LOOKING 10 YEARS AHEAD: EDUCATION FUNDING AND THE WORKFORCE

By Juan Montoya

The mayor of the City of Brownsville Tony Martinez was there, as were other city commissioners, notably Ricardo Longoria.

Cameron County County Judge Carlos Cascos was also there, as was Precinct 1 Commissioner Sofia Benavides.

And superintendents from throughout Cameron County, including Brownsville, La Feria, Santa Maria and Santa Rosa also attended, as did some members of their school boards.

Workforce Solutions Chairman Pat Hobbs and Brownsville Independent School District Chairperson Catalina Presas-Garcia welcomed the guests at a breakfast meeting Wednesday morning at the Holiday Inn in Brownsville in what they called one of a series of first meetings that they hope will cause a "ripple effect" that will engage educators, the private sector, students and parents in a united effort to prepare the next generation of children for an uncertain future.

The theme of the morning was that communities should start preparing students earlier than it was recommended before so they can be prepared for the future.

"It used to be that it was thought that unless you got to a student by the eighth grade, they are not going to be as well prepared as they should be," Hobbs said. "Not we know that unless you get to them at pre-K, you are not going to prepare them as well as they should."

After the introductory remarks by Hobbs and Presas-Garcia and a presentation of some students from the pre-K students from several day care facilities in the city, Cascos urged the entities present to spread the word so that future meetings will be inclusive of other sectors in the county.

"We need a cross section of our community," he said. "The private sector needs to be here. There's a lot of folks that are missing. We need to create a ripple effect to get everybody involved."

Cascos, who along with Martinez are responsible for appointing the members of the Workforce board, said that the problems he encountered there when he first took over as county judge have for the most part been improved.

"When we took over it was one of the worst in the state," he told the audience. "Today it is among the top three, if not the best workforce in the state."

He said the move to include the participation into the preparation of the workforce for the future was a logical move since school districts are important players in most communities.

"In most cities, they are the biggest employers and play an important part in the local economy," he said. "They have the most customers, own the most buildings, and have the most rolling stock. It's not about us anymore, I want students to come back to the community after they attend college and we need to create an environment for job creation so we can give them a reason to come back."

Presas-Garcia said the BISD will continue to play an active role in the Workforce 2021 project and will work closely with civic and higher education leaders to prepare students for the work opportunities of the future.