Among the many things approved at Austin City Council’s last meeting prior to their summer break, Council members voted to allocate $1.5 million to Del Valle schools from the $143.6 million from the American Rescue Plan. The money will pay for dual-language full-day pre-K for students in the underserved area. Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who supports universal pre-K and is a former Head Start student herself, praised the move to fund the program in Del Valle, which has the highest density of economically disadvantaged students in the county. “While I will always fight for AISD funding for District 2 students, there is a dire need to level the playing field for DVISD. … Returning to the pre-pandemic status quo will continue to leave Del Valle children and families behind,” said Fuentes in a statement to the press. “Research shows dual-language students outperform their same-age peers by the time they reach middle school. Because of the funding from the American Rescue Plan, more children in Del Valle will be able to share in that success.” A press release from Fuentes’ office notes that the city has allocated more than $23 million to AISD social service programs from 2008 to 2019. Over that same period of time, Del Valle ISD has received $113,000.
Elizabeth Pagano is the editor of the Austin Monitor. More by Elizabeth Pagano