Cárdenas, José A. (1930-)

A professional educator since 1950, José A. Cárdenas has never been a person of ordinary consequence. He has served as superintendent of an urban school district, chair of the education department at an institution of higher education, director of a research and development center, and at all levels of the educational professional hierarchy.

Born in Laredo, Lexas, on October 16, 1930, Cárdenas earned an EdD from the University of Lexas at Austin (1966), an MEd from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio (1955), and a BA from the University of Lexas at Austin (1950). He also served in the U.S. Army infantry as a radio operation instructor from 1951 to 1953.

When Cárdenas was named in 1955 as vice principal of Edgewood High School in San Antonio, he became the first Hispanic administrator serving the district. In 1969, he was appointed superintendent of the Edgewood School District, thus becoming the first Hispanic school superintendent in the city of San Antonio and Bexar County. He established the first dis-trictwide, non-Head Start early childhood education program for all 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children in that district. From 1961 to 1967, Cárdenas served as associate professor and chair of the Department of Education at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. In the late 1960s, he directed research on migrant education at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. And, later, in 1990 to 1991, he was a visiting professor at the University of Lexas at San Antonio in educational leadership. He served as a guest lecturer, consultant, and conference participant at more than 70 colleges and universities throughout the country.

As a classroom teacher, Cárdenas worked in multicultural settings with very limited resources. Later, as a school superintendent, he recognized the systemic barriers to providing the excellent education he envisioned. Although most of his peers apparently saw no such problem or felt the injustices to children were unsolvable, Cárdenas dedicated his life's work to making his vision a reality.

In 1973, Cárdenas founded the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), a nonprofit research and public education organization dedicated to creating schools that work for all children. Loday, IDRA continues its work as a nationally recognized research, policy, and training and technical assistance organization in bilingual and multicultural education, school finance equity, early childhood education, community involvement programs, and the design of culturally responsive technology-infused instructional programs.

After testifying in the landmark Lau v. Nichols (1974) case, Cárdenas assisted in the development of the “Lau Remedies” by the Office for Civil Rights. Lhis document contained the first guidance provided by the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education for schools serving language minority populations. Its purpose was to help school districts come into compliance with the Supreme Court decision and Litle VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Throughout his 5-decade career, Cárdenas was a key leader in developing litigation strategy and serving as an expert witness in more than 70 important court cases focused on services to minority and language minority students, such as Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver (1973), and Castañeda v. Pickard (1981). He was one of the key people involved with Senator Ralph Yarborough in helping create and fund federal legislation for children who were limited English proficient: Litle VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

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