MCALLEN, Texas — With roughly 250,000 adults across the Rio Grande Valley lacking a high school education, region-wide economic progress hinges on mobilizing local public school districts and educational non-profits to dramatically scale up adult recovery programs.
That is the urgent assessment of Mario Reyna, executive director of The Prosperity Task Force. The task force was established by Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez to implement strategic solutions to combat systemic poverty in the region.
In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Reyna emphasized that capturing even 20 percent of this uncredentialed population—about 50,000 individuals—would fundamentally transform the regional economy and secure the local workforce for major industrial and manufacturing projects coming to South Texas.
“There are 250,000 individuals in our community that do not have a high school education,” Reyna said. “250,000 is a big number, and I know we cannot help everyone for whatever reasons. But let’s just take 20 percent that we can help. That is going to be something like 50,000 individuals that we can help get a high school education.”
Reyna put those figures into perspective by pointing to recent economic recruitment efforts across the border region.
“We know about Valeo coming to town hiring 500 people. Imagine how many more Valeos we can support with 50,000,” Reyna noted. “Let’s say out of that 50,000, using the Pareto principle—the 80/20 rule—only 20 percent, or 10,000, get a credential. You now have 10,000 individuals potentially in the workforce doing the kind of work these major companies require. This is a crucial matter for the entire community.”
Reyna highlighted two primary structural avenues available in Texas to address adult education: state-funded high school dropout recovery programs and adult education initiatives like The PossAble Dream Foundation.
Under Texas law, public school districts can operate high school dropout recovery programs that allow them to recruit and serve individuals up to age 25 or 26.
“We have about 29,000 individuals in that age category,” Reyna explained. “If we apply the Pareto principle, that’s 6,000 people we can immediately put through an educational process and into the workforce. The law is on the school districts’ side—the state will pay them to do this.”
Reyna commended school districts such as Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA) ISD, Weslaco ISD, and Edcouch-Elsa ISD for taking the lead in implementing adult dropout recovery initiatives, but urged every public school district in the Rio Grande Valley to step up and open their doors to adult learners.
“All the public schools are the key to any of our educational problems because they were designed for this purpose,” Reyna said. “What does it take? It takes realigning what they do. Look at your census data, find out how many people in your community do not have a high school education, and go recruit them. You put people back to work, put empty schools back to use, and improve how we live in this community.”
To reach adults beyond age 26, Reyna praised the work of The PossAble Dream Foundation, established by Region One Education Service Center Executive Director Dr. Daniel P. King alongside superintendent Dr. Alfonso Cuellar. The foundation serves adult students up to 50 years of age.
Reyna recently referred to The PossAble Dream Foundation as “the game changer we needed in our region,” congratulating the organization on its early success and noting that there is “more to come.”
“We need more people with the drive and passion of Dr. King and Dr. Cuellar,” Reyna said. “They already have 1,000 students enrolled. A typical elementary school is 500 students, so they have essentially created the equivalent of two elementary schools.”
Reyna reflected on attending the foundation's recent graduation ceremony for its inaugural cohort, noting the profound impact earning a diploma has on a family's financial future.
“When you hear the stories of those individuals—what they had gone through, being dropouts with hardly any money—and now landing top jobs in various industries, their whole family’s career trajectory is changed forever,” Reyna said. “It really touched me.”
However, Reyna stressed that non-profits cannot carry the burden alone.
“The PossAble Dream with 1,000 students is wonderful, but out of 250,000 people, it would take 250 years if nobody else gets involved,” he said. “Every school system in the region has to step up.”
Addressing adult education is a top priority for Hidalgo County’s Prosperity Task Force as major industrial developments—including LNG facilities, data centers, shipbuilding operations, and manufacturing plants—expand across South Texas.
“Those jobs are coming, but you must know something: they’re not going to hire you unless you have a high school diploma or can read a blueprint,” Reyna warned. “If they can’t find qualified workforce here, companies will import workers from outside. It would be a lot better if our own people were able to get those jobs.”
In addition to public school dropout recovery programs and charter foundations, Reyna noted that South Texas College (STC) and regional Workforce Solutions centers play essential roles through High School Equivalency Programs (HEP) and GED instruction, though additional state line-item funding is necessary to expand capacity.
Reyna confirmed to the Rio Grande Guardian that he is scheduled to meet directly with Dr. Daniel P. King tomorrow, Friday, to discuss further strategies for aligning regional workforce initiatives and expanding educational capacity across Hidalgo County.
“We have all the resources in place. We don’t have to recreate anything,” Reyna concluded. “Increasing human capital is how we break the cycle of poverty in the Valley.”
For further background on regional economic development and workforce initiatives in Hidalgo County, watch the interview discussion with Mario Reyna on the task force's core objectives: Mario Reyna Interview on the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force. This interview provides direct context on how the Prosperity Task Force and its partner networks are working to expand economic opportunity and improve living standards across the Rio Grande Valley.
