as a child learned English from seven older siblings, has pushed her colleagues to develop a new English language arts and reading curriculum that takes into consideration the growing ranks of minority children who struggle with the language barrier. Nearly half of the state’s 4.7 million public schoolchildren are Hispanic.

Her opponents among the board’s 15 members finally agreed last week to invite two Hispanic experts to work on a final version of a new English language arts and reading plan for Texas public schools. Read about the controversy in The Houston Chronicle online.