ANNUAL REPORT 2013

DIRECTORY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Claudio X. Gonzalez Guajardo
President
David E. Calderon Martin del Campo
General Director
Roberto Sanchez Mejorada Catao
Antonio Prida Peon del Valle

ACADEMIC COUNCIL
Miguel Basaez Ebergeny, Gustavo Fabian Iaies,
Bernardo Naranjo Piera, Roberto Newell Garcia, Harry A. Patrinos,
Federico Reyes Heroles, Alberto Saracho Martinez.

STAFF
Cintya Martinez Villanueva
Associate Director
Adriana Del Valle Tovar
Director of Communications
and Mobilization
Jennifer L. ODonoghue
Director of Research
Fernando Ruiz Ruiz
Manuel Bravo Valladolid
Ivan Barrera Olivera
Research

Alfonso Rangel Terrazas

Design
Alejandro Ordoez Gonzalez
Digital Communications
Paulina Martinez Rivera
Events
Miriam Castillo Ramirez
Communications Analyst

Maria Teresa Aguilar Alvarez Castro

Legal Studies
Francisco Melendez Garcia
Operations
Maricruz Dox Aguillon
Public Affairs and Operations Analyst
Iliana Martinez Oate
Assistant to the President

Miroslava Felix Sariana

Public Affairs

Laura Castillo Carro

Assistant to the General Director

Lucrecia Santibaez Martinez

Director of Special Projects

Alicia Calderon Ramos

Public Affairs Analyst

Esther Reyes Nieves

Secretarial support

Norma Espinosa Vazquez

Media

Alberto Serdan Rosales

Citizen Activation

Gabriel Escobar Lopez y Ernesto de Santiago Corona

Logistical support

CONTENTS
IMPLEMENTATION, IMPLEMENTATION,
IMPLEMENTATION!

Message from the President and the

General Director of Mexicanos Primero

OUR FOCUS

Childrens right to learn

IDEI

Index of Inclusive Educational Performance

CHILDREN FIRST

ABC AWARD

OUTREACH AND COLLABORATION

ON RELEVANT THEMES

4
7
12
19
26
32

5
10
16
22
29
35

TESTIMONIES
What do people think of us?

IMPACTS AND RESULTS

STRATEGIC LITIGATION

(MIS)SPENT

ASSESSMENT AND LEARNING

CHALLENGES FOR 2014

IMPLEMENTATION,

IMPLEMENTATION,

IMPLEMENTATION!
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND THE GENERAL DIRECTOR OF MEXICANOS PRIMERO

013 witnessed the consolidation of one

of the most important constitutional
education reforms in Mexicos history.
Unlike in former administrations, the
legislated changes did not originate in a
pact with the National Teachers Union (SNTE), but from a social
and public process that involved academics, civil society organizations and Congress.
This year, the efforts of Mexicanos Primeros focused primarily on
strategic actions for advancing the implementation of the reform
that aims to have an impact on learning.
In light of the obligation that states must guarantee education quality,
understood as the maximum achievement of learning, we sought to
inform, activate and provide a framework for accountability with the
Index of Inclusive Educational Performance (IDEI), a fair, comparative
evaluation of the efforts made by states to develop the quality
education that the country needs.

Before the approval of the 2014 Federal Budget, our report (Mis)Spent
placed the waste that prevails in education spending in the public debate.
This study proposes a series of actions to establish order in the use of
resources and to profoundly transform the way Mexicans money is
spent on education: without changes in spending, there will be no
education reform.
The results revealed by PISA 2012 reinforce the need and urgency to
implement reforms that will have an impact on learning. In support of
learning assessment and accountability, we submitted the results attained
by Mexico in PISA 2012 to public opinion, and we proposed that the
government establish concrete goals in order to speed up the pace,
since the world will not wait for us.
We insist that the passage of new laws is only the beginning. We must
truly and completely implement said legal reforms. Competitive
examinations for teachers, principals and supervisors are forthcoming
towards June of this year and the universal compulsory evaluation of
teachers, with consequences, is set to begin in 2015.

Any reform is problematic, because it seeks to redress current

injustices; the options for implementation are to absorb the costs with valor
or to take the prudent course, which
often leads to simulation. The legal
reform unleashed protests on behalf
of the leadership of the National
Coordinator of Education Workers
(CNTE), mostly in Guerrero, Oaxaca
and Michoacan. Our call to society
was to put children first. More than 70
organizations from diverse milieus
answered this call to action, to defend
the right of our children and youth to
learn and to always have classes.

We have to launch a national crusade to optimize the initial training and

development of our teachers and make
real the Teacher Professional Service.
Besides this, spending in education must be
made more efficient and transparent, the
pedagogical model must be improved,
greater autonomy must be conceded to
schools, and participation of parents must
be encouraged in every school community
in the country. We must be on time for
these appointments, since they open the
historical opportunity to inject professionalization, standards and merit into the system.
But we must go all the way. The theme is
implementation.

David Calderon Martin del Campo

General Director

Claudio X. Gonzalez Guajardo

President

Fotografa: Sofa Gonzlez de Castilla y Juan Carlos Angulo.

TESTIMONIES

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK OF US?

Even in the thickest darkness, many little lights can illuminate everything; Mexicanos Primero is one of these
lights. Their proposal for transparent and efficient spending drew my attention, since a lot of money that
could be well used for materials that support learning, many times ends up in everything except education,
and thats why I support the demand in favor of transparency and truthfulness in spending, which
unquestionably will benefit education.

Sergio Sarmiento
Journalist and writer

President of the Senate

Education Commission

Lower Secondary School student

Lower Secondary School No. 0200
Profr. Roberto Ruiz Llanos
Ecatepec, State of Mexico

Mexicanos Primero has been a brave organization that has embraced the fight for one
of our countrys most important values: quality in the education of our children.

As a mother concerned with the environment surrounding my son, Mexicanos Primero has represented the
best forum for guidance and support, for informing me, and demanding and understanding the issue of
education. We needed an organization like this one; I hope they will soon be represented in the entire
Mexican Republic. As parents, we must commit ourselves to participate and improve.

Juan Carlos
Romero Hicks

Esperanza Nuri
Pelcastre Lopez

Maribel
Ruiz Barroso
Parent
Lower Secondary School No. 44
Ignacio Ramirez Tijuana,
Baja California

Mexicanos Primero is an example of organized citizenry. Its what happens when a group of people becomes aware
of the countrys gravest problems and accepts with solidarity that the problems are theirs too. In the task of building
the Mexico of our dreams, everyone has an important and unique role, but among the people, those who fight to
guarantee the right to quality education for all will always stand out, since this is the most effective way to achieve this
transformation. At the Education Commission, we have found inspiration for our work in this initiative, and
collaboration and good examples, like the ABC Award that is bestowed every year and that reminds us that the great
teachers, those who transform lives, those that leave indelible prints on the heart and the mind of every student, are
many and they are everywhere. I want to congratulate all of you for your work, the Board of Directors, the General
Directors office, the Academic Councils and the entire staff of Mexicanos Primero, for your achievements, for your
work, but especially for your spirit of service and solidarity in the service of all.

TESTIMONIES
In Mexico citizen participation constitutes an important part of the advancement of our country. Im
convinced that a clear example is Mexicanos Primero. Its work has made clear to all that the right to
education doesnt only consist of building schools, but in building a culture of respect and quality towards the
students. Without a doubt, this organizations initiative is a call to parents, educators, governments and news
media to promote quality education for our sons and daughters. Let us each embrace our individual
responsibility.

Jeff Puryear
Vice-President of Social Policy
Inter-American Dialogue

Project Director
Education 2020
Santiago, Chile

Isidra Franco
Moreno
Supervisor
School Zone No. 17
San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato
II North Regional Delegation

It has been an honor to work with Mexicanos Primero in recent years. The efforts to improve the quality
of education, achieve greater equity and stop segregation are challenges that are being repeated in all
of Latin America. It is civil societys role to maintain the sense of urgency for the necessary changes, and
this is why this labor of mobilization and generation of proposals and debates has an immense value. We
have worked with Mexicanos Primero, shoulder to shoulder, to further an agenda of change through the
Latin-American Network for Education, in 13 countries, and as of 2014 it will have the support of the
European Union in order to carry out a series of programmatic and regional communication actions.

As long as there are individuals with moral authority, interested in prioritizing the debate on education above
all else, with the necessary perseverance so that the study, analysis and open and constructive criticism of the
state of education in our country can give voice to the citizens in support of the right of girls, boys and youth to
quality education, Mexico has the possibility of becoming a great power. Due to your work, we have seen great
changes, and Im sure you will achieve many more that are still lacking!

Journalist

Mexicanos Primero is an excellent example of how leaders of civil society can organize and work effectively
to improve public education. What is most noteworthy are the factors that have led to its success: strong and
respected leadership, talented personnel, a commitment to careful and trustworthy analysis, and effective
communication. Bringing together this perfect combination, Mexicanos Primero has become a key figure in
the education policy debate in Mexico, and an inspiration for civil society groups in other countries.

The work that Mexicanos Primero has done with the PEC-FIDE program has been very important for
our students. Thanks to their efforts we have access to diverse materials and we make visits to other
schools, and this has allowed us to know that we are not alone and has given us the opportunity to
change our path, if we were mistaken, or to proceed, when we were on the right track.
We consider that the follow-up carried out with PEC-FIDE was very correct, without limiting itself to
only receiving financial accounts, but also focusing on the impact on student learning, directing our
efforts towards those students that most needed. The observations and recommendations that we
received in timely fashion were very useful for our success; we consider the program a success in our
school zone, for the benefit of our students.

Matias Reeves

Adriana Perez
Caedo

Esthela Damin
Peralta
Legislator

OUR FOCUS:

Childrens right to learn!

Who are we?

We are a citizens initiative that works to ensure the right of girls, boys
and youth to quality education, through rigorous research, communication and outreach efforts that will activate the involvement of all
Mexicans.
At Mexicanos Primero we are convinced that education is the means
to move Mexico towards prosperity and justice.That is why we build
bridges with different social actors, communicate the pressing
challenges to parents and teachers, and publish studies and proposals
that contribute to establishing, socializing, and following up on
priorities in order to achieve better education outcomes.
Our mission is to activate understanding and co-responsibility on
national priorities, beginning with education.
It is our vision to be promoters of a transformation in civic culture,
through instruments of participation, commitment and citizen
demand.

What do we do?
1. RESEARCH AND STUDIES

We contribute evidence, arguments and proposals based on

national and international research as a fundamental means to
achieve desired changes and progress.

2. DISSEMINATION AND CAMPAIGNS

We introduce themes and issues related to the right to

education into public opinion, with support from the news
media and through innovative communication strategies.

3. MOBILIZING AND ACTIVISM

We call upon actors, in their respective fields of expertise, to

move to action and to concrete public policy decisions, by
answering the question: And me, what can I do?

OUR HISTORY

What do we propose?
We propose two central goals for 2024 that would transform the Mexican education system:

1. All young people completing upper secondary education.

Achieve complete trajectories, that do not exclude anyone.
Average of 12 years of quality schooling, with 200 days per school
year and 6.5 hours per day.

2. Learning at international levels.

Achieve successful trajectories, building capabilities that make it

possible for every Mexican to develop to their full potential.
Achieve PISA results equivalent to those of other OECD nations in
reading comprehension, mathematics and science.

To achieve said goals we propose four pathways:

1.Put the State back in charge of education.

3.Transparent and efficient spending.

2.Teachers as professional educators.

4.School autonomy and participation.

Demand that the Executive Power recover attributions and resources at the federal and state levels in order to implement, without
exceptions, the reform of the Third Article of the Constitution.
Improve working conditions for educators in order to have good
teachers and principals, fully committed to the right to learn of girls,
boys and youth.

End waste, corruption and inefficiency that limit and

damage the right to learn.
Empower schools so that every education community can have more resources and greater negotiating
power.

OUR HISTORY

Our principles
Our principles are a series of convictions that include:

1. Only quality education will change

Mexico.

2. True independence and freedom lie

in education.

3. Childrens rights come first.

4. No student should be out
of school.

5. Teachers are ours, and they are the

key to advancement.

6. We cannot improve what we do not evaluate,

and we cannot change what we do not make
transparent.

7. Keep moving forward; not one step backwards.

8. The school belongs to the people, not the

government.
9. The school is a project of the community, not its
reflection.

10. Mexicos place in the world is a reflection of my

childs place in school.

Mexicanos Primeros actions and results, six years after its creation.

IMPACTS AND RESULTS

Project
1.

Index of Inclusive
Education Performance

(IDEI)

2.
Strategic
litigation

Results

-Effects directly attributable to the project, evaluated for their relation with what was laid out in the
Annual Plan, and for the evidence it provides of the teams endeavors.-

We identified the efforts made by the 32 Mexican states to include girls, boys and young people in learning
opportunities.
We made public the general lack of action on the part of the governments of Oaxaca, Guerrero and
Michoacan to guarantee the right of young people to learn.
We contributed to making state authorities focus on actions geared toward better results.

We activated our right as citizens to turn to the Judicial System when the right to education is violated and
when the performance of the Executive and Legislative powers is remiss or insufficient.

3.
Children
first

We mobilized citizen demand so that children in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacan could return to school
and manage to conclude the school year.
Backed by 201,000 citizens and 71 civil society organizations, we demanded a timely response from the
President of the Republic and state governors.

4.
(Mis)Spent

We socialized the concepts of (Mis)Spending and non schools as well as proposals for improvement.
By means of public and private presentations in Michoacan, Jalisco and Nuevo Leon, and at the countrys main
universities, we stimulated public debate on education spending.

5.
ABC Award

We promoted the recognition and social appreciation of Mexican teachers committed to quality education.

6.
Assessment
and learning

We contributed to placing Mexicos education results in PISA 2012 within the realm of public opinion and
proposed concrete goals for advancement.
Through the news media, we worked to build awareness of the implications of cancelling the ENLACE test;
likewise, we publicly demanded that the SEP and the INEE propose a tool that would replace the ENLACE
assessment in 2014.

Teachers we
learn from

7.
Outreach

and collaborations on
relevant themes

10

We consolidated a Latin-American citizen agenda for education, through the Third Annual Meeting of the
Latin-American Network for Education (REDUCA).
Through Mexicanos Primero Michoacan and Jalisco, we contributed to promoting citizen participation in
education at the local level.

IMPACTS AND RESULTS

Impact
- Effect on the public, changes in attitudes, decisions or actions of other actors.-

State
Stewardship Teachers

Spending

Autonomy

Set the terms of discussion so that education authorities assume their responsibility for
offering quality services and developing their own initiatives for improving education
results in their localities.

Establish the agenda to make valid claims in courts of law in favor of the right to quality
education, and define the objectives that have not yet been reached by the Legislative and
Executive powers.

Set the terms of the discussion, establish the agenda, and generate urgency so that
children are not left without schooling and the reform of the Third Article of the
Constitution is fully implemented.

Set the terms of discussion and contribute to establishing the agenda so that the Federal
Government adopt proposals for correcting (Mis)Spending in education.

Influence decision making related to establishing a holistic teacher

evaluation framework.

Establish the importance of the results obtained by Mexico in the 2012 PISA test in the
public agenda, and make clear the serious consequences in terms of transparency and
accountability of the cancellation of the ENLACE assessment.

Set the terms of discussion and establish the agenda for active participation and
contribution so that all girls, boys and youth of the region can exercise their right to
education.
Establish the Latin-American agenda for 2014, geared to offering solutions to some of
the main education challenges of each country.

11

Index of Inclusive Education Performance

(IDEI)

States can and must

make the difference!

The importance of the IDEI is that information can

serve to change reality, and, in point of fact, these
kinds of reports and other efforts achieve their final
success not only in the solidity of the analysis they
present, but in their capacity to impact reality.

Miguel Szekely, Director of the Institute of

Educational Innovation at the Monterrey Institute of

Technology.

12

IDEI

secondary school.

or the fourth year in a row, we

developed the Index of Inclusive
Education Performance (IDEI): a
comparative study of efforts made
in each of the 32 states of our
country to include girls, boys and
youth in learning opportunities,
both in primary and lower

The IDEI has two principle objectives: identify the ranking of each
state in terms of its efforts to improve education, and promote

gy, and Antonio de Haro, General Director of Politeia, we

presented IDEI before more than 230 people.
Attendance at this event included Secretaries of Education and
representatives of the states of Baja California, Campeche, the
State of Mexico, Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, San Luis Potosi and Sonora;
education authorities from the Ministry of Public Education, the
National Institute for Educational Assessment and Evaluation, the
General Coordination of Inter-Cultural Bilingual Education, the
General Directorship of Evaluation of Public Policies of the SEP,
the Under Ministry of Higher Secondary Education and the
Under Ministry of Planning and Evaluation of Educational Policies.
Also with us were legislators, representatives of academic institu-

Public presentation of the IDEI, January 29, 2013.

decisive local action to demand transparency and accountability

from local governments in support of the school community or
to direct resources towards areas that require greater support.
This years report identified innovative experiences in Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Sonora and Zacatecas that
prove that states can make a difference and change realities.
With the participation of Miguel Szekely, Director of the Institute
of Educational Innovation at the Monterrey Institute of Technolo-

tions, leaders of civil society organizations, representatives of

business and international organizations, and the news media.
After the presentation, we took the IDEI to the states with the
best results, such as Sonora and Puebla; we also visited states
with average results, including Jalisco and Sinaloa, and those with
the most worrying educational performance, like Oaxaca and
Michoacan. In each of these visits we held meetings with
governors, education authorities, university students, businessmen and news media.

13

IDEI

Media presence of the IDEI report.

In our visit to Oaxaca, the leaders of the Section XXII of the

SNTE, members of the CNTE, boycotted the original press
conference we had announced to present the main findings of
the IDEI in the state. The CNTE only expressed slogans and
demands, showing no disposition for dialogue, and we had to
cancel that scheduled presentation. At an alternate site, we
managed to gather the news media to share concrete evidence
of the state of exception that Oaxaca is experiencing in matters
of education.

and Tamaulipas, which publicly reiterated their commitment to

focusing on actions geared to improvements in education.

We received positive reactions from the governments of the

states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, Sonora

Through the free distribution of the IDEI, as well as the option of

downloading it at www.mexicanosprimero.org, we invited

14

The states of Baja California, Mexico, Michoacan and Oaxaca, as

well as the leadership of the SNTE, rejected the IDEI results,
pointing out, among other things, inconsistencies in its methodology. In response, we drew up a technical report with evidence
and assertions from the IDEI and declared our disposition to
clarify concerns and respond to doubts.

Presentation of our diagnosis of national education to students at Anahuac University in Oaxaca.

IDEI

IDEI tour, Oaxaca.

authorities and citizens of the Mexican Republic to read and

compare, but especially to act in favor of the inclusive, quality
education that our localities need. As of today, more than 11,542
people have accessed the IDEI in physical or electronic formats.

141

Total media presence:

nationwide impacts,
with particular resonance in Oaxaca, Michoacan and Sonora.

IDEI

IN NUMBERS:

72 newspaper and opinion articles.

39 radio interviews.
30 television interviews.
5,946 views of Mexicanos Primeros blog related to this topic.

15

STRATEGIC LITIGATION
To defend the right to quality education!

We also demand an injunction press conference, February 12, 2013.

Jesus Silva-Herzog,The
Judicial Lever, Reforma,
February 25, 2013.

16

New injunctions vs. those who dont teach classes, La Razon, February 14, 2013.

STRATEGIC LITIGATION

Through our revision of the 2009

and 2010 reviews of public spending
by the Federal Superior Auditor, we
found that, in 2010 alone, non
education commissioners cost us
more than 3 billion pesos! We have
records that track this activity as far
back as 2007, demonstrating that the
authorities knew about the problem,
but to date have done nothing to
correct this situation or assign
responsibilities in the matter.
Evidence in hand, on February 12,
2013, we held a press conference,
We also demand an injunction,
with the participation of lawyers Luis
Manuel Perez de Acha and Antonio
Prida Peon del Valle, who pointed
out that the diversion of resources
from the nations budget robs the
Mexican people and defrauds
education and real teachers.

E
e activated our right as citizens to appeal
to the Judiciary System when the right to
education is violated and when the
performance of the Executive and
Legislative powers is remiss or insufficient.
Aprender Primero A.C. (Learn First), an
organization we established to defend the right to education, presented
litigation at the Second District Court for Administrative Affairs: a
demand for a court-ordered injunction against the authorities disregard
in the face of continued diversion of education resources, identified year
after year to the detriment of our childrens right to learn.
Based on the concept of legitimate interest, instantiated in the
Constitution since 2011, the suit was entered to ensure the legal,
transparent and efficient use of the resources that we Mexicans
contribute to education, so that they may be used to guarantee the
right of our girls, boys and youth to quality education.

The suit was admitted, and the

Ministry of Finance and Public
Credit, the Chamber of Deputies,
the
Ministry
of
Public
Administration, and the Federal
Superior Auditor were asked to deliver the corresponding
evidence to the court.
However, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit requested that the
suit be dismissed from the circuit court since, according to their point of
view, there was no legitimate interest; that is, they maintained that
Aprender Primero, as a civil association, did not have the right to bring
a lawsuit about the diversion of public resources earmarked for
education. Aprender Primero won this motion; the court determined
that the suit should not be dismissed, and the trial proceeded. In
November, the judge determined that the authorities lack of action to
stop the problem was a fact, but decided to dismiss the case arguing the
associations lack of legitimate interest. Not satisfied with this decision,
we then presented an appeal for review that will establish once and for
all if a civil society association has the right to bring a legal case in defense
of a third party. In addition, if they rule in our favor, the court will establish
a sentence that will determine the authorities responsibility over
education spending.

17

STRATEGIC LITIGATION
Faced with the SEPs refusal, we presented an appeal to the IFAI,
asking that they review the case.The IFAI determined that, in virtue
of its relevance to the public interest, the information requested
does not represent personal data, and it ordered the SEP to deliver
the majority of the information. However, the IFAI decided to
classify the relation between the name of the evaluated teacher
and the grade he obtained on the exam as reserved for three
years.
In response to that decision, we filed a demand for a
court-ordered injunction against the IFAIs reserving of that
information. As of today we are still awaiting a decision.
The IFAIs response to Mexicanos Primeros
request for information

Even though the case is still unresolved, and our point about the
diversion of resources has not yet been studied in depth by the court,
the issue has been placed in the public forum, making visible the fraud
and the corruption embodied in the support, in billions of pesos, of
the leadership of the SNTE and the CNTE, and also of other misuses
of education funds. Other examples have been presented to the
responsible authorities, who have continued to ignore the issue.
Moreover, we presented a second suit in 2013. In this case, we brought
a lawsuit against the Federal Institute for Access to Information (IFAI) for
its decision to reserve (withhold) the results obtained by teachers
participating in the Universal Evaluation of Active Teachers and
Principals in Basic Education in June and July of 2012.
With the goal of learning the results obtained in the Universal
Evaluation, of verifying that the authorities carried out the exam in a
regular, consistent and justified manner, and also of confirming that the
information was processed in a correct and replicable way, on
November 5, 2012, through the Federal Governments INFOMEX
System, we requested the database of the results of the primary school
teachers who had participated in the evaluation.
The Public Relations Unit of the SEP provided three answers to our
request: 1) It published an aggregated database of the general diagnosis
and recommendations for training of the participants; 2) It provided
information about the cut-off point for each level of diagnosis; and 3)
It denied access to the results obtained by each teacher because it
would induce an inadequate interpretation of said results and because
the Information Committee of the SEP had already, in advance of the
evaluation, determined that that information would be reserved.

18

A positive outcome in this case will establish the principle of

transparency and accountability in teacher evaluations and allow us to
better understand the need for teacher professional development.
Both litigations will push the courts to establish definitions that Congress
and the Executive branch have not yet determined and open the
possibility to legally demand, in a court of law, the constitutional right to
quality education.

STRATEGIC LITIGATION

IN NUMBERS:

Total media presence:

impacts.

85 nationwide

25 articles in newspapers and opinion pieces.

29 radio interviews.
3 television interviews.
28 impacts in blogs and web portals.
16,675 views of Mexicanos Primeros blog

related to this topic.

CHILDREN FIRST!

19

CHILDREN FIRST!
and in hand with other organizations of
civil society and actors interested in
education, we closely monitored the
implementation of the reform to the
Third Article of the Constitution (the Law
of Teacher Professional Service, the Law of
the National Institute for Education
Assessment and Evaluation, and the reform of the General Education
Law), to ensure it was carried through in accordance with young
peoples right to learn.
The Children First campaign spotlights the situation that children are
experiencing in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacan, where the CNTE

governors of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Michoacan to the citizens demand

of not leaving children without classes and of applying, to the letter of the
law and throughout the entire country, the changes made in the Reform
to the Third Article of the Constitution (competitive examinations for
obtaining teaching positions, putting an end to commissioners and to
salaries paid to those who do not work, universal teacher evaluation with
consequences, ending the diversion of resources). In just two months,
more than 210,000 Mexicans joined the Children First campaign.
By invitation from the citizenry, we took the Children First initiative to
Guerrero, one of the states where children are most affected by lack of
classes. As a result of strikes and demonstrations of the State
Coordination of Education Workers of Guerrero (CETEG), children in

Children First newspaper spreads and mobilization materials.

leadership has organized protests against the education reform,

leaving children without classes and putting their futures at risk.
With the support of more than 71 civil society organizations, from
diverse backgrounds, we promoted the Children First campaign, that
defends the right to learn, particularly of the girls, boys and youth in
the states where they go to school the least, schools have the worst
educational results, and teachers who do give classes suffer
harassment.
Through the www.primerolosnios.org website we demanded a
prompt response from President Enrique Pea Nieto and the

20

that state lose 1 of every 4 days of classes. We called upon parents and
citizens of Guerrero to not abandon their children, to not turn their back
on the working teachers, and to defend the fundamental right of young
people to quality education.
With the participation of Deputy Esthela Damian Peralta, a legislator of
the Party of the Democratic Revolution, we highlighted the untruth of the
arguments of the CETEG, demonstrating instead that the reform protects
the free and public status of education.There is nothing in the reform that
mentions payment of school fees and much less tuition; what the reform
seeks is to improve the teaching profession and the quality of education in
our country.

CHILDREN FIRST!
In view of the shared concerns of citizens and opinion leaders, we
published newspaper spreads, infographics, television segments, viral
videos and interviews in news media to inform the public about the
critical situation and invite all Mexicans to join the initiative.
One of the first results of this citizen pressure was that the children
of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacan returned to classes and were
able to finish the school year. However, it was a very rushed school
year that put the girls, boys and youth of those states in a situation of
marked disadvantage; that is why the Children First campaign is still
ongoing.

CHILDREN FIRST!

IN NUMBERS:

Claudio X. Gonzlez G. interviewed by Brozo, May 9, 2013.

141

Total media presence:

nationwide impacts, with particular
resonance in Guerrero, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Sonora.

72 newspaper and opinion articles.

39 radio interviews.
30 television interviews.
5,946 views of Mexicanos Primeros blog related to this topic.

21

(MIS) SPENT

Mexicanos Primero has just published (Mis)Spent, a report dealing with the enormous challenge of redirecting
public monies in order to promote quality education. The report presents data that generate concern: if we consider
benefits and salary, teachers receive an average of 513 days of salary, for 200 effective working days. The challenge
of improved spending implies undoing the capture of the education budget. Taxes earmarked for this purpose must
recognize the merits of teachers and schools that positively transform the lives of Mexican children.

Juan Pardinas, Spending blindly, Reforma, October 6, 2013.

22

(MIS) SPENT

receive a quality education.

For the fourth consecutive year, Mexicanos

Primero presented its report on the state of
education in Mexico. The 2013 edition,
(Mis)Spent, examines the way Mexicans
resources are used in the field of education
and their impact on the realization or not
of the right of our children and youth to

Through the contributions of experts in budgeting, education researchers,

teachers, parents and government officials, (Mis)Spent opens the
conversation about how education funds are spent and proposes an
agenda of urgent change in education financing.

With the participation of Carlos Elizondo Mayer-Serra,

professor at the Center for Research and Teaching in
Economics (CIDE), and Luis de la Calle Pardo, General
Director of De la Calle, Madrazo, Mancera, S.C., we
presented the (Mis)Spent report to more than 200 leaders
of civil society organizations, academic specialists in the field
of education spending, representatives of international
organizations, opinion leaders, legislators, teachers, university
students and news media. During the presentation, we
argued that education spending qualifies as (mis)spending,
because although we invest significant resources, our girls,
boys and youth do not learn.
We presented this diagnosis to the Ministry of Public
Education, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, and
before members of the Council of Budgetary and Public
Accounts of the Chamber of Deputies, seeking to offer
public policy proposals to put an end to inefficiency, waste
and corruption.

We invited the news media to participate in a media workshop in

which we provided training on how to identify non schools,
pregnant schools, ghost schools, and the brutal inequity that
teachers suffer in their wages. The media took up these diverse
themes and seconded the demand that authorities correct education
spending.
We sponsored an analysis roundtable that included the participation
of Denise Dresser, professor at the Mexico Autonomous Institute of
Technology, Edna Jaime, general director of Mexico Evalua, and
journalist Carlos Loret.
At this roundtable, we generated public debate on how much is
spent and how little progress there has been in education.

(Mis)Spent analysis roundtable, October 15, 2013.

Public presentation of (Mis)Spent, September 24, 2013.

23

(MIS) SPENT
We approached university students studying political science,
economics and law, aiming to build awareness of the importance
of the issue. We presented (Mis)Spent at the National College of
Economists, at the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology,
the Illustrious National Bar Association of Mexico, the Center for
Research and Teaching in Economics and the Monterrey Institute
of Technology. We also shared the main findings with Mexico
Presente and the Education Council of the Business Coordinating
Council.

As part of our (Mis)Spent tour, we presented evidence of

misspending and proposals for improvement in Michoacan,
Guerrero, Jalisco and Nuevo Leon. In Michoacan, a press
conference was scheduled to take place at a location near the
State Government House following a radio program in which we
participated with Jesus Sierra, the State Secretary of Education.
This press conference was interrupted by a group of teachers
from the Section XVIII of the CNTE, led by members of that
organizations leadership, who consider Mexicanos Primero a non
grata presence in the state. As has happened before, we changed
the venue to avoid a confrontation, since the physical integrity of
the news media representatives was at risk. Moreover, due to the
blockade that the Section XVIII established around the State
Government House, a scheduled meeting with legislators and
education officials had to be cancelled. This occurrence was

The media presence of the (Mis)Spent campaign was heightened

through two movie minutes projected in Cinepolis theaters
nationwide over four consecutive weeks. The videos were made
available on YouTube. The report is available at iTunes and at the
web portal: www.mexicanosprimero.org.

56% of schools in Mexico are simulations,

El Economista, September 24, 2013.

Infografas El Pas de las No Escuelas y Propuestas para corregir el (Mal)Gasto.

24

Presentation of (Mis)Spent
to students at ITAM.

(MIS) SPENT
denounced in the news media, and once
again, we exhorted the CNTE, specifically
the Section XVIII in Michoacan, to change
their intimidation tactics and authoritarian
attitudes, which are so contrary to
advancing the conversation about the
changes necessary in education.
With (Mis)Spent, we focused light on the
budget and its application at the federal
and state levels, we extended proposals
for redressing spending problems, and we
established a public presence, especially in
states in crisis, so that the right to
education is not silenced.

Presence in
news media.

(Mis)Spent media workshop, October 1st, 2013.

(MIS) SPENT

IN NUMBERS:

Total media presence:

205 impacts.

741 newspaper and opinion articles.

38 radio interviews. 8 television interviews.
118 blogs and web portals.
18,032 views of the report on diverse platforms.
More than 10,170 reproductions of the video (Mis)Spent and more

11,500

views of the video Land of the Non Schools on our

than
YouTube channel.

2,430

nationwide viewings of the (Mis)Spent movie minutes in

Cinepolis theatres during four consecutive weeks.
Animation with more than 10 thousand reproductions on YouTube.

Free book at iBooks

25

ABC AWARD
Teachers we learn from

Call for nominations to the ABC Award 2013 disseminated by the Ministry of Education of Tabasco.

Today is a day for recognizing not only the success and the quality of the
work being done by the prize-winning educators, but also for
acknowledging that experiences of this kind are being replicated all over
the country. I heartily congratulate the teachers, both men and women,
that constitute today the network of ABC Award winning educators;
we may not have wings but we do have dreams enough to fly.
Prof. Rafael Sampedro Martnez, technical-pedagogical advisor from
Huauchinango, Puebla, and winner of the 2012 ABC Award.

26

ABC AWARD
ne of the foundational concerns of
Mexicanos Primero is the dignification and
professionalization of our teachers. It is our
conviction that the teacher is the fundamental
community agent for assuring young peoples
exercise of their right to learn. Caring for and
recognizing our teachers must be the starting
point for education reform.
With this conviction, the ABC Award calls upon our national conscience
to recognize and value teachers, principals, supervisors and
technical-pedagogical advisors that are inspirational examples for their
students, colleagues and communities.The prizes motto is Teachers we
learn from, because they teach us about consistency, perseverance and
going beyond ones context.
Through a nationwide call for nominations, candidates presented
evidence of their merits, professional trajectories, practices and capacity
for innovation.Through interviews - with their students, colleagues and
immediate superiors - and field observation by researchers not linked to
Mexicanos Primeros, from an initial pool of 500 candidates, the Award
Jury selected seven winners from the states of Chiapas, Jalisco, San Luis
Potos,Tamaulipas,Veracruz and Zacatecas.
One of the characteristics of this editions winners is their vision for
excellence and spirit of transformation; they are one step ahead of the
pack, not waiting for external factors to create changes in their
environments, and in this way, they do not simply reproduce the
contexts in which they work.
In 2013, we celebrated the sixth edition of the ABC
Award in the Chapultepec Castle, with the participation
of guests of honor: Eduardo Backhoff, councilor of the

Call for nominations to the ABC Award 2013 disseminated

by the Ministry of Education of Tabasco.

Executive Board of the INEE; Alba Martinez Olive, undersecretary of

Basic Education; Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, president of the Senate
Education Committee, and professor Rafael Sampedro,
technical-pedagogical advisor in Huauchinango, Puebla and winner of
the 2012 edition of the ABC Award.
Present at the awards ceremony were federal and state education
authorities, legislators, state representatives, civil society organizations,
representatives of 12 Latin American countries and members of the
Latin-American Network for Education, families of the prizewinners, and
the news media.
The teachers were awarded prizes that reinforce their preparation and
pedagogical endeavors: they received a sculpture of the ABC Award,
designed by artist Sergio Hernandez; an online certified course on
leadership and teaching competencies; a school library; a personal
computer; and a scholarship for a summer course at Deusto University,
in San Sebastian, Spain.
During their stay in Mexico City, the news media
highlighted the stories of the seven prize-winning
teachers in print, on the radio, and on national and
state television, as well as through the
communication departments of state governments.
There are now six generations of teachers that have
received the award, and among them they have
created a spaces through which to exchange
experiences, recommendations and innovative
projects that enrich their professional work both on
the national and international level. In the summer of
2013, a group of prize-winning teachers from
previous editions of the ABC Award visited Santiago,
Chile with the objective of learning innovative
practices to transform school environments. With

27

ABC AWARD
support from the Chilean organization Educacion 2020 and
continued assistance from Mexicanos Primero, the teachers
participated in a meeting with 52 outstanding Chilean principals and
educators, in which they exchanged experiences and established
networks. In their visits to public and private schools in the Chilean
capital, they met with the teaching community to exchange best
practices. When they returned to their communities, the teachers
shared what they had learned with peers and superiors. They
continue to stimulate change through their work.
The ABC Award Michoacan celebrated its third edition in 2013, and
Mexicanos Primero Jalisco, recently established, joined in the effort to
honor outstanding teachers in that state as well, considering in
particular challenges and opportunities at the local level.

Meeting of ABC teachers in Chile, July, 2013.

ABC 2013 Award Ceremony, Chapultepec Castle, November 6, 2013.

Presence in news media.

ABC AWARD
500

IN NUMBERS:

teachers, principals, technical-pedagogical advisors

and supervisors of basic education from all 32 states participated
in the 2013 ABC Award.

winning teachers, from Chiapas, Jalisco, San Luis Potos,

Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Zacatecas.

24 impacts.

Total media presence:

7
2 radio interviews. 3 television interviews.
12 blogs and web portals.
newspaper and opinion articles.

28

ASSESSMENT AND LEARNING

In the three subject areas that PISA evaluates, the percentage of

high performing students, those that will be the next Steve Jobs, in
Mexico, is 0%. There are none here in Mexico, we have zero, while
Shanghai, China, has 19.6% (). Hopefully these numbers will serve
as a stimulus so that the different actors most directly involved with
education can, from their trenches, better understand what is
happening, the government will do things better and be more efficient,
and society will become more demanding.
Blanca Heredia, professor and researcher, Center for Research and Teaching in
Economics (CIDE). Video message at The World will not wait for us: Mexicos results in
PISA 2012 press conference.

29

ASSESSMENT AND LEARNING

exicanos Primero was born with a
vocation for citizen mobilization and
co-responsibility, and understood that
without access to expert knowledge
about the countrys education resources,
processes and results, our aspiration to
participate and provide proposals for
public policy would be incomplete.
With this in mind, we reactivated the debate over Mexicos results in
the 2012 PISA learning assessment, that reveal that Mexico occupies
the last place among OECD member nations, and show us that 8 out
of every 10 Mexican young people fail or barely pass the test.
In response to the indifference of the SEP and state governments in
the face of the results of this international test, we organized a press
conference entitled,The world will not wait for us. Mexicos Results in
PISA 2012, where we revealed that Mexico is lagging far behind
compared to the rest of the world, and we exhorted the federal and
state governments to speed up the application of the legal changes
made to the Third Article of the Constitution in order to reach the
concrete goal of 454 points in mathematics.
Through a video message, Blanca Heredia, professor and researcher at
the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), stated
that the Mexican education system continues to limit young peoples
opportunities, and pointed out that, with these results, it will be difficult

to compete with the

world. She exhorted
authorities to be more
efficient and the citizenry to
be more demanding.
The following day we
published the newspaper
spread Chronicle of a disaster
in 4 points. As a result, opinion
leaders and news media took
up our call to urgently speed up
the pace and to demand that
authorities implement the legal
changes to the benefit of young
people and teachers.
On December 20, the day on which
winter recess begins according to the
SEPs official school calendar, the INEE
published a communiqu on its web
page, announcing the cancellation of the
ENLACE learning assessment in 2014.
Through a press bulletin and public declarations, we expressed our
rejection of this decision and concern as to the suspension of
ENLACE in basic education, without having a better instrument that
would replace it, and we called upon the INEE to reconsider its
position.
Our citizen initiative agrees that ENLACE must be improved and that
it is necessary to replace it with something better, but we question the
assessments being cancelled before a new exam was developed or
the current one was brought up to date, leaving schools, teachers,

Newspaper spread,
December 5,
2013.

30

The world will not wait for us press conference, December 4, 2013.

ASSESSMENT AND LEARNING

students, parents, researchers, and society in general without information as to the state of
education in Mexico.
With this view in mind, we generated and made public information and tools for citizens to
communicate the importance of maintaining student learning assessments and not permitting a
return to opacity.
As a result, we established the serious consequences for education transparency and accountability implied in ENLACEs cancellation in the public agenda, unleashing a polemic debate about the
tests suspension, which was followed closely by the news media.

Presence in the media.

PISA

IN NUMBERS:

Total media presence:

42 nationwide impacts.

12 newspaper and opinion articles.

9 radio interviews. 2 television interviews.
5,825 visits to Mexicanos Primeros blog related to this topic.
16,675 downloads related to this topic at Mexicanos Primeros blog.

ENLACE

Infographic about ENLACEs cancellation.

IN NUMBERS:

Total media presence:

40 nationwide impacts.

8
4 radio interviews.
3 television interviews.
27 impacts in blogs and web portals.

newspaper and opinion articles.

31

OUTREACH

and collaborations on relevant themes

Representatives of the 13 member countries of REDUCA.

The Latin-American Network for Education (REDUCA), made up of organizations from thirteen
countries in the region, united for the purpose of guaranteeing inclusive and quality education for
the children and youth of Latin America, shares with Mexicanos Primero their vision of the urgency
and priority of the reforms that favor inclusive, equitable and quality education, an unalienable
right of every human being.
REDUCA Declaration, November 8, 2013.

3232

OUTREACH AND COLLABORATIONS

Public launch of Mexicanos Primero Jalisco, March 20, 2013.

We contributed to the discussion of

themes relevant to transforming
education at the local, federal and regional
levels, working with strategic actors from
diverse fields, who, notwithstanding their
different backgrounds and views, joined in
efforts geared to propose solutions to
the main education challenges of the day.
At the local level, the broadening of Mexicanos Primeros presence
in the states, through the creation of local chapters, extends citizen
demand for quality education for our young people directly into
state political contexts. To date we are now present in Michoacan
and Jalisco, and soon will be in Sinaloa.
The state chapters center their work on actively participating in
the education transformation that every locality requires. As part
of this work, we have had meetings and conversations with
education authorities, news media and civil society organizations in
each state.
Throughout the year we had meetings with academics, parents,
young people and university students in diverse states, during
which we provided them information about the state of education
in our country and in their locality.

As part of our commitment to further the participation of

school community members and others interested in
educational development, we collaborated with the
Sub-Ministry of Upper Secondary Education in preparing for
and disseminating information about the Transparency and
Accountability Days for the almost 1,000 federal upper
secondary schools in the country.
As part of our shared education challenge in Latin America, we
participated in the presentation of the first report of Unidos
por la Educacion, a Panamanian initiative that brings together
civil society, teachers, students and private enterprise in its
commitment to transform education in that country. At this
event, in the presence of the Minister of Education of Panama,
we shared the citizen experience of Mexicanos Primero and
showed how civil society can contribute positively to education
change.
As part of the Learning Metrics Task Force, we provided
recommendations on how learning can be assessed in such a way
that it provides information about the changes necessary to
improve results in the classroom. We shared Mexicos experience
on how learning is assessed, the domains covered, and how the
assessment results are used. We participated in advisory board
meetings held in Washington, D.C. and Buenos Aires.

Meeting with the Governor and the Secretary of Education of the State of Jalisco.

33

OUTREACH AND COLLABORATIONS

We were hosts for the Third Annual Meeting of the
Latin-American Network for Education (REDUCA), a
network of 13 Latin-American civil society organizations that
promotes collaboration and regional dialogue to guarantee
quality education as a human right of girls, boys and youth in
their countries.
We worked in collaboration with civil society organizations
of Argentina (Educar 2050), Brazil (Todos pela Educaao),
Chile (Educacion 2020), Colombia (Fundacion Empresarios
por la Educacion), Ecuador (Grupo FARO), El Salvador
(Fundacion Empresarial para el Desarrollo Educativo),
Guatemala (Empresarios por la Educacion), Honduras
(FEREMA), Panama (Unidos por la Educacion), Paraguay
(Juntos por la Educacion), Peru (Asociacion de Empresarios
por la Educacion) and the Dominican Republic (Accion por
la Educacion).
The meeting took place from the 6th to the 8th of
November, with working sessions geared to reaffirm bonds
of collaboration as well as to develop and present activities
for the following year. The sessions focused on REDUCAs
priority areas: pre-school education, development and
professionalization of educators and principals, and student
dropout and continuity in school.
The role of teachers as professionals in education was
discussed, and, in the framework of REDUCAs activities, the
organizations spoke with the seven winners of the 2013
ABC Award, about their vocation, performance and impact
on their students and school community.

Meeting of the Learning Metrics Task Force, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

OUTREACH AND
COLLABORATIONS

IN NUMBERS:

Total media presence:

28 nationwide impacts.

13 newspaper and opinion articles.

3 radio interviews. 1 television interview.
8 impacts in blogs and web portals.

Presentation of the Latin-American agenda for education, November 7, 2013.

34

OUR CHALLENGES FOR

Guarantee the correct implementation of the reform of the Third Article of the Constitution throughout the entire nation, without
exceptions. Implementation, implementation, implementation!
Socialize the importance of the development of girls and boys under five years of age, so they can attain their maximum
educational potential. Study of Early Childhood Development.
Evaluation and follow-up of the commitment of authorities to put an end to the illegal payment of salaries for non-educational
commissions. Dissemination of (Mis)Spent.
Position the contributions made by the 32 states to guarantee quality education in the public opinion. Diagnose, Demand and
Propose: IDEI 2013.
Launching of Mexicanos Primero Sinaloa.
Involve and mobilize citizens in favor of education through observance, in June, of Transparency Days in Basic Education and,
in July, of the first Competitive Exam for Teaching Positions.
In the second half of the year, report on the initial training and selection of teachers.

35

BALANCE SHEET

Mexicanos Primero is a legally recognized Civil Association. Its non-profit status

is authorized by the Tax Administration Service, with registration number
325-SAT-09-IV-E-74333. It is included in the National Registry of Scientific and
Technological Institutions and Companies, Document no.20l3/4l35 of the
National Council for Science and Technology. Its financial statements have been
audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, S.C.

36