by Luis Torres, Ph.D.

Posted September 25, 2025

 

In a moving, at times emotional, Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE) event at the Denver Public Library (DPL) September 21, eminent Latino educational, political, and civil rights figures commemorated the 57 years of CHE contributions to the education of Latino students in Denver Public Schools. El Semanario/The Weekly Issue was the event’s media sponsor, and as we announced in our September 17 issue, CHE held the September 21 celebration in the DPL for the archiving of documentation for the tenacious, arduous efforts CHE engaged in over the decades. They succeeded, beyond many people’s expectations. Their efforts developed such educational breakthroughs as Bilingual, and then Multilingual, education; curriculum honoring the history, culture, and contributions of the children’s community; and increased funding and resources for schools attended by our students, among other achievements.

The speakers at this CHE event included Fran Natividad Coleman, CHE President and former State Representative; Erlinda Archuleta, Senior CHE advisor and renowned educator; Dr. Alex Marrero, DPS Superintendent; Denver Mayor Mike Johnston; Dr. Susana Cordova, former DPS Superintendent and current Colorado Commissioner of Education; the Honorable Federico Peña, former Denver Mayor, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Secretary of Energy, and former MALDEF attorney for CHE; the Honorable Ken Salazar, former Colorado Attorney General, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ambassador to México, and former MALDEF attorney for CHE; and Dr. Kathy Escamilla, Professor Emeritus, C.U. Boulder. Ms. Angie Paccione read a proclamation for CHE from Governor Polis, as Mayor Johnston likewise proclaimed.

 

While the initial meetings for the founding of CHE took place in 1968, members from that time, have pointed out that the originators had begun discussing the need for such an organization even earlier.  Notably, the segregationist U.S. policy of “redlining” lasted from 1934, from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), until the 1968 Fair Housing Act, following the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.  Denver, and CHE, therefore faced the discriminatory effects of that redlining, which had greatly influenced Denver Public Schools, for the worse.

The year 1968 was the last year of the “redlining” policy nationally and here in Denver, through which the FHA determined which areas of the cities across the country were comprised of mostly Black and Latino residents.  Such areas were then prohibited from receiving mortgage loans, thus preventing them from purchasing homes, shutting them out of the ability to acquire generational wealth through home ownership, including equity.  This segregation served to keep Blacks and Latinos from attending K-12 schools with their White counterparts, solidifying racial division across the decades.  Such was the racial environment in which CHE was forced to operate as it began its extremely lengthy and exceedingly challenging advocacy in 1968, continuing today.

 

It is crucial to Denver and Colorado history, and nationally, that CHE documents are archived in Denver Public Library.  The U.S. has the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.; this El Semanario reporter has visited the National Archives Museum on occasion. It houses such foundational documents as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, “which can be viewed in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom at the National Archives Building” (https://www.archives.gov/). In the Archives Museum, I have viewed President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the document which began to civilize the United States.

As we reported in our September 17 issue, these CHE archives are housed in the Denver Public Library’s (DPL) “Special Collections and Archives Department” on the 5^th floor for public viewing and research; see https://archives.denverlibrary.org/repositories/3/resources/6779. For example, “Scope and Contents” explains the three parts of the collection, including that it is “arranged chronologically,” the types of materials included, and documentation of CHE’s history. Court cases, including the Wilfred C. Keyes v. School District No.1, Denver, case, are central to the archives.  The “Biographical/Historical” passage in the link provides a concise explication of CHE’s history.  The “Subjects” section informs about “Educational law and legislation – Colorado – Denver,” and, “Hispanic American children – Education – Colorado – Denver.”  We are told there are “5 box(es)” of archives, from the “Gift, Erlinda Archuleta, 2015, 2025; Ann Peña, 2019,” and directed to “Related Materials, Martha M. Urioste Papers” of the Western History Collection.

 

The CHE documents reveal how Denver Public Schools, and its influences, went from the 1969 West High School Walkouts, aka Blowouts—which CHE supported in the media—to educational improvements for our students. As was stated at the event by Dr. Marrero, DPS and CHE have often been at odds, including in the administration of the Bilingual Education and Multilingual Education programs. However, he asserted the DPS School Board has made it “explicitly clear” they are committed to work with CHE to improve the District’s educational opportunities for Latinos and all other students.

 

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a former teacher and Principal, began his remarks in Spanish, which he knows well, recalling when he was in Washington, D.C. with his daughter. They observed ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers confronting a Latino man they believed to be an immigrant, soon realizing the officers had apprehended the man for no apparent reason other than his appearance. The Mayor’s daughter stated, “We can’t ever let that happen in Denver.”

Dr. Susanna Cordova spoke as a nearly life-long member of DPS as student, teacher, administrator, and former Superintendent. She asserted that her career—now as Colorado Commissioner of Education—was “fundamentally, foundationally, and profoundly shaped by the work of the Congress of Hispanic Educators.”

 

The Honorable Federico Peña and the Honorable Ken Salazar recounted the legal work they engaged in, with other CHE lawyers, in the lengthy court cases which led to CHE’s involvement in the lawsuits. CHE intervened in the Keyes Case; as the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse states,

 

In 1969, this lawsuit was brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado seeking desegregation of the Denver Public Schools. The Congress of Hispanic Educators and individually named Mexican American parents of minor children attending the Denver Public Schools intervened in 1974. Keyes v. School District No. 1, 576 F. Supp. 1503 (1983). On November 3, 1980, these intervenor-plaintiffs filed a supplemental complaint in intervention on behalf of Limited English Proficiency (“LEP”) students (https://clearinghouse.net/case/9480).

 

CHE’s intervening helped lead to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring, for the first time in a northern state, that Chicanas/os were an identifiable minority, with such needs as bilingual education.  This 1974 “intervening” called for addressing the educational needs of “limited-English proficient students,” (the term used then), leading to some, but not sufficient, progress, leading to the “supplemental complaint” of 1980:

 

In a December 1983 unpublished order, District Judge Richard P. Matsch found that there were deficiencies in the defendant’s school program [DPS] for students of limited English-speaking abilities and ordered that they be remedied. Representatives of the plaintiffs and the school district negotiated to develop a remedy for the deficiencies found by the court, which led to the Consent Decree in 1984, revised in 2013, still effective, with constant monitoring, currently in 2025.

 

CHE members have spanned 57 years and are looking to the future. Dr. Darlene Ledoux recounts that for so long CHE and others have been determined to continue the struggle. “We are making a difference. Some of the CHE legends in their 90s were there (at the celebration). Esther Romero’s three daughters, and her Granddaughter, were there. Diana Romero Campbell was there, who will probably be the President of the City Council. Theresa and Craig Peña were there, children of Bob Peña, as well as Mr. Peña’s wife Ann. The legacy continues. Val and Vangie Sena attended, who will celebrate their 90^th birthday soon, and were original CHE members.”

 

Erlinda Archuleta likewise looked back and forward. The celebration archive event “was inspiring, and what resonated with me was that all the people in that room came together for quality education for all kids. We still have to come together because the job is not over.”

 

After the event, a mother of a DPS student wrote to her and “commented that they were grateful that CHE helped pave the way for her child to have access to her roots and be proud of where they came from.”

 

She read from the poem “They Spoke for Us,” by Manuel Solano, printed with the “Celebrating & Commemorating…” agenda, and we quote these few lines:

 

They said we were invisible,

That our names were too long for the roll call,

Our accents too thick for the curriculum,

Our silence too easy to ignore.

 

But in Denver, the Congress of Hispanic Educators…

Didn’t just teach.  They litigated.  They organized.  They intervened…

Together, they carved a new path—not just for Denver,

But for every child whose first language

Was treated like a second-class citizen….

 

As the poem concludes, about CHE and the Commemoration, it states, “Because they spoke for us / Now we speak for them.”

 

Watch a video, produced by El Semanario,  highlighting the Congress of Hispanic Educators event at the Denver Public Library on September 21, 2025.

 

Luis Torres, PhD, retired, served as Deputy Provost for Metropolitan State University of Denver for Academic and Student Affairs and professor of Chicana/o Studies. Torres is a noted advocate for equity in education, policy and community efforts. Torres is also a member of The Weekly Issue/El Semanario Advisory Board. He is also a member of the CHE Senior Advisory.