H.R. No. 23

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, The Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership

School is commemorating in the 2011-2012 school year its eighth

year of providing an outstanding education to area youth, and this

occasion provides a welcome opportunity to recognize the 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 a magnet program of the Dallas Independent School District; 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 82nd Texas

Legislature hereby pay tribute to the rich and accomplished life of

the Honorable Irma Rangel and honor the students of the Irma Lerma

Rangel Young Women's Leadership School on the eighth anniversary of

the opening of the school; 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.

Alonzo

______________________________ Speaker of the House

I certify that H.R. No. 23 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the House on February 24, 2011.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House