Scroll down to see the questions and jump to video of the candidates’ answers from the KLRN San Antonio Independent School District Candidate Forum. The forum, hosted by KLRN, was moderated by San Antonio Poet Laureate Andrea Vocab Sanderson and Melanie Mendez-Gonzales and broadcast on April 16, 2021.

In May 2018, San Antonio ISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez met with students at Cleto Rodriguez Elementary and made them a promise: Their school would stay open if they did really well on their standardized STAAR test. They did astonishingly well: The 5th graders’ science scores improved from 23 percent to 64 percent, according to their proud principal.  

By Maria Gardner The San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) has partnered with San Antonio Rise (SA Rise), an organization of teachers, school officials and community members, to present a handbook for parents and the community on how Texas Senate Bill 4 (SB4) will be applied in the school district. At the press conference, SAISD Board President Patti Radle said, “School districts do not fall under SB4.”

In a speech laced together with data and lifted by his passionate hope for 53,000 students, Superintendent Pedro Martinez described an arsenal of innovative solutions he is using combat the stubborn reality of poverty in the San Antonio Independent School District.

SA2020, the local nonprofit that’s charting San Antonio’s progress in several categories over a decade, said 41 percent of 59 target goals have been achieved or exceeded. That was one of the big takeaways from a DreamWeek luncheon held Jan. 12 at the Witte Museum’s Mays Family Center.

Voters in the San Antonio Independent School District are going to the polls Nov. 8 and will decide the fate of two crucial funding initiatives. There will be two items on the ballot. One is for approval or disapproval of a $450 million bond. The other is a Tax Ratification Election (TRE). The bond would support renovations at 13 schools, the replacement of aging infrastructure, upgrading science labs, and expanding classroom spaces.

Parking was scarce on South Rosillo Street as San Antonians congregated into St. Alphonsus Parish Hall for a COPS/Metro Alliance meeting focused on the upcoming election. View photos from the meeting here.

The Young Women’s Leadership Academy, San Antonio’s only public all-girls school, has been named a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School based on its overall academic excellence. It is the only school in Bexar County to receive this honor and among 303 public and private schools in the country selected as exemplary high performing schools.

The San Antonio Independent School District is partnering with The Power of a Dream, an organization that encourages youth and teens to pursue their goals and life ambitions. “The partnership with SAISD and The Power of a Dream is to inspire and engage the youth of San Antonio to become the best they can,” said Eric Castillo, organization director. “The Power of a Dream wants our future generations to know that no matter what your circumstances are or how many fumbles you may have in life, don’t give up because there’s a winner in everyone.”

About 275,000 families in the U.S., including more than 6,000 in San Antonio, will get free high-speed home Internet under ConnectHome, a demonstration project announced July 15 by President Barack Obama and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. “America’s challenge in this 21st century is to remain the world’s undisputed land of opportunity," said Castro. "By expanding broadband adoption, ConnectHome will provide more Americans with the same high-speed access to knowledge and opportunity that millions of people already enjoy.”