SAN ANTONIO — Richard Herrera and Diana Herrera are passionate about addressing inequities in public education. 

“There’s always somebody out there always telling us how to live our lives and that’s basically the problem with San Antonio,” Richard Herrera said.  

The couple graduated from San Antonio’s Edgewood ISD in 1969, a district which at that time lacked resources they fought for with the Chicano walkouts of the late '60s. 

The issues Diana Herrera describes stem from the redlining of neighborhoods in the 1930s. 

“Because redlining is defined as discrimination, but it is discrimination when it comes to housing, and that is what we saw in Edgewood,” she said. 

A map of San Antonio shows how neighborhoods were graded by four levels of security for real estate investments: best, still desirable, definitely declining and hazardous. 

Edgewood and other poor communities of color fell into the definitely declining or hazardous designations.

“Nobody wanted anything to do with the West Side,” Richard Herrera said. 

Texas cities such as Austin and Dallas have one major school district within city limits, but the grading of neighborhoods in San Antonio culminated with the area having 20 school districts.

 Dr. Enrique Alemán says it was intentional. 

“Obviously, we have districts that are among the property poorest in the state and then we have some districts amongst the property wealthiest within our boundaries of the county and the city,” Alemán said. 

Dr. Alemán is an education professor at Trinity University and researches educational policy and Latinos in public schools. He says it’s not surprising inner city school districts like San Antonio ISD and Edgewood ISD are considering the closures of 21 schools combined. 

“We’ve never looked at our communities for opportunities for investment. People look at it as a cost. It’s costing us to do that,” Alemán said. “I think redlining is one way that the disinvestment or the underinvestment was happening in these communities.” 

Edgewood ISD and SAISD cite low enrollment due to declining birthrates, land locked districts and charter schools as the reason for it recommended closures. 

The Herreras believe it’s also barrios — that were once deemed hazardous — getting priced out. 

“That little house that they bought for $7,000 in the '60s sold for $220,000. Are you kidding me?” Diana Herrera said. 

“So our people can’t build or buy into those homes. Once they leave, they are not coming back,” Richard Herrera said. 

Dr. Alemán says inadequate funding has also starved Texas’ public education system. A culmination of factors led to historically redlined school districts to shut schools down at a high rate. 

“I think it’s important to really think through this process because this will affect for the next 10, 20, 30 years if we make these rash decisions overnight,” Alemán said.