Sunday Conversation: Advocate: Safety net failing Texas' children

Twenty years ago, a group of social workers and concerned citizens formed a nonprofit called Children at Risk to lobby on behalf of youngsters in Houston and across the state. Bob Sanborn, who joined Children at Risk in 2005 as president and chief executive officer, took a break from marking the nonprofit's anniversary to chat with the Houston Chronicle.

Q: Has the situation for children gotten better or worse over the last 20 years?

A: Whether you look at five years ago or 20 years ago, the situation is absolutely worse for children. Texas does not have a really good social safety net for children.

Q: What do you mean by safety net?

A: The idea that for children raised in poverty, that there are ways for us to take care of them. For children who don't have health insurance, that there are ways for us to take care of them. We have relatively few of those resources in Texas.

Q: Beyond that, what is the biggest problem facing children in the Houston area?

A: I could name 10 things that I think are big problems. But historically in the United States, the way that children have pulled themselves out of poverty is through quality public education. We have too many schools that serve those high-poverty populations that aren't doing a good job.

Q: Why are you so passionate about education?

A: I grew up in poverty. I was the first one in my family to go to college. My parents were teenagers. I was never a stranger to food stamps. I can really relate to a lot of the children that are here in Houston. I saw my world change when I went to college.

Q: Your annual ranking of public high schools, which the Chronicle publishes, is not without controversy. Why rank schools?

A: When we started this four years ago, no one was really talking about dropout rates, and we were able to figure out that the dropout rates in our schools were dramatically different from what the state was saying. So we tried to figure out an avenue to get the public engaged in what we were doing. Of course, we love rankings in the United States, so the idea was, "Let's create a ranking and make the dropout rate a key part of how well you're doing as a school." People want to see, "How good is my school -- really?"

Q: If you were a superintendent, what would you do to improve high schools?

A: I think it's real easy. We've been doing this long enough, and we've been to so many conferences that the answers are out there. When we look at high-poverty children, we see that the way they do better is when they are in small learning communities, preferably theme-based; when they're engaged; when teachers have a missionary zeal; when students are able to make a real connection with those teachers; and when there's more time on task -- a longer school day, longer school year.

Q: You spend a lot of time lobbying the state Legislature. What was your biggest victory recently?

A: The last two sessions, our biggest victory has been in the area of human trafficking. People are often astounded when they hear Houston is really the hub of trafficking in America.

Q: What was your biggest disappointment?

A: Consistently our biggest disappointment is when we try to pass legislation in regards to public education. Even a simple thing like needing transparency in dropout rates is something where we find obstacle after obstacle laid in front of us.

Q: What is your hope for the city 20 years from now?

A: Our hope is, between now and then, that more people become engaged in the idea that it's not just about my children, but it's about our children. If we all start caring about our children, we're going to have a better community.