[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2133-E2134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE LOS FRESNOS CISD

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 1998

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to explain why it is 
particularly painful for me to be here in Washington DC today, as 
opposed to the event on my schedule for today in Texas. I was to speak 
to an elementary school in the Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent 
School District.
  Villareal Elementary is a school which has, for the last three years 
running, scored an exemplary rating from the Texas Education

[[Page E2134]]

Agency's Texas Academic Achievement Scores (TAAS) test. These tests in 
Texas gauge our children's progress in learning, as well as the 
progress by school boards to incorporate various teaching techniques 
into the curriculum.
  The first year I went there, I urged them to do well on their TAAS 
tests, telling them if they did well, I would come back to urge them on 
for the next year. They did well, and I went back the next year. It has 
become a matter of habit for us now, Villareal Elementary scoring high 
on their TAAS, and their local congressman coming back to shout bravo 
for their efforts.
  Perhaps it will be helpful to explain why this school district does 
so well academically. This is a school district with a creative and 
energetic leader, Dr. Eliseo Ruiz, the superintendent of LFCISD, who 
attributes the high academic achievements to ``purposely setting some 
very high goals.''
  Dr. Ruiz was named one of 10 ``exemplary superintendents'' in Texas, 
and the school district itself ranked fourth in the state in the 
education of Hispanics, according to research by Texas A&M University. 
According to Dr. Ruiz, the stars began to line up for the school 
district about four years ago when they began aligning curriculum, 
establishing timelines and monitoring benchmarks.
  He insists that a greater parental involvement was the key to the 
schools' collective success. Each school requires a parents' fair at 
the beginning of the year, followed by various keynote speakers to 
parents about how to work with children in learning responsibility. 
Once again, we have an example of what really works in our nation's 
schools . . . parental involvement from the beginning to the end.
  While Congress labors mightily today to complete our work for the 
year, be aware of the fact that there is a school which very much 
wanted their congressman to see them today. For the Record, their 
congressman wants very much to see them today; they never fail to move 
me and inspire me.

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