Julisa Maldonado-Vargas

Coordinator of the Rural Teacher Residency Program, Teacher Development Department (2024)

Fresno County Superintendent of Schools

How do you define educational equity?

We are often presented with the idea that equity is not equality in that you are providing students with the individualized support that they need. Recently I encountered a critique on equity in which the goal is justice through the examination of root causes rather than trying to find ways in which to fit our student’s needs into a system that is not working for them. Systems of education that value equity are places where student voice is honored and intentionally developed. During my time in the classroom and in various district and county leadership roles, my perspective has widened from a single classroom to a systems-wide approach where student and teacher advocacy is at the center through equity in action. I have tried to live out my definition of equity by modeling servant leadership and focusing on getting closer to justice for those students who I have served. I entered the profession with the wholehearted intention to serve as a change agent for the young people that I would encounter in my classroom and the greater school community.

The customary story of why someone becomes a teacher is often credited to an educator that they encountered throughout their own K12 experience. I like to share my counter-narrative wherein I never had a favorite teacher. Instead, as a young person, I entered brave spaces such as Upward Bound where I was allowed to dream out loud, and the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Conference where my cultural capital was recognized. These are the brave spaces whose legacy has been reflected in my classroom. A classroom where your curiosity, self-advocacy, collaboration, and prior knowledge are honored and fostered. I have also been very intentional about providing a classroom and curriculum where there are “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors,” a framework championed by Rudine Sims Bishop. I find that brave spaces, especially for students of marginalized communities, are empowering, expose students to new perspectives, and even challenge them to shift their paradigms.