Mexican American educational history has become a vibrant field of study since the late 1980s. In the last seven years, however, it is notable that this research has inspired community-based efforts to preserve and publicly commemorate challenges to unequal education. In this commentary, we discuss the archival recovery of the "Francisco…

Mexican Americans have a long history in the struggle to end school segregation and achieve educational equality. Rubén Donato and Jarrod Hanson trace that history through a series of court cases that show how their fight for desegregation both intersects with and differs from the more well-known struggle of Black Americans. In some cases, Mexican…

This article examines schooling in the western American state of Colorado during the early twentieth century. Conditions of youth and education are examined at the Walsen coal-mining camp near the town of Walsenburg in the southern region of the state. The experiences of children in the camp are compared to with those living in the town, with a…

Improving public education has long been a cornerstone of the Democratic platform. Because progressives understand that access to a quality education is the gateway to a better life, their decades-long struggle to promote equal rights and opportunity for all Americans has been deeply tied to their struggle to create an effective public school…

This year's KIDS COUNT report delves into disparities in child well-being based on race and ethnicity in an effort to shine a light on issues where Colorado can and must do better at creating equitable opportunities for children. The disparities seen in many areas of child well-being did not just happen by coincidence; nor are they the result of…

The focus on the achievement gap has overshadowed ways in which school systems constrain student achievement through trends of racial disproportionality in areas such as school discipline, special education assignment, and juvenile justice. Using Critical Race Theory, we reframe these racial disparities as issues of institutionalized racism.…

"From the Courtroom to the Classroom" examines recent developments pertaining to school desegregation in the United States. As the editors note, it comes at a time marked by a "general downplaying of race and ethnicity as criteria for the allocation of public resources, as well as a weakening of the political forces that support…

The experiences of Hispanos (Mexican Americans) in four Colorado school systems from 1920 to 1963 show that the presence or absence of Hispano autonomy was a powerful determinant of school success or failure. Those in control of schools determined the teaching and administrative staff, the social and academic environment, and which students were…

This paper traces the evolution of the choice idea over three generations, from a market model concerned with economic liberty, to a demand for social justice based on equality, to a political movement that translates the idea into policy. Focusing on the last generation, it explains why the market concept has lacked political appeal and how…

This paper traces the evolution of the choice idea over three generations, from a market model concerned with economic liberty, to a demand for social justice based on equality, to a political movement that translates the idea into policy. Focusing on the last generation, it explains why the market concept has lacked political appeal and how…