IDRA Classnotes

Classnotes Podcast (August 22, 2025). In this episode, IDRA Education Policy Fellows share their personal experiences as advocates of color in southern legislatures. They reflect on how their cultura…

Classnotes Podcast (August 4, 2025). In the first episode of this four-part series, IDRA Education Policy Fellows reflect on their hands-on advocacy during the 2025 legislative sessions in Texas and …

Classnotes Podcast (February 21, 2025) As activities to divert public money to private schools grow across the country and at the national level, the Texas leadership is pushing hard to establish its…

Classnotes Podcast (November 25, 2024). María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., and her son Xavier Montecel, Ph.D., have embarked on an oral history project in the form of their own podcast, Cuentos de…

Classnotes Podcast (October 28, 2024). Several of the IDRA STEM Equity Ambassadors want to give back to their hometown of San Antonio. The STEM Equity Ambassadors program hosted by IDRA gave educator…

Classnotes Podcast (October 4, 2024). Anavi Prakash speaks with students Carlos and Ashly and youth leader Gabriela Benitez about their experience in the IDRA Digital Ambassadors program. This progra…

Classnotes Podcast (September 16, 2024) 2024 marked the 30^th anniversary of the federal Gun Free Schools Act of 1994 – a landmark bill that promised to bring about an end to gun violence on school ca…

Classnotes Podcast (July 1, 2024) A recent court ruling stopped a case filed by the Young Conservatives of Texas that was an anti-immigrant attack on the Texas Dream Act. This act recognizes that Tex…

Classnotes Podcast (April 29, 2024) Anti-immigrant rhetoric has real consequences on students’ lives. Since IDRA’s earliest days, we have been at the forefront of protecting the rights of immigrant s…

Classnotes Podcast (April 3, 2024). Many initiatives across the country are looking for ways to turn the tide to support underperforming and first-generation college-going students in STEM career pat…

Classnotes Podcast (January 19, 2024). Many programs in public schools take a while to bear fruit. This is not surprising since schools are systems, and positive change requires systemic change. But …

Classnotes Podcast (December 14, 2023). In 2023, IDRA celebrated its 50th anniversary with a series of events throughout the year, including a gala highlighting IDRA’s Bold Legacy and Bright Future. …

Classnotes Podcast (November 9, 2023). At IDRA we often say “everyone is a policy advocate.” This means that everyone has the right and responsibility to be involved in the policymaking processes tha…

Classnotes Podcast (October 2, 2023). Access to technology and the Internet are not luxuries. They are critical to life today, especially in education. But that access is limited in low-income commun…

Classnotes Podcast (August 30, 2023). Decisions about education made by state-level lawmakers impact millions of students. But few people have input into those decisions, especially those in communit…

Classnotes Podcast (July 30, 2023). Jonathan Peraza Campos, M.S., speaks with Dr. Jyoti Kaneria and doctoral candidate Emily Lemon about their community-engaged research and the implications it can h…

Classnotes Podcast (July 16 2023). As IDRA’s groundbreaking Education Policy Fellows Program closed its second cycle, we sat down with our five fellows to reflect on their experience. With this progr…

Classnotes Podcast (March 20, 2023). In the 1960s, students across Texas walked out of their schools to demand a strong education made possible by fair funding of schools. Some of those students were…

Classnotes Podcast (February 6, 2023). Public school investment has largely mirrored investment in parts of communities or certain neighborhoods. The discriminatory practice of redlining occurred whe…

Classnotes Podcast (December 8, 2022). The 2021-22 session of the U.S. Supreme Court left on imprint on education through a number or rulings, including some that were not technically education cases…