Iniya traces the roots of her advocacy back to Pinkerton Elementary School in Coppell ISD, near Dallas. She credits teachers there with inspiring and encouraging her to find her interests and her voice. But the roots Pinkerton nourished grew from seeds planted at home. Her family inherited a belief in advocating for what is right. Her grandfather was a farmworker organizer and a member of the state legislature in Tamil Nadu, India.
Two years ago, Iniya said a final goodbye to her beloved elementary school, the oldest in Coppell ISD. Then a high school sophomore, she remembers seeing a school board meeting where members, some of whom had attended Pinkerton themselves, tearfully voted to close the school due to declining enrollment and budget shortfalls. “That had a profound effect on me,” said Iniya. She didn’t understand how a highly-rated school district could face a budget crisis dire enough to force a school closure. Her search for answers led her to one culprit: the Texas Legislature. The Pinkerton closure became a catalyst for action.
From amazed onlooker to board chair
A city council internship led Iniya to an internship with state Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, whom she calls “a profound advocate for education policy.” That work gave her a window into the legislature’s workings and led her to SEAT: Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. She remembers seeing the group during their advocacy day at the Capitol and thinking they were “amazing and inspiring.” Iniya quickly signed up to join SEAT and is now chair of the group. While SEAT is a multi-issue organization, much of Iniya’s recent advocacy efforts remain focused on public education. She distributes banned books to communities that have seen library books flagged for censorship, manages school supply drives for under-resourced communities, and has testified before the State Board of Education.
Iniya graduates next year, but her younger sister inspired her to advocate against the overly Western-centric social studies standards.
I’m worried that my sister won’t be able to embrace her Indian heritage as much or be able to explore topics like colonization that have impacted people in my family 3 or 4 generations ago…so it’s very personal to me.
But Inya’s concern extends beyond her sister to all younger students. She particularly worries about their ability to form the critical thinking skills necessary for effective participation in civic life. “It is very important for us to be able to have global perspectives and be able to have very broad societal ideas, because that is what allows us to challenge our government and hold them accountable; it’s the very basis of democracy.” She decided to speak out for a more inclusive curriculum.
“Advocacy takes a lot of effort and it takes a lot of time and sacrifice.”
Testifying at the April SBOE meeting was far from easy. Iniya drove three hours to Austin and waited 17 hours to speak for the allotted two minutes. She missed school and returned home at 4 a.m. the next day. On top of uncertainty about whether members would hear her testimony and worry about how missing school might affect her grades, those 17 hours were filled with some fear and anxiety.
She knew that one of her SEAT colleagues, also a person of color, had been targeted with racist and Islamophobic comments outside the SBOE meeting. Fortunately, Iniya was finally able to testify around 11:45 p.m. and did not receive any racist comments. On the contrary, she received a reassuring nod from Member Staci Childs on her way to the podium. After her testimony, she got a sincere thanks from Member Evelyn Brooks. Iniya left feeling supported, appreciated, and encouraged by them, her parents, TFN staff, and other members of the community. And she likes to think that her words made an impact on Brooks, who voted against the TEKS in April.
“A lot of community support is honestly what’s gotten me here.”
The passage of the social studies TEKS is not the end of the advocacy road for Iniya. She continues her work with SEAT and other organizations. She recently applied and was selected to serve on the SBOE Student Advisory Council to represent District 14. Members of the council will research and propose policies to members. She is applying to college and plans to work toward a career in politics.
She’s proud to be a young person in the movement, and wishes more students would take action. “When I went to the SBOE meeting I was very sad to see that there wasn’t much student representation, given the fact that this policy was affecting us the most,” said Iniya. She wants students to know that they shouldn’t underestimate the impact their testimony can have. But she knows all too well how school obligations and concerns over absences and GPA make it difficult for them to participate in the process.
“If there are students picking up your slack…”
Despite all her advocacy work and her desire to animate more students to action, Iniya truly believes children should be able to focus on exploring who they are, not fighting for their rights. “Adults should be stepping up a lot more,” she said. “At the end of the day, we should be getting supported by the adults in the room; we should not be fighting for ourselves every single day to get more funding, to be able to have a voice in our classroom, to be able to have rights in our classroom every single day, to be recognized for being part of a different community.”
Iniya imagines that some people may be concerned about privacy and safety when advocating publicly. So she encourages others to get involved in whatever way feels right for them. They might distribute voter registration forms, organize a school supplies drive, set up a community book drive, advocate for more school funding, talk to teachers and ask what issues are important to them, join a booster club, or support a nonprofit. “There’s a lot of ways to be able to have a voice, and I definitely do think that adults should be stepping up a lot more.”
Our SBOE Advocate Impact Series features four Texans who’ve advocated for inclusive, accurate, unbiased social studies standards. Read the other three profiles below!
