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79R7081 KO-D

By:  Alonzo                                                       H.R. No. 693



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Students from the inaugural class of the Irma Lerma 
Rangel Young Women's Leadership School are visiting the State 
Capitol, and their presence in the chamber on this day, March 31, 
2005, provides a most welcome opportunity to recognize their school 
as well as its namesake, the Honorable Irma Rangel; and
	WHEREAS, Opened in the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas in the 
fall of 2004, the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School 
is the newest of the Dallas Independent School District's magnet 
programs; currently serving young women in grades seven and eight, 
the school will add a grade with each school year until the 
2008-2009 school year, when students from grades seven through 12 
will be accommodated; loosely affiliated with the Young Women's 
Leadership School in Harlem, it is the first all-girls public 
school in Dallas and part of a move that allows educators to focus 
on the different ways boys and girls learn; and
	WHEREAS, Through leadership seminars, weekly advisory 
meetings, and partnerships with educational and cultural 
organizations, the Dallas school provides students with a rigorous 
course of study that prepares them for college and addresses their 
developmental needs; teachers work with students following a 
project-oriented curriculum that emphasizes math, science, and 
technology, but also offers ample learning opportunities in foreign 
languages and humanities; in addition to providing an excellent 
academic curriculum, the school encourages students to develop a 
strong sense of ethics and civic responsibility and to become 
leaders in their community; and
	WHEREAS, It is fitting that such an admirable and progressive 
institution be named for Irma Rangel, who was a trailblazer and one 
of the leading proponents of the state's efforts to improve public 
school and higher education systems; Ms. Rangel taught for 14 years 
in Texas, California, and Venezuela before changing careers and 
earning a degree at St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio; after 
working as an assistant district attorney for two years in Corpus 
Christi, she returned to her hometown of Kingsville in 1973 to open 
her own law practice; and
	WHEREAS, When Ms. Rangel won a seat in the house of 
representatives in 1976, she became the first Hispanic woman 
elected to the Texas Legislature; she spent more than 26 years in 
the Texas House and was the fifth most-senior member of this body at 
the time of her death in 2003; while serving in the house, she 
sponsored legislation establishing a pharmacy school for Texas A&M 
University--Kingsville, now known as the Irma Lerma Rangel College 
of Pharmacy; and
	WHEREAS, The first Mexican American woman to be appointed 
chair of a house committee, Representative Rangel was named chair 
of the House Committee on Higher Education in 1995, and she served 
in that role for four consecutive legislative sessions; she was 
also the first woman elected chair of the Mexican American 
Legislative Caucus and the first Mexican American  to  receive  the 
G. J. Sutton Award from the Legislative Black Caucus; and
	WHEREAS, A passionate advocate for the poor, the needy, and 
the underserved, Irma Rangel was a true Texas pioneer who worked 
tirelessly to make a college education accessible to all citizens, 
and it is indeed appropriate that an important part of her legacy 
lies with the outstanding young women who are attending the school 
that bears her name; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the rich and accomplished life of 
the Honorable Irma Rangel and extend to the students of the Irma 
Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School visiting with us today 
sincere best wishes for success in their new school and with all 
their future endeavors; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for the school as an expression of high regard by the Texas 
House of Representatives.