Brewer Foundation, NYU Announce “Top 64” for Global Debate Contest

November 6, 2024 – The Brewer Foundation today announced the “top 64” teams for the 24th annual International Public Policy Forum (IPPF). Sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, the IPPF is the first and only competition that gives high school students around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.

This year’s qualifying round involved submissions from 283 teams representing schools in 26 countries and 30 U.S. states. This is the second-largest year in competition history.

Teams drafted essays in the affirmative or negative on the topic, “Resolved: Equitable access to pharmaceuticals should be prioritized over protecting intellectual property rights.” The advancing 64 teams will now compete in a written, single-elimination debate tournament – as teams advance through the rounds with a chance to earn an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to compete in the IPPF Finals in May 2025. The overall winner is named the IPPF World Champion, receives the Brewer Cup, and is awarded a $10,000 grand prize.

Visit this link to see which teams advanced.

William Brewer Writes in The Dallas Morning News About Texas School Accountability Case

October 15, 2024 — William Brewer III writes in today’s Dallas Morning News opinion section that Texas school accountability ratings should be released, and shares that the Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (FLP) intervened in a court case in support of doing so.

The text of the piece follows:

The “Texas miracle” is an often-told tale of unbridled economic expansion and explosive population growth.

But as new residents flock to our state — an estimated 470,000 last year — many public schools in Texas are failing to adequately educate the children already here. It is no “miracle” when most of Texas students attending public school did not meet grade level on the state STAAR exam last year, including 64% of Black children, 58% of Hispanic children and 62% of economically disadvantaged students who did not, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Unfortunately, rather than a united determination to fix the situation, battle lines are emerging in the community — and in the courtroom. A monumental fight is taking place in state court that will determine whether parents can easily access information evaluating the student performance at schools that their children attend. Incredibly, the answer from a Travis County judge may be “No,” as she recently blocked the release of such data after five school districts sued Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

School and district ratings should be released, for the sake of transparency and accountability. Doing so represents the first step in addressing the state’s educational crisis. Such information informs educational choices parents make for their children. Information is power, and the effort to suppress it is a detriment to educational progress and the future generations of our state.

That’s why the Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program, which supports students from a dozen Dallas ISD schools, is among the parties that intervened in the case in support of releasing school ratings. Programs like the FLP, parents and community stakeholders need to access such information and use it to empower them to make critical educational decisions.

School districts are taking divergent paths in the legal action over the release of Texas public school accountability ratings, with some districts, such as Dallas ISD, voluntarily releasing their projected ratings.

Texas has more than 1,200 school districts, and yet just 33 districts that have now joined the lawsuit are blocking the release of ratings for all districts.

Of those school districts, 27 performed worse than the state average when it comes to students meeting grade level in 2023, according to TEA data on STAAR performance by school district. While scrutiny often focuses on large urban school districts such as Houston and Dallas, the plaintiff districts in the lawsuit demonstrate that many rural districts and exurb communities are struggling and failing to adequately educate children.

For example, in 2023, Kingsville ISD enrolled 2,694 children and only 27% met grade level on the STAAR exam across all grade levels and subjects tested.

We must invest in public schools and commit to making them better. They are part of the fabric of our state and will always remain so. In 1876, the Texas Constitution wisely declared that it was the duty of the state Legislature to support and maintain “an efficient system of public free schools” given the essential role of a “general diffusion of knowledge.” We must resist the urge to turn the accountability case into a referendum on vouchers.

The immediate impulse may be to penalize these failing districts. Instead, let’s talk about solutions: schools need adequate funding to address challenges to student achievement.

Many studies report that Texas is not funding its public schools adequately. An August 2024 report by Rice University’s Kinder Institute found that 73% of Texas public schools are underfunded and that districts with the larger funding gaps tend to have the lowest student achievement ratings from the TEA. The report concluded that “severely underfunded” school districts were “strongly associated” with ratings of “C” or worse. The correlation comes as no surprise.

Let’s consider the findings of the accountability ratings a galvanizing force. Within every district, we should promote transparency, address academic and financial shortcomings, and share best practices, all benefits of the ratings process. Only then can we live up to our larger-than-life story of the Texas miracle.

William A. Brewer III is managing partner of the Brewer Storefront and founder of the Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program. Katherine Leal Unmuth contributed to this article.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

William Brewer Writes in The Dallas Morning News in Support of Releasing Texas School Accountability Ratings

September 15, 2024 -- The Dallas Morning News published a letter to the editor written by Brewer Partner and Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (FLP) founder William A. Brewer III calling for the release of Texas school accountability ratings.

The FLP is a is an award-winning public-private partnership that provides academic resources and leadership training to economically disadvantaged students in the Dallas Independent School District.  The Brewer Foundation on September 5, 2024, filed a petition in intervention in Travis County court on behalf of its Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (“FLP”), seeking the release of the Texas Education Agency (“TEA”) 2024 A-F accountability ratings for school districts and campuses.

On August 12, 2024, a Travis County judge blocked the scheduled release of the school ratings with a temporary restraining order after five school districts (located across West and South Texas) sued Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath in Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District, et al., v. Mike Morath.

The Foundation is represented by the Brewer Storefront – the community service affiliate of the national litigation firm of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.

The full text of the letter as it appeared in the Sunday edition of the newspaper is below:

Release school ratings

Re: “Why we released our schools’ ratings,” by Joe Carreón and Robert Selders Jr., Monday Opinion.

It is encouraging to see Dallas ISD School Board President Joe Carreón call for two items of importance in Texas education: accountability and transparency. Both are in short supply these days in public education — as several school districts recently brought a Travis County lawsuit to block the Texas Education Agency from releasing school ratings statewide. Meanwhile, DISD and a handful of other districts took the lead in releasing their preliminary ratings.

The accountability rating system is an A-F methodology that evaluates districts and schools. By definition, the system promotes awareness of educational challenges, helps identify best practices and instills confidence in parents and students. The ratings also spark interest and engagement — as we all work collectively to improve the educational system in our state.

Our law firm’s community service legal affiliate, Brewer Storefront, filed a petition to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of our Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program seeking the release of the ratings. The FLP is a public-private partnership that provides academic resources and leadership training to DISD students. We will argue the issue before the court to give a voice to schools, students and communities.

The plaintiff school districts face considerable challenges with student achievement, with between 51% and 73% of students not meeting grade level last year on STAAR exams. We need a system that identifies such problems and inspires the corrective actions necessary to improve schools. It is not only the Texas educational system that depends on this, but also the future generations it serves.

William A. Brewer III

Brewer Foundation Intervenes in Travis County Demanding Greater Accountability and Transparency for Public Schools

September 5, 2024, Dallas, Texas… The Brewer Foundation on September 5, 2024, filed a petition in intervention (“petition”) on behalf of its Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (“FLP”), seeking the release of the Texas Education Agency (“TEA”) 2024 A-F accountability ratings for school districts and campuses.

On August 12, 2024, a Travis County judge blocked the scheduled release of the school ratings with a temporary restraining order after five school districts (located across West and South Texas) sued Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath in Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District, et al., v. Mike Morath.

The Foundation is represented by the Brewer Storefront – the community service affiliate of the national litigation firm of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. The petition seeks to dissolve the temporary restraining and prevent a permanent injunction – paving the way for greater accountability in these school districts across Texas.

The FLP is an award-winning public-private partnership that provides academic resources and leadership training to economically disadvantaged students in the Dallas Independent School District. The program maintains relationships with educators across the state, has been recognized by the Texas State Board of Education and Texas Governor’s Office, and advocates for improved educational offerings in Texas and beyond.

“The plaintiff districts are attempting to prevent the release of grades that help educators and parents better understand how their local public schools are performing and how well they are educating children,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and founder of the FLP. “We support the call for greater transparency. As we know from our work with FLP students, identifying the opportunities to improve the educational system is the key to addressing educational performance – to the benefit of children and our collective futures.”

According to the petition, only about 53% of students in Texas meet grade level in English language arts and reading, and around 23% of students across all districts in Texas are not even approaching grade level. These numbers are even more drastic when Black and Hispanic student scores are isolated. Across the State, more than 59% of Black students and 54% of Hispanic students fail to read at grade level.

According to the TEA, the ratings are based on three domains: student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps.

The Storefront has brought numerous successful Section 2 Voting Rights Act cases on behalf of Hispanic and Black voters in Texas, in efforts to ensure that the interests of minority voters – and children – are better represented on elected school boards. The Storefront’s Texas Voting Rights Initiative (TVRI) was founded due to concerns that a lack of diversity and equitable geographic representation on school boards can lead to underfunded schools, school and student achievement gaps, and disenfranchised voters.

Founded in 2001, the FLP is an academic and leadership development program that benefits Dallas Independent School District (DISD) students, ages 12-18, and provides them with year-round academic coursework and leadership training to prepare students for success in college and beyond. The FLP has become a national model to address the “dropout epidemic.”

The petition adds that the Brewer Foundation has a “vested interest” in the availability of the A-F performance ratings so the students in the FLP program and their parents can make “informed school decisions.”

The petition observes that the five plaintiff school districts face considerable challenges with student achievement:

• Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District in West Texas in 2022-23 enrolled 2,776 students, of whom about 72% were economically disadvantaged and 91% were Hispanic. In 2023, 66% of students did not meet grade level.

• Crandall Independent School District outside of Dallas in 2022-23 enrolled 6,003 students of whom about 62% were economically disadvantaged, about 40% were Hispanic, 31% were white and 25% were Black. In 2023, about 60% of students did not meet grade level.

• Forney Independent School District outside of Dallas in 2022-23 enrolled 16,211 students, of whom about 43% were economically disadvantaged, 36% of students were Black and 29% were Hispanic. In 2023, about 51% of students did not meet grade level.

• Fort Stockton Independent School District in West Texas in 2022-23 enrolled 2,187 students, of whom about 71% were economically disadvantaged and 89% were Hispanic. In 2023, about 65% of students did not meet grade level.

• Kingsville Independent School District in South Texas in 2022-23 enrolled 2,694 students, of whom about 83% were economically disadvantaged and 85% were Hispanic. In 2023, about 73% of students did not meet grade level.

The petition seeks dissolution of the temporary restraining order – and denial of plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction prohibiting the issuance of accountability ratings for the 2023-24 school year.

The Dallas Morning News Reports on Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (FLP)

June 14, 2024 – The Dallas Morning News reports on the Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (FLP) holding a session on mental health for FLP high school students participating in the program’s summer camp.

Founded in 2001, the Future Leaders Program (FLP) provides academic resources and leadership training to deserving students from the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

Instructor Mayra Salinas-Godsey, an FLP graduate who now works at New York University, taught the class, “Rise & Thrive: Building Mental Strength for College Success and Beyond.” The course is intended to assist students with anxiety about applying for and transitioning to college.

“So like most of you, I know, are first-gen or second-gen,” Salinas-Godsey told the students. “We’re pioneers for our family. We are doing things that they may not have ever experienced before. It’s a little scary.”

FLP intern and graduate Erica Salazar, now a student at Northwestern University, said she advises her peers to give themselves grace.

“I know a lot of these students are top A students, like the top of their class, and they’re doing the best that they can do … but once you’re in college, it’s completely different,” Salazar said. “And if you’re doing your best and you still somehow end up stumbling across a small obstacle, it’s OK. It’s OK to feel stress, and it’s OK not to be OK. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Read more here.

Westwood High School Students Crowned Champion of International Public Policy Forum Debate Contest

May 5, 2024 – New York – A team of students from Westwood High School of Austin, Texas, bested a field of high schools from around the globe Saturday, winning the 23rd Annual Brewer Foundation/New York University International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) debate competition and a $10,000 grand prize. The final debate was held at The Harold Pratt House in New York City.

The teams that competed in the IPPF Finals on Saturday, May 4, were the final “Elite Eight” teams to emerge from a field of 311 teams. The IPPF’s 23rd annual competition began in October 2023, as teams representing schools in 26 countries and 33 U.S. states submitted qualifying round essays affirming or negating the IPPF topic, “Resolved: Governments should provide a universal basic income.”

As the new IPPF World Champion, the Westwood team receives a $10,000 grand prize ($5,000 for the school’s debate program and $5,000 in individual scholarships). The team was coached by Dominic Henderson, and the team members were Ethan Andrew, Pranav Balakrishnan, Eric Gong, Ayush Deo Tripathi, and Eric Zhu.

“These students were, in a word, outstanding,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Foundation and a founder of the IPPF. “They demonstrated a command of the subject matter and unparalleled advocacy skills – earning the title of IPPF World Champion.”

In New York, Westwood advanced over Damien Memorial School from Honolulu, Hawaii, in the quarterfinal round and Davidson Academy of Nevada from Reno, Nevada, in the semifinal round, before facing Ivy Bridge Academy from Johns Creek, Georgia, in the finals.

The runner-up team, Ivy Bridge Academy, receives a $5,000 prize. Coached by Dr. Michael Hester, the team members were Aanya Baddela, Alyssa Chen, Saanvi Kadiyala, Sanjana Kadiyala, Rajveer Nadkar, Ethan Nam, Claire Park, Sneha Ramineni, Rikhil Ranjit, Tessica Selvaganesan, Saanvi Sinha, Rithwik Tamilselvan, Olivia Tye, and Gene Yoon.

The top eight teams competing in the IPPF Finals represented schools from six U.S. states.

The IPPF Finals give students the opportunity to participate in oral debates in front of some of the world’s foremost experts in debate, business, law and politics.

The proceedings were judged by a panel comprised of Brewer, Miha Andric, an international debate coach and director of Education Center Argument, based in Slovenia; Will Baker, director of the NYU Global Debate Program; Sarah K. Cowan, founder and executive director of the Cash Transfer Lab and associate professor of Sociology at New York University; and Christina Phillips, director of debate at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. The debate moderator was David Baker, director of Admissions & Financial Aid at St. Mark’s School of Texas.

Rikhil Ranjit from Ivy Bridge Academy received the second annual John E. Sexton award, which honors an outstanding speaker in the final round as determined by the judges. The award is named after NYU President Emeritus Sexton, who serves on the IPPF Advisory Board.

Founded in 2001, the IPPF is the only competition that gives high school students from around the globe the opportunity – for free – to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.  

The 2023-24 competition began in October, as teams submitted qualifying round essays on the IPPF topic. Judges selected the “Round of 64” teams, who then participated in a single-elimination, written debate contest ― volleying essays back and forth via e-mail. From November to March, the field was narrowed from 64 teams to 32, then 16, and finally to the eight teams that competed in oral debates at the IPPF Finals in New York.

In New York, the quarterfinalists were Coppell High School from Coppell, Texas; Damien Memorial School from Honolulu, Hawaii; Grand Oaks High School from Spring, Texas; and West Anchorage High School from Anchorage, Alaska. Quarterfinalists each win $1,500. 

The semifinalist teams — Davidson Academy of Nevada and Hamilton High School from Chandler, Arizona — each win $3,000. 

The “Elite 8” teams participating in the IPPF Finals: 

Coppell High School, Coppell, Texas

Damien Memorial School, Honolulu, Hawaii

Davidson Academy of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Grand Oaks High School, Spring, Texas

Hamilton High School, Chandler, Arizona

Ivy Bridge Academy, Johns Creek, Georgia

West Anchorage High School, Anchorage, Alaska

Westwood High School, Austin, Texas

About the IPPF and the Brewer Foundation:

The IPPF was founded in 2001 by the Brewer Foundation and is now jointly administered with New York University. The program is available to all high schools around the world – public and private – for free. The IPPF is endorsed by leading forensic agencies, such as the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, the International Debate Education Association, the Impact Coalition, Associated Leaders of Urban Debate Leagues, and the National Debate Coaches Association.

The Brewer Foundation is a private, non-profit organization funded by companies, individuals and the national litigation firm of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. With offices in New York and Dallas, the Foundation has achieved widespread recognition for its efforts to create, fund and manage a variety of educational outreach programs.

Visit the IPPF at www.ippfdebate.com, www.facebook.com/ippfdebate, and Instagram at @ippfdebate. 

Hawaii Media Profiles Students, Brewer Foundation Debate Program

March 30, 2024 – Hawaii News Now reports that students from Kealakehe High School have advanced to the "Sweet 16" round of a global competition sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University. If the students advance to the next round of the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF), they'll win an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the finals in New York City.

 According to the report, the high school has been participating in the IPPF for the last twelve years. Coach Justin Brown said he has always encouraged his students to sign up because the competition instills valuable skills that transfer to other academic programs.

 “It’s kind of our fall practice because they have to do a lot of research and understand argumentation. It’s very detailed writing using precise language,” he said.

 “Being a lifelong learner has always been my goal and I think the research aspect of IPPF…in general encompasses that value," said student Mei Kanada. "Knowing how to research different topics and perspectives you don’t necessarily agree with or know about is valuable because it teaches you and opens you up to so many different things." 

 The IPPF's advancing "Elite Eight" teams will be announced on April 1, 2024. The IPPF World Champion is awarded a $10,000 grand prize from the Brewer Foundation.

Read the report (subscription required).

International Public Policy Forum Announces 2023-24 "Top 64" Teams

November 8, 2023 - The Brewer Foundation and New York University today announced the “Top 64” teams for the 23rd annual International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) – the first and only contest that gives high school students around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.

The IPPF begins annually in October, as teams submit a 3,000-word qualifying round essay either affirming or negating the IPPF topic. This year, students are debating the topic, "Resolved: Governments should provide a universal basic income." 

A record 311 teams, representing schools in 26 countries and 33 U.S. states, submitted qualifying round essays – making this the largest year in competition history. Judges evaluated each essay, and the top 64 teams now advance into a single-elimination, written debate competition.

In the top 64 round, schools will volley papers back and forth via e-mail. Judges review the essays in the order they were presented (affirmative constructive, negative constructive, affirmative rebuttal, negative rebuttal) and select the advancing teams. The process will begin anew as the "Top 32" teams compete for their chance to advance to the "Sweet 16" round.

In March, the "Elite 8" teams will be announced. These teams win all-expenses-paid trips to New York City to compete during IPPF Finals Weekend, which begins May 3, 2024. During the finals, teams supplement their written advocacy with oral argumentation. The IPPF World Champion is awarded a $10,000 grand prize. 

To view the list of advancing teams, click here.