Every day hundreds of children walk through the doors of Dr. Linda G. Mora Elementary School in Northside ISD in San Antonio ready to learn, an enduring tribute to the school’s namesake.
Linda Mora, Ph.D. ’05, has dedicated her entire 50-year career to public education, serving schools and communities as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent and curriculum supervisor. She worked tirelessly across school districts, both large and small, in Texas, including Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco ISD, Corpus Christi ISD, United ISD and Zapata County ISD.
During her tenure at the Texas Education Agency (TEA), she focused on school accreditation and accountability while working in partnership with Cooperative Superintendency Program students, providing real-world experience
Mora, who serves on the College of Education’s Advisory Council, supports CSP through a planned gift and strongly encourages fellow alumni to donate as well to ensure that every child in Texas receives the best education – and the best leadership.
It’s more incumbent on the Cooperative Superintendency Program to continue the path that it was on for 50 years and to continue in the next 50 years, because it’s not going to get any easier to be a school leader,
Mora said.
CSP has long been known for preparing students to lead school districts successfully. How important is a program like this to cultivate leadership in schools and communities?
If you think back 50 years to how many Fellows have been through the program, its impact is immeasurable. I learned about not only theory and research, but how that impacts the day-to-day practice that superintendents and school leaders need.
The most important thing is the boots on the ground, that practice that sets you up for success. Any program that prepares school leaders needs to also focus on how you work with bus drivers and transportation people that may or may not speak English. How do you work with cafeteria ladies? How do you work with personnel and HR? How do you work with special ed?
You can have all the theory in the world, you can have all the research in the world, but unless it impacts the work that you’re doing day to day, it’s for nothing.
We often hear from CSP alumni that the program is like no other in the way that it prepares you for leadership in public school education. What do you think makes the program so special and unique, and how did it impact your career?
Number one, you come in with a group, a cohort model, and you stay with those same 17 or 20 people for the duration of the program. The other piece of that is connecting the practice of what you learn in class to the actual reality. I think the essential piece of the program is that collaboration with other entities that hire superintendents and school leaders. We supported each other as a group, and we had the support from a lot of the professors.
One of the things that I learned was how to pivot. You know, when things don’t go your way, you pivot and find somewhere else to attack the problem. And I think that speaks to the job of superintendents and school leaders every day, especially with the changing education environment that we see now.
As a donor and Advisory Council member, you have generously supported the CSP and the College of Education. Why have you invested your time and resources into the program and why should others do the same?
I named the College of Education as part of my legacy. That’s important to me as a first-generation high school grad and a first-generation college grad, and this program at UT did a lot for me.
I’m hoping that CSP will continue in the preparation of school leaders, especially now with all the different laws, not only at the federal level but the state level. It’s more incumbent on the CSP to continue the path that it was on for 50 years for the next 50 years, because it’s not going to get any easier to be a school leader. Not at all.
I think people should support CSP because it is such a unique program. I understand some things have changed, but the essence of the program should always remain the same.
Support for the CSP program is critical because in the long run, it impacts so many students across the state. And that’s what education is about. It’s about giving our best to every student that crosses our door.
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