Judge Highlights BISD Chess Program in His Ruling

In his landmark school finance decision on Monday, February 4, Judge John Dietz used the history of Brownsville ISD’s chess program as a stirring example of education’s power to unlock student potential. Citing Brownsville’s economic challenges, Judge Dietz explained the origins of the district’s chess program which began in 1989 at Russell Elementary School with Teacher JJ Guajardo. Twenty-four years later, the success of thousands of BISD students has made Brownsville a nationally recognized chess powerhouse and has inspired our hometown university, UT Brownsville, to have one of the top chess teams in the country. Read Judge Dietz’s remarks.