A6 | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD | TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2017 EDITORIAL Stepping up Scholarship program pledge aims to raise more teachers for Valley ostering a future generation of teachers is essential to the academic F growth and success of our future students in our state and Rio Grande Valley region. Therefore we applaud a generous new scholarship program announced Monday that will provide $50 million over the next decade to help develop new teachers, including those in the RGV. Funded by the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation, the new Raising Texas Teachers program, will invest $50 million through 2027 in scholarships at 10 Texas colleges, including the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The program is part of H-E-B CEO and Chairman Charles Butt’s $100 million philanthropic pledge earlier this year to establish the Holdsworth Center, a leadership institute to help develop public school administrators. Under Raising Texas Teachers, 500 teaching fellows will be selected from 10 university teacher preparation programs, including UTRGV’s Student Teacher Education Preparation/ University Partnership program, which is offered at the Edinburg campus. Other universities selected include Rice, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, Boycott Texas Trinity University, University of North The time has come for us All the officer need do agencies and the business Texas-Dallas, University of Houston, Texans to promote an economic is “suspect” a person is community. Police believe University of Texas Austin and Our boycott of our state until the undocumented; and, given the SB 4 will discourage immigrant Lady of the Lake in San Antonio. misnamed “anti-sanctuary” law, breadth of Texas’ immigrant victims of crime or witnesses Senate Bill 4 is community, the officer’s from contacting them, thus We applaudUTRGV for being among JAMES C. universities selected “based on their repealed and state “suspicion” becomes a pretext making the community less safe. HARRINGTON officials end their for profiling and detaining Texas’ largest cities and capacity and commitment to deliver war on immigrants. virtually anyone. counties, and smaller ones, are competency-based clinical preparation, We should begin Sheriffs, police chiefs and in federal court, challenging the and a willingness to establish strong a campaign to other local authorities face law. The litigation will span a collaborative relationships with ask conventions, a Class A misdemeanor, with few years. In the meantime, we conferences and a fine and possible jail time, should encourage associations, districts where graduates teach,” major sports if they don’t honor a request academics and businesses to hold according to a news release. events to take by Immigration and Customs their conventions elsewhere until This includes the local STEP UP their business Enforcement to hold a detainee, the legislature rescinds SB 4; it elsewhere. who might be subject to will do so only when the financial program, which places teacher MY TURN candidates in RGV schools for an SB 4, Texas’ deportation, no matter how minor juggernaut compels repeal. “show me your the offense. They face civil The American Immigration entire academic year, which is “to papers” law, which goes into penalties of $1,000 for the first Lawyers Association has set the allow for the bridging of theory to effect Sept. 1, is the worst infraction and up to $25,500 for example. The 15,000-member practice in authentic settings,” said discrimination law that any subsequent violations. organization of lawyers and law Criselda Garcia, associate dean for state has passed in recent The law also applies to professors canceled its 3-day initial preparation programs and times. It opens the door wide college campus police. Students convention in Grapevine next to racial profiling and will drive attending a party could be at year. The event will relocate academic affairs at the UTRGV College immigrant victims of crime, risk because minor offenses outside Texas because of of Education. spousal abuse and human like possession of alcohol might the “dangerous, destructive Each teaching fellow will receive trafficking underground, doubly trigger a path to deportation. and counterproductive” law. $8,000 per year as part of the Charles victimizing them. It will break And, if SB 4 were not reason About 3,000 people attend Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers, up families, deporting parents of enough to boycott Texas, Texas the convention. U.S.-born kids — no matter how Attorney General Ken Paxton has Arizona’s passed a “show- and ongoing training and development long people have lived here and jumped on the anti-immigrant me-your-papers” law, but legal opportunities, mentorship from sitting no matter how hard they have bandwagon and petitioned the challenges have blunted it. Even public school educators, and access to a worked to better Texas as decent Trump Administration to end the Arizona law didn’t require statewide aspiring teacher network. law-abiding people. the 2012 Deferred Action for local authorities to honor ICE The program is expected to expand SB 4 prohibits local authorities Childhood Arrivals program by detainer requests, as SB 4 does. from adopting policies that Sept. 5 or he will sue to do so. Arizona backed down in the eventually to include leadership prevent police officers from DACA protects young face of an economic boycott. We development opportunities for the asking people about their undocumented residents, who should make Texas do the same. state’s top high school students who are immigration status. The law were brought to the country Until state officials jettison interested in teaching careers, as well. strips local authorities of as children before 2012, from SB 4, halt their war on “Research consistently shows that their right to decide when deportation and allows them immigrants and pay heed to it is appropriate to report a renewable, two-year work the voices of law enforcement, the strength of the teacher makes the undocumented immigrants permit. Paxton would deport business associations and the biggest difference in influencing a to federal authorities. them, even though they really Hispanic community, we have student’s success,” Charles Butt said Individual officers, on their have no homeland other than this no choice but to ask conventions, in a statement. “To improve academic own, can question a detained country. He would expel them conferences and major sports achievement, it is critical that Texas person’s immigration status, even from college and take away their events to take their business at a routine minor traffic offense ability to support their families. elsewhere. elevate the status of the teaching (like an expired inspection The hard-right, gerrymandered profession, strengthen the existing pool sticker). As Houston Sen. Sylvia Texas Legislature passed SB 4 James C. Harrington is founder of aspiring teachers, and inspire our Garcia put it, a broken taillight over the widespread objections and director emeritus of the most talented high school graduates can lead to a broken family. from local law enforcement Texas Civil Rights Project based in Austin. to consider a career in teaching.” We’re very grateful that he is such a believer in education. YOUR VOICES The Monitor Trump support brings to mind that this is JOIN THE DEBATE not a solo Trump thing; it’s mind-boggling a Republican thing! The Brownsville Herald welcomes letters. For example, here close to Editor: Letters must be signed and give the writer’s home, Brownsville was receiving Donald Trump, the most address and daytime telephone number for nearly $71,000 a month from un-presidential president ever, verification. Letters of 200 words or fewer will shoppers who forked over a Born on the Fourth of July 1892 called Hillary Clinton a crook. be given preference. Letters may be edited for dollar for plastic bags. The An independent Freedom Newspaper published by So, who’s being investigated for length, grammar and clarity. accumulated fees paid for AIM Media Texas, LLC being a crook, or even worse, a Letters may be mailed to The Herald at sanitation trucks, street 1135 East Van Buren Street traitor? He is. 1135 E. Van Buren St.; Brownsville TX 78520. sweepers and beautification Brownsville, Texas 78520-0351 Trump, as did Nixon, Stalin, Fax us at 956-542-0840. projects. Some locals (956) 542-4301 Hitler and Mussolini, calls the Email us at [email protected]. thought this was a great idea. media the enemy. When the Unfortunately, our Texas Frank Escobedo media report what he says or attorney general, who is under Publisher does, he calls it “fake news.” and now he’s pleading the 5th. indictment for securities fraud, Ryan Henry Amazing, not even he believes When it was about Hillary, didn’t think so. Editor what he says or does. he was the one who howled, Tear down the money-making Regardless, the narcissistic “When you are given immunity, Carlos Rodriguez jewel, Ken Paxton bellowed. And nightmare still has his that means you’ve probably Opinion Editor from our local and usually vocal supporters and this, for some, committed a crime. Lock anti-government conservatives, is mysteriously mind-boggling! her up!” nothing. Not even a peep. This newspaper is dedicated to giving our readers accurate, relevant and timely news Mike Flynn, Trump’s Republicans abhor big Crazy getting crazier every and entertainment. We hope to provide local residents and leaders information that will ex-national security adviser, is government, but they often day. help them make decisions that will benefit our community. in danger of being locked up. He conveniently use it to show off Italo J. Zarate asked for immunity, didn’t get it their egotistic machismo, which Brownsville