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Vision Statement

An Educated Society that Contributes to an Improved Quality of Life

HISTORY/PURPOSE

The purpose of Education Service Center (ESC) –Region 19 is to aid teachers and administrators in the El Paso area in their role as educators of our children. We are one of twenty regional service centers located throughout the state that function as a link between the districts and charter schools they serve and the Texas Education Agency (TEA)in Austin, the administrative unit of Texas’ public education system.

Like the other nineteen service centers in Texas, Education Service Center – Region 19 was created by order of the state legislature in 1967 to provide services to area school districts so that they could operate more efficiently and economically. In those days that meant primarily offering media services such as filmstrips, projectors and the like, to be used in the classroom. The job was accomplished withjust a handful of employees in a small office near the oil refineries in central El Paso.

But with increasing participation by area schools and new requirements coming forth from Austin, primarily through the TEA, ESC­R19 saw rapid growth. Both the focus and the facilities expanded. In 1986, ESC­R19 became the fiscal agent for the federally funded Head Start program in the El Paso area. The nationally recognized Region 19 Head Start provides services to more than 4000 students and their families which, if classified as a school district, would make it the fifth most populous in the region 19 service area. 

Supported by state and federal funds, as well as by fees assessed for services, ESCs provide professional development in areas such as technology, bilingual education, special education, gifted and talented education, and programs for at­risk students.They offer technical assistance and support in areas such as data processing and instructional media. And, ESCs also provide field­based regional services to school districts in areas such as administrator training, staff development for teachers and assisting districts and campuses rated academically unacceptable as well as helping schools understand and meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind act.

The El Paso­based ESC supports these sixteen local education agencies, with a student population of more than 160,000 in Hudspeth and El Paso Counties: El Paso I.S.D.; Ysleta I.S.D.; Socorro I.S.D.; Clint I.S.D.; Canutillo I.S.D.; Anthony I.S.D.; Tornillo I.S.D.; Dell City I.S.D.; Sierra Blanca I.S.D.; Fabens I.S.D.; San Elizario I.S.D. and Ft. Hancock I.S.D.and area charter schools.

Each regional education service center is governed by a board of directors composed of seven members.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dr. James R.Vasquez, one of the most respected educators in Texas, was named Executive Director of Education Service Center­Region 19 in 1997. Dr. Vasquez has come out of retirement several times to take on support of issues in support of public education. Just prior to joining ESC-R19 , he was heading his own firm­James R.Vasquez Education Leadership Consultant.

Dr. Vasquez became a known entity statewide when he led the Edgewood vs.Kirby lawsuit to equalize funding for education in Texas. As a result of the lawsuit, El Paso area schools now receive millions more each year to educate students. Dr. Vasquez began and ended his first career in the Edgewood Independent School District in the San Antonio area. He started as a math and government teacher in 1960. From 1967 to 1970, he was an assistant principal; and, from 1970 to 1973 he was a principal. In 1977, Dr. Vasquez became Director of Curriculum. He was named Superintendent of Edgewood ISD in 1978, a position he held until his retirement in 1991.

Shortly after, Dr. Vasquez took a job as a master/monitor with the Texas Education Agency(TEA) where he mastered or monitored several school districts around the state. In 1993, he became the Senior Director of Governance, Operations, Civil Rights and Special Investigations at TEA. He retired in 1995 and started his own education consulting firm, providing school board training and in management professional development to principals and other administrators in the organization.

Dr. Vasquez has been recognized by several higher education institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin and Trinity University. He has also been a consultant to those universities, Stanford University, Harvard University and the coordinating Board for Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Vasquez was honored by President Jimmy Carter and invited to the White House to witness the signing of the Youth Employment Act in 1979. He was also honored by the Texas School Public Relations Association as the 1983 “Key Communicator of the Year” an honor he shares with President Bush, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Henry Cisneros, former Commission of Education Mike Moses, and other prominent Texans. On the eve of his retirement in 1991 the Texas House and Senate unanimously passed a joint resolution honoring Dr. Vasquez for his 31 years in public education. Since his retirement he has continued to receive awards and recognition from local, state, and national associations, schools and universities, and professional organizations.

Dr. Vasquez received his B.B.A.in Economics and masters in Educational Counseling at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. As a result of his work and accomplishments with the Edgewood vs.Kirby lawsuit, he was awarded his doctorate from Our Lady of the Lake University. Mr. Vasquez, who grew up in San Antonio is married to Sandra and has four children and three grandchildren.

ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR HEAD START

A life­long educator, Dr. Blanca Estela Enriquez has been associate executive director of the Education Service Center Head Start program since 1991. During that time, the program has grown from 1200 pre­schoolers at 11 sites to more than 4000 children at 35 sites and has won many state and national awards.

Dr. Enriquez serves on a ten­person advisory board for the National Institute for Literacy. Nominated by President Bush, the appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. She also currently serves as Vice­President of the Texas Head Start Association, is a founding member of Latinas 100, belongs to the National Association for the Education of Children, International Reading Association, the Texas and National Associations for Bilingual Education and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, among other groups.

Locally, she is a member of the Foster Grandparent Advisory Council, Child Development Advisory Council of El Paso Community College and YWCA Advisory Committee, to name a few. 

She holds a Master’s of Education degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and a doctorate degree from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

Mission Statement

The ESC in Region 19 exists to educate the community in order to create opportunities for an improved quality of life.