Equity Texas Tour: Recap

Written by Ashley Watts MPA, Doctoral Fellow, and Briauna Derry, Associate Director of Media Activism

Despite Texas’ diverse population and bustling advances, disparities persist along racial lines. Communities of color face systemic barriers that limit their access to resources, opportunities and equitable treatment. Following its formation in 2021, the Texas Racial Equity Collaborative (TREC) recognizes the importance of addressing these disparities through targeted efforts that prioritize equitable access to high-quality opportunities, resources and services for all Texans. Committed to a three-prong plan, TREC educates, collaborates and advocates across four major priority areas: health, basic needs, quality education and fair justice.  

The Texas Equity Tour, is a first-of-its kind pivotal event organized by CHILDREN AT RISK (C@R) to address systemic racism and its impact on Texas children and families. This virtual tour engaged political, community and media stakeholders in four major Texas cities to present the key findings from C@R’s Dreams Deferred report, gather community feedback, and develop recommendations to spotlight effective mechanisms in overcoming racial disparities. By confronting uncomfortable truths and fostering collaboration, the tour sought to ignite meaningful change, advancing racial equity and promoting a more just and inclusive society.

At its core, the Texas Equity Tour represents a concerted effort to dismantle systemic racism and dismantle barriers to success for Texas children, young adults, and families. Moving forward, our team will use the following themes to inform future research, education, and advocacy efforts championed by C@R and TREC.

Focus Area 1 |  Public PreK-Grade 3 

In education, racial equity remains a top concern as marginalized students disproportionately experience disciplinary actions, academic opportunity gaps and disparities in access to quality educational resources. Early learning and kindergarten readiness are pivotal milestones in a child’s educational journey, laying the foundation for future academic attainment and success. But, too often, the kids who need the greatest supports face the greatest barriers. Research shows a division along racial lines in access to a quality early childhood education and intervention resources.

The stark reality is that access and quality remain an issue as most preschool-age children residing in Texas are economically disadvantaged (84%) and over a third of preschoolers are emergent bilingual or English language learners3. By investing in early childhood education and implementing culturally relevant curricula, TREC aims to level the playing field and ensure that every child can thrive academically from the earliest stages of their development.  

Like other regions in Texas, “access is a priority concern for the City of Austin as many services and resources compete to become a priority”, Austin ISD’s Director of Early Learning, John Green-Otero shared. Roughly half of eligible four-year-old’s in Austin ISD attend public preschool programs but 8 in 10 low-income families still experience challenges accessing high-quality care.

Eligibility requirements for public pre-K in 2020 notes that families must meet the requirements for free and reduced lunch, which denotes that a family of two make an annual household income of $22, 412. However, a family of two will more than likely struggle to meet basic needs and cannot afford the rising cost of care, with is double the recognized salary. Many Texas families are employed and still need help meeting basic needs, with high-quality early childhood education being one of them. Outside of access, cultural responsiveness in programming and intervention are a key factor to equitable and successful early leaning practices. Carrie Hutchins, invited panelist, PhD Student at University of Texas, and speech pathologist, shares that only 50% of students are properly identified for intervention services, and this is due to overwhelmed caseloads and outdated screening tools that do not recognize African American vernacular or Spanish. Another key practice in culturally responsiveness is centering families, this requires taking the appropriate efforts to understand family members and their culture. To embrace cultures that differ, researcher Dr. Hamilton, CEO of the RISE Center for Liberation, shares that educators must check their unconscious biases as the authenticity of it is racism shows up unintentionally far too often. Kindergarten readiness is essential for students to thrive by grade 3, specifically regarding reading proficiency. This requires continuity between foundational early learning years and the first years in elementary school. Ensuring continuity from preschool to grade 3 is essential for fostering a stable, supportive, and effective learning environment. It promotes academic and social-emotional development, smooth transitions, and aligned educational practices. This foundational period is critical for setting the stage for future educational success, making continuity an integral aspect of early childhood education.  

The National P-3 Center highlights the importance of play-based learning and hands-on activities that center early childhood development.6 Ensuring equitable access and culturally responsive practices in early learning is crucial for the success of children by grade three. Addressing these challenges in Austin and across Texas will require coordinated efforts to improve access, enhance family engagement, and provide consistent, high-quality early education that bridges preschool and elementary years. Recommendations to promote continuity of early learning and lower elementary grades include, increasing access to high-quality preschool through mixed-modalities and full-day funding, incentivize schools to adopt innovative practices such as the P-3 Framework, take considerable measures to ensure policies are preventative and comprehensive, and enhance educator pathways that recognize the continuity from early childhood education to grade three.  

Focus Area 2: Discipline Disparities 

Another key focal priority in the education focus area for the collaborative is addressing discipline disparities in educational settings. Research consistently demonstrates that students of color, particularly Black and Latinx students, face disproportionate rates of disciplinary actions compared to their white counterparts. Across the nation, mental health worsened with the rise of COVID-19, especially true for Texas. In combination with discriminatory practices, lack of opportunities for Black and Latinx students to thrive, and increased mental health related crises, disciplinary matters soared. In Houston, a Citywide Implicit Bias project started in 2020 with many ISDs across Harris County. The project trained over 200 leaders and engaged with over 500 individuals to train on implicit bias and develop working groups. Our Houston stop on the tour revisited this project alongside the state of distress of Houston’s student mental health. Experts highlighted the foundational practice of cultural responsiveness, specifically the need for it to be mandatory in professional development and open-ended in terms of exploration. Sarah Beebe, Supervising Attorney at Disability Rights Texas and invited panelist served on this project. Sarah, and our other panel of experts illustrated that the concern of disciplinary disproportionalities is truly a comprehensive picture that entails mental health, students with disabilities, and juvenile justice.  

School systems exhibit zero tolerance policies that remain at criminalizing Black and Latinx students by alarming numbers. A policy brief by the University of Houston notes that most students (63%) that face expulsionary discipline disparities are economically disadvantaged and considered at-risk.7 Excessive disciplinary practices not only hinder academic progress but also perpetuates cycles of inequality and injustice that we see in our Texas criminal justice system. By centering racial equity, implementing restorative practices and culturally responsive approaches that foster a supportive and nurturing learning environment for all students, regardless of their racial or ethnic background, must be prioritized. Outside of the nine recommendations provided by the Citywide Implicit Bias project (e.g., addressing and improving student to counselor ratios, prioritizing social-emotional leaning, and revising student code of conducts to remove bias and harmful language, etc.), panel of experts summarize that we must get transparent and think comprehensively. Everett Hare Sr., Executive Director of Curriculum, and Instruction for Alief ISD, emphasizes that need for readily accessible and shared data to make informed decisions that are inclusive to all students and their families. A consensus for collaboration in terms of leveraging partnerships to drive the importance of community education and shared languages in school-communities was also shared during the convening. Dr. Jamie Freeny with of Mental Health America of Greater Houston emphasizes the importance for addressing our mental health crises by increasing provider pathways and co-location of services so that students who lack transportation are still able to be serviced. Mentorship and proactive intervention are also key factors in best equitable practices. In combination of best practices lies systemic efforts such as creating systems of advocacy and parent involvement in coalitions, shares long-time education equity practitioner and policy expert Natalia Fernandez. Addressing discipline disparities in educational settings is crucial for fostering an equitable learning environment. Black and Latinx students face disproportionate disciplinary actions compared to their white peers. Implementing recommendations like improving student-to-counselor ratios and revising biased disciplinary codes can help mitigate these disparities. Collaborative efforts, transparent data sharing, and community partnerships are essential for driving systemic change. By centering racial equity, systemic change, and promoting best practices, we can ensure all students thrive academically and socially. 

Focus Area 3: Basic Needs  

Access to basic needs is another critical area where racial inequities persist and a core focus area for TREC. From healthcare to housing, economic opportunity to food security, communities of color disproportionately endure the most systemic injustices that limit their access to essential resources and services. Such structural inequalities perpetuate poverty and marginalization. Ensuring equitable access to basic needs, aims to create a more just and equitable society where all individuals can live with dignity and thrive. During a visit to Ft. Worth, community experts illustrated that racially marginalized Texans do not get their needs met at alarming rates. The ALICE project through United Way (Tarrant County), highlights that working families are among the bulk of Texans who struggle for food, shelter, health care, and/or childcare. Benaye Wadkins Chambers, CEO of Crossroads Community Services notes that the vast majority (74%) of food pantry clients are single mothers. Food insecurity remains a large concern for Texas residents, with a reported 1 in 8 Texans facing access to consistent food.8 And this harsh reality becomes even more concerning for Black and Latinx communities. Programs such as SNAP and CACFP are relied upon by 3.7 million Texans, mostly low-income children of color, and despite the many Texans who are eligible, far too many (7 out of 10) do not receive benefits due to the complicated administrative burden.9  

Food insecurity programs, such as Crossroads Community Services (CCS), share that since COVID-19, food insecurity programs have also experienced food shortages as supplies have decreased and organization must resort to purchasing food instead of receiving donations. The received donations have short life spans of about 3-5 days once they reach the person in need. Another common challenge is ensuring that clients know how to prepare and cook the food received. To shift the narrative from non-perishable foods (i.e., box macaroni, SPAM, canned foods, etc.) to fresh produce and meats to promote sustainable healthy lifestyles, recipes must be culturally sustaining and appealing. To address the increasing number of children that go hungry in Tarrant County, invited panelist Dr. Latame Phillips, CEO of Hunger Busters, shares his recipe for providing meals to afterschool programs. Afterschool programs serve as a beacon for many low-income families, to receive academic support, childcare, and access to social services. Hunger Busters illustrates this commitment by partnering with afterschool programs, to alleviate burdensome cost of meals for organizations and remedy the 8 in 10 students of Tarrant County that may go without their third meal of day. The invited experts agreed that the root of food insecurity and demands on food donation programs relies on equitable policies and practices to counter oppression. Community leaders must be prepared to collaborate, and organizations must recognize that they cannot provide every service, but instead partner with other organizations who offer a specific niche. This tactic can and should be used when writing grants and other funding requests as federal regulations and compliance make it difficult for small organizations to receive federal funding. Jessica Trudeau, invited panelist and Chief Transformation Officer of Center for Transforming Lives, illustrates the intersectionality of basic needs, including the growing childcare crisis and child homelessness. Of the 1,218 providers in Tarrant County, 67% do not accept subsidies and 22, 000 children from low-income households are subsidized childcare seats.10 Recommendations as the convening concluded, highlighted the need to heighten homeless prevention programs and targeting policies that remain oppressive practices, specifically increasing the benefit amounts that were reduced with the later years of COVID-19. Another key issue the group of invited experts address is the alarming rates of evictions in Texas. Tarrant County explicitly holds the highest rate in North Texas, with 325 evictions per 1000 renters filed from January 2021 to May 2024.11 Overall, addressing racial inequities in access to basic needs is critical for creating a more just and equitable society in Tarrant County. This leg of the tour spotlights the pervasive challenges faced by marginalized communities, including food insecurity and inadequate childcare. By fostering collaboration, implementing equitable policies, and increasing support for essential services, Tarrant County can better meet the needs of its residents and ensure all individuals can thrive. 

Focus Area 4: Maternal Health 

In El Paso, we shift our focus to peri and post-natal care to expand on our fourth focus area of quality healthcare. Maternal health is a concern within racial equity. Black women in Texas, like many parts of the United States, experience shockingly high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity compared to their white counterparts. In 2018, rates for pregnancy-related deaths were at 56% for Black women and 50% for Hispanic women.12 These disparities are driven by a complex interplay of factors, including systemic racism, inadequate access to healthcare, and biases within the healthcare system. As we were joined by clinician Dr. Christina Paz, educator Dr. Ginger Raya, and physician Dr. Sireesha Reedy, we immediately concluded that access is a great concern for the region. Many patients do not have reliable transportation and are subject to cross busy highways to seek medical advice and/or attention. For expecting mothers, this is an unimaginable reality. For uninsured populations, complicated systems and lack of proper information leave many expecting mothers without care until they are well into their second trimester. Recognizing the need for continuous care and improved systems, there is an emphasis on the importance of cross-collaborations, over-communication among organizations and providers, and eliminating silos, especially those brought on by implicit biases. In El Paso, such efforts were able to craft taskforces that spotlight the severity of pregnancy, especially for Black and Latinx expecting mothers.  

The invited panelist shares the right of patients to explore providers and their work history to see who the right fit is based on their needs. This can include willingness to assist with applying for health coverage such as Medicaid. Recommendations from our panelists include overeducating communities in their dominant language that is non-medical jargon, offer free pregnancy tests, and push for postpartum care up to 12 months. Providers should not shy away from policy advocacy, but instead work alongside organizations such as Border RAC, to push for legislative changes that increase telehealth to expecting mothers, lift policies that limit nurse practitioners as providers, especially in “dessert communities” and/or physician shortages. With regards to streamlining continuity of care, spaces where providers can have transparent conversations about pressing matters, explicitly regarding race and protocol prioritizes well-informed and traced visits from emergency room to wellness visits, are critical. El Paso providers utilize PHIX, or Paso del Norte Information Exchange, a software to increase patient streamlining and information passing as part of the Health Information Exchange.  

The Texas Racial Equity Collaborative prioritizes maternal health as a principal component of its efforts, advocating for policies and interventions that address the underlying drivers of racial disparities in maternal outcomes. By centering racial equity in maternal health initiatives, the collaborative seeks to ensure that all women, regardless of race or ethnicity, have access to the care and support they need before, during, and after childbirth. In healthcare, this explicitly includes Black and Latinx communities that face higher rates of uninsurance, limited access to care, and disparities in health outcomes, including maternal mortality and chronic diseases.13  

Recommendations 

Upon the roundtable discussions, a comprehensive set of policy recommendations aimed at addressing the systemic barriers faced by racially marginalized communities across various sectors, including education, basic needs, and healthcare shared in this event summary are identified as follows: 

• Education: 

• Implement culturally relevant curricula in early childhood education and primary schooling. 

• Increase access to high-quality preschool through mixed modalities and full-day funding. 

• Incentivize schools to adopt innovative practices such as the P-3 Framework. 

•  Ensure continuity between foundational early learning years and the first years in elementary school. 

• Enhance educator pathways that recognize continuity from early childhood education to grade three. 

  . 

• Disciplinary Practices: 

•    Improve student-to-counselor ratios. 

•    Prioritize social-emotional learning. 

•    Revise student codes of conduct to remove bias and harmful language. 

•    Promote mentorship and proactive intervention. 

•    Implement restorative practices. 

•    Ensure culturally responsive approaches in educational settings. 

•    Make professional development on cultural responsiveness mandatory. 

•    Increase transparency and comprehensive thinking in disciplinary matters. 

•    Share data to make informed, inclusive decisions. 

•    Foster community education and shared languages in school communities. 

• Basic Needs: 

•    Heighten homeless prevention programs. 

•    Target policies that address oppressive practices and hinder organizations from rendering services. 

•    Increase benefit amounts that were reduced in recent years. 

•    Enhance collaboration among organizations to provide comprehensive services. 

•    Increase support for essential services like food security programs and childcare. 

•    Streamline the administrative process for benefit programs like SNAP and CACFP to increase accessibility. 

• Healthcare: 

•    Expand maternal health initiatives to ensure continuity of care and eliminate implicit biases. 

•    Advocate for legislative changes to increase telehealth access for expecting mothers. 

•    Lift policies that limit nurse practitioners’ ability to serve as providers. 

•    Over-educate communities in their dominant language using non-medical jargon. 

•    Offer free pregnancy tests and extend postpartum care up to 12 months. 

•    Utilize health information exchanges like PHIX to streamline patient care and information sharing. 

By focusing on these policy recommendations and targeted efforts, a more equitable and just society can be on the horizon for Texas, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their racial or ethnic background, can thrive. 

Conclusion 

Addressing racial equity in Texas requires comprehensive and sustained efforts to dismantle systemic racism, promote inclusive policies, and center the voices and experiences of communities of color. It necessitates investments in equitable education, healthcare access, criminal justice reform, affordable housing, economic development, and environmental justice initiatives. Ultimately, achieving racial equity in Texas requires a collective commitment to challenging systemic injustices, advocating for policy reforms, and fostering inclusive communities where everyone can thrive, regardless of race or ethnicity. At its core, this collaborative recognizes that achieving racial equity is not only a moral imperative but also essential for fostering a truly inclusive and just society.  

Overall, the Texas Racial Equity Collaborative (TREC) is dedicated to addressing the deeply rooted and multifaceted racial inequities that persist across various sectors in Texas. From education and healthcare to basic needs and criminal justice, TREC’s comprehensive approach seeks to create lasting systemic change through education, collaboration, and advocacy. By focusing on equitable access to high-quality opportunities, resources, and services for racially marginalized Texans, TREC aims to dismantle the barriers that perpetuate poverty and marginalization. The ongoing efforts of the Equity Tour and the insights gathered from experts and community leaders highlight the importance of culturally responsive practices, transparent data sharing, and community partnerships. As TREC continues its work, the vision of a more just and equitable Texas becomes increasingly attainable, ensuring that all Texans can thrive and contribute to the state’s rich and diverse future.