Robert Marquez is running for re-election to the Midland Independent School District (MISD) Board of Trustees, aiming to build on the progress made during his tenure. He has served on the MISD Board since September 2016, totaling eight years of service.
Born and raised in Pecos, Texas, Marquez moved to Midland at the age of six. He graduated from Midland College with a GED and subsequently joined the United States Air Force, serving as a helicopter crew chief for four years active and four years inactive. While in service, he attended Florida State University.
After returning to Midland, Marquez worked in the oil field and pursued further education. His interest in MISD was sparked by discussions with colleagues about the district's challenges. “I began to look into some of the issues with MISD back then during the time, and my interest grew in how I could potentially help solve those issues,” he told Midland Times.
Marquez acknowledged the current challenges facing MISD, including a national teacher shortage and high student capacity. He expressed optimism about the district’s future, noting that recent bond measures to build new high schools and an elementary school will help address these issues.
He explained the development of an accountability system designed to assess student performance and outcomes. “We started developing an accountability system that began to tell us something about our student’s performances and outcomes. When we started, it wasn’t the perfect version, but over time it’s been improved and it gave us a high-grade accountability system that we are still running with today,” Marquez said.
When asked about effective strategies for improving student performance, Marquez pointed to the accountability system. “It goes back to the accountability system we have created – one of the things that it has done is help the board members remove themselves from the guessing game as to what portion of potential instruments or technology. There’s always questions, such as ‘what’s the best program,’ ‘what’s the best book for this class,’ and such. But that accountability system has moved it back to the teachers, the professionals, and say ‘If this is the goal we want to reach, then what do we need to do to get there?’ and then allow the teachers to have the collaboration to get to the goal and drive the input and knowledge sharing,” he said.
When asked what inspired him to run for re-election, Marquez said, “I believe that we have a lot of things that we have started and aren’t fully fostered in a sense, so I want to see those and continue to help my community foster those things and get to the point where MISD is the highest performing district in the state of Texas. As a public school district, we’re here to serve every single student that comes through our doors, and that is why I am rerunning – to serve all students in our community.”