12 Jan 2007
Public Is Invited to Pleasant Grove Campus Event January 20
DALLAS–Dallas Independent School District administrators and members of the district's Board of Trustees will join U.S. Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez and students, staff and community members at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 20, for the dedication of Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary School, 6610 Lake June Road.
The school is named for the late U.S. Representative Henry B. Gonzalez, the first Mexican American elected to the Texas Senate and the first to be elected from Texas to the U.S. House of Representatives. His resolution calling for the abolition of the poll tax, which still existed in five states–including Texas–ultimately led to the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which outlaws poll taxes in federal elections. The ban also was written into the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President Lyndon Johnson signed into law. Gonzalez' career in the U.S. Congress spanned 37 years ending when he retired in 1998 at the age of 82. He died two years later. The late congressman's son, U.S. Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez, now holds the same 20th District seat his father occupied.
In addition to Rep. Gonzalez, speakers include Dallas ISD Trustee Board Secretary Nancy Bingham and Celso Martinez, associate superintendent-Communications and Community Relations. The Skyline JROTC Honor Guard will participate, along with the Gonzalez Elementary Sakura Dancers, and several fourth-grade students will read haiku poems they have written in honor of Henry B. Gonzalez.
The Dallas ISD opened 12 new schools during the 2006-2007 school year. Additional dedication ceremonies are scheduled as follows: