Students in the Austin School
District outperformed state averages
in most courses during the recent
round of star testing.
Some scores surpassed pre-pandemic
levels, but there are still groups
of students falling behind the state
standard.
How the district is planning to
address that.
And it's been a rough few years for
the craft brewing industry in Austin
and across the state.
After a spat of brewery closures,
businesses are looking for new ways
to get folks to frequent their
neighborhood pub.
Plenty more about those stories
coming up on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
Plus, Juneteenth is Friday, and the
Black History Bike Ride is gearing
up for another trek through Austin.
We're going to share their story and
talk about the film documenting
their work that's premiering
tonight.
That is coming up next, and it's
right here on Austin
Signal.
Howdy out there, you are listening
to Austin Signal.
I'm your host, Jerry Gechunel.
It is Wednesday, June 17th.
Thank you for tuning in to community
powered public radio.
This is KUT News.
The school year is over, but the
school news never stops.
And this week we found out students
in the Austin Independent School
District scored above the state
average in most courses.
That's according to preliminary
results from this year's star
tests.
Here to tell us more is Greta
Díaz-González Vázquez, she is
KUT's education reporter.
Greta, thanks for being back on the
show.
Hi Jerry, happy to be here.
So, which courses did Austin
ISD students excel above statewide
scores?
Yeah, so AISD students,
they're doing great in general, if
we look at a general picture in
reading math and social sciences.
In some cases, their graders, for
example, they went above
pre-pandemic levels.
Because as you might remember,
grades went down after the pandemic.
And taking a closer look at the
reading scores, how did AISD
students do there?
Yeah, so students across the state
are not meeting pre-pandemic levels
for reading, but third grade
students that meet academic grade
level even drop
one percentage point statewide, but
AISD students did the opposite.
They went above pre-pendemic levels
by quite a bit by eight
percentage points, which is good.
AIS is scoring above
state average in each grade by
a couple or a few points compared
to state-wide peers.
But if we look at Spanish
speakers in AISD,
that is not the case, that is the
opposite.
They are scoring below their
statewide peers and also of course
below their English speaking peers.
Students can take the start test in
Spanish through fifth grade and
we see that third, fourth and fifth
grade students who took it in
Spanish are scoring way below their
peers. If we see third grade, that's
a 20% meet.
Academic levels compared
to statewide wide which is
28 percent or their
English speaking peers which is 59
so that's a big difference
That is a big difference.
What about when it comes to math
scores?
Yeah, so most AISD grades
are scoring also above state
average, except sixth
and seventh grade, which
is statewide. They're also scoring
kind of low compared to other
grades.
Also, most fourth graders are
doing better than before the
pandemic. So that is great.
That's 52% of AISB
fourth graders meet grade level, and
they are higher than statewide.
But once again, Spanish speaking
students are falling behind,
especially that is especially true
for third and fourth graders.
8% of kids
or students who took the
test in Spanish, third graders,
met grade level.
That is compared to state-wide,
which is 27%, and their
English-speaking peers, 47%.
The 8%, that's pretty low.
Okay, well we have more reporting
about this in our podcast
show notes and at kut.org
and on the KUT app.
We have been speaking with Greta
Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
She is KUT's education reporter.
Great to see you.
Thank you, Jerry.
It's been a rough couple of years
for the Texas craft brewing
industry.
Here in Austin, we've said goodbye
to several local tap rooms,
including Black Star Co-op and
Fourth Tap Brewing, and friends and
allies as well.
Recently, High Sign Brewing
announced its filing for Chapter 11
bankruptcy, but it says it plans
to stay open.
Joining me now to discuss how the
industry is faring and how it's
adapting is Caroline Wallace.
She is executive director of the
Texas Craft Brewers Guild.
Caroline, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
So can you give us a temperature
check of the crap brewing industry
here in Austin, particularly?
How is it faring right now?
I think the craft brewing industry
in Austin is fairing pretty similar
to the industry across the state and
even across the country.
Some of the biggest things breweries
have been dealing with are rising
costs across
the board from raw ingredients to
the cost of capital for
barring and large equipment
outlay, rising cost of
real estate.
But then on the other end, I think
that vibes are
good. It's a creative, it's a fun
industry. I've been to three
breweries in the last 24 hours, just
for...
Lunch today and for some World Cup
festivities yesterday and and they
all had great crowds So, I mean, I
think craft beer is alive and well,
but small business owners, you know
face challenges
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and you mentioned
some of the trends of a rising
cost There's also the trend
supposedly that Gen Z is
drinking a lot less from your
work Do you find that to be accurate
and how our consumer trends sort of
shaping demand right now?
I think there's been a lot of ink
spilled about Gen Z and they're
maybe not just drinking habits, but
like overall consumer spending and
social habits.
Some of the recent data I've seen is
that they're starting to revert back
a little bit to the norm, but
it feels like maybe
a little bit of a slowdown in Gen Z
drinking or socializing in general
might be more due to the pandemic
and just kind of those years of
not really having the same social
environment and then more just
broader economic.
Things, money in your pocket, you
know, where are you going out as
much when you've come into
the job market and into adulthood
and this economic environment.
So I think our breweries are doing
fun things to attract newer
customers who might be coming out to
breweries not because, not
for the beer first, but more for the
food, the experience.
There.
Yeah, maybe even for like a World
Cup game like you mentioned right
now, right?
Exactly, or a
plant potting night,
or sushi and beer pairing.
Yeah, or like a doodling night.
We've heard about that here on
Austin Signal.
Just maybe more of a chance to
socialize first and then drink beer
after.
Exactly, yeah.
OK, so you mentioned some of
the challenges facing the industry
right now. Tell us about some of the
other ones that you're seeing in
your work.
Yeah, craft breweries sit
at a really unique kind of
intersection between manufacturing,
small manufacturing and hospitality,
right? Both of those industries or
industries have been hit pretty hard
by the pandemic, and then just the
economic and trade
environment that we've been in, you
know, since then in recent years.
So for breweries, the cost of,
you, know, stainless steel, aluminum
cans, barley,
hops, a lot of the key inputs
that go into bring.
Have faith!
Tariffs, they've faced rising costs
due to supply chain issues, they
faced some of those agricultural
products have been impacted by
climate factors or even by like
geopolitical things like a lot of
grain is grown
in Ukraine and that can impact
the global market.
So all those forces kind of coming
to play at the manufacturing side
and then on the hospitality side,
you know, rising cost of real
estate, customers may
have a little less disposable income
in their pockets.
Those are kind of a lot of
challenges that I hear from
breweries that will say,
man, business is actually pretty
good, pretty flat relative to last
year, even up a little bit, but just
the cost of putting the
liquid in the glass, the cost
putting food on the plate,
keeping the lights on, are the
things that small business
owners are having to weather.
You mentioned a plant potting
night, a doodle night.
What are some of the
other ways you're seeing independent
breweries adapt to this moment right
now?
Definitely thinking beyond beer and
more about the totality
of that customer experience and
creating a taproom that brings
folks out, whether it's for fun and
unique events or for a meal or
a beer. They're thinking about
non-alcoholic offerings,
having wine programs, FROZENS,
anything that's going to keep that
group of folks there maybe a little
longer. Or choose to come to a
brewery when maybe somebody in the
group doesn't drink or prefers a
different drink because they've
thought about all those aspects.
And then on just the wild, wacky,
and fun side, I mean, we have
breweries now that have like sports
leagues that operate out of them.
Brewery that has summer camps
for kids
out on their property.
I mean you name it, we've had
breweries come up with some really,
really creative ways.
A brewery that's looking into adding
a horror themed bookstore, not
here in Austin, but somewhere else
in Texas.
And another brewery is operating
like an arcade.
With video games and, you know,
pay-to-play cards and stuff.
So, definitely thinking creatively
about how to be, not just beer, but
a holistic brand and experience.
Well, it sounds like there's a lot
of exciting things happening amongst
these independent breweries.
It's easy, I think, to overreact
when we see some of our favorite
breweries closing down.
So where do you see the industry
moving forward here in the next few
months to year?
Yeah, I think there's a lot of
forces that are outside of small
business owners' control of any
kind. We're hearing that from
barbecue restaurants and music
venues.
And anywhere folks are gathering,
they can just be kind of subject to
some of those things they can't
control. But what breweries can
control, I think, is that guest
experience, that environment,
creating a neighborhood gathering
place that folks love.
And so I think it's more that just a
breweries are feeling a little bit
how to maintain
their own point of view
and their own vibe and flavor,
while also being kind of like all
things to all people in a way.
You know, like, come one, come all,
watch the sports, eat the food, play
the games, put the kids on the
playground, you know, all the
things. So I think just weathering,
keeping costs
in check to the ability that they
can, and just trying new
and unique things to bring people in
the doors.
All right, we have been speaking
with Caroline Wallace.
She is the executive director of the
Texas Craft Brewers Guild and
Industry Group.
Caroline, thank you for your time.
Thanks for having me.
And a few headlines for you today.
Joshua Baer, founder of Austin-based
tech company Capital Factory,
died last night when the private
plane he was in crashed on a highway
in Laredo.
Five other passengers were taken to
the hospital and the FAA and
NTSB are investigating.
An extreme heat warning is in effect
today across much of central Texas,
including Travis Hayes and
Williamson Counties.
National Weather Service warns that
heat index values could hit 112
degrees in some areas.
And the season is over for
UT's baseball team.
The Longhorns lost last night to
Georgia in the College World Series,
ending their season with 46 wins
and 15 losses.
This is Austin Signal, there's more
show coming up for you after this
break.
This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
Every once in a while, we dig back
into the KUT archives to share
some of the great reporting that our
newsroom has done over the years.
With Juneteenth approaching later
this week, we're looking back at a
story that was there at the start of
an Austin Black History organization
as it took shape in the summer of
2020.
And afterwards, we'll be speaking
with the founder to see how
things have changed since then.
But now here's former KUT reporter,
Nadja Hamdan.
Taking us back to an Austin summer
six years ago.
It's around 10 a.m.
On a scorching hot Sunday morning in
June, and Taleb Abdullahi
is standing in front of the Texas
State Capitol.
We're going to abide by all traffic
laws.
We're not going to be rolling any
red lights.
We're gonna be respectful of all
drivers and police officers.
Thank you.
A 30-year-old black man is
straddling his bike, his voice
echoing through a portable PA
system.
That's because he's addressing a
crowd of people, all on
bikes.
Also, make sure to watch your speed,
especially when we're coming down
hills, and also please make
sure you social distance
as much as you can.
They all showed up for one reason,
to learn about Austin's black
history.
Now, Talib is not a historian.
He's an event coordinator for Tito's
Handmade Vodka.
So you may be wondering,
how did he find himself on the steps
of the Capitol, about to lead
a tour of Austin black history,
and Why are they all on bikes?
It all started in early June.
Taleb had just returned home from
the protest at Houston Tillotson,
where thousands of people had
rallied for an end to police
violence and systemic racism.
I was thinking that night, like,
man, it would be really cool to tie
all this energy of everyone
coming out in the streets with
something that's fun, like bike
riding, which I love.
It's my biggest hobby of all time,
and connect it with black history.
Taleb says he has a passion
for both history and cycling,
and he thought this would be a good
way to sustain, quite literally,
the momentum of the last two weeks.
I kind of got on Google Maps that
night and I was like, hmm, I think I
could make this route go just
about 8.46 miles
and make it in honor
of George Floyd and just kind of tie
everything together.
Eight minutes and 46 seconds was
the amount of time a Minneapolis
police officer had his knee
on Floyd's neck.
Floyd was a black man, and his
death sparked nationwide protests
against police brutality,
including the ones in Austin.
Taleb's route stretched from west
to east Austin and would feature
12 historical sites significant
to black history.
This includes the Texas
African-American History Memorial at
the Capitol, the Haskell House
in Clarksville, and the old Jacob
Fontaine building in West Campus.
Jacob Fontaine, who's one of
my favorite figures in Austin's
black history.
We started like the gold dollar
press and tried to help lift
up a lot of the freed slaves
and people in the African-American
community.
Tullip figured he'd have 20 or 30
of his friends join him on the ride,
so he posted the idea on his
personal Instagram story the next
morning.
And it just
snowballed.
Within a few hours, a screenshot
of his post was making its way
across Instagram, then Facebook,
even some local bike shops were
sharing it.
Initially, I was like, whoa, I
didn't plan for that.
You know, I did not plan for it to
be that big.
He didn't know how many people would
actually show up, but he wanted to
be prepared for more than 30.
So what started as a simple bike
ride with friends soon turned into
a grassroots led initiative,
bringing together people from all
across the community.
His friends rallied behind him and
within a week, they had a whole team
of volunteers.
Cyclists from different clubs
offered to help keep the riders safe
and hydrated on the road.
A coffee shop donated free cold
brew.
Pedicabbers promised to be there for
people who were not able to ride
bikes.
There was just a huge outpouring
from the community and it was really
heartwarming.
People willing to donate their time
and that was really beautiful,
really amazing.
It was the Sunday of the ride,
exactly one week after the protest
at Houston Tillotson.
The invite had specified a 10
a.m. Meeting time, but Talib arrived
at the Capitol early and waited to
see just how many people would
actually show up.
The bikes started rolling in,
and they didn't stop.
By the time Talib started talking,
there was a sea of more than 400
mass cyclists crowding both
lanes of 11th Street.
It was so busy that at one point,
the volunteers had to start
directing them down the sides of the
sidewalk so cars could pass.
This really means a lot.
I put this out literally on Monday,
and I was just like, yo, like, let's
ride bikes and learn about black
history. And it accidentally went
viral and you guys are here now.
Donald Davis is a founding member
of the Major Taylor Cycling Club of
Austin.
It's a group made up of majority
black cyclists.
The club's namesake actually honors
Major Taylor, the first black man
to win a cycling world championship
in 1899.
Davis was there with his fellow club
members donating their time to
make sure everything ran smoothly
during the tour.
I just saw more and more people
coming in, and when
the cops blocked off the area,
I was like, dude, this is going to
be huge.
He says it was remarkable to see so
many people from all different
backgrounds come together for this
ride.
It was so nice to see Austin
show up.
I just, I have never, I've been here
since 91.
I don't think I've ever seen that
kind of brotherhood and sisterhood
except for like an MLK march.
That's about it.
Now, Taleb says he's not one
for public speaking, but he felt
very inspired that so many
people turned out with the
intention to learn.
I kind of told myself going into
this that if this is the amount of
attention that this specific
activity is getting, then
the people want it and it's
something people need.
So it almost like didn't
matter how many people showed up.
It was really just that people
wanted to be there.
From the seat of his bike, Talib
began telling stories about the
black experience.
And when he spoke, the cyclists were
quiet, save the occasional
ringing of bicycle bells.
25-Year-old Jimena Gamboa
Bonilla was one of the writers who
took the tour.
She says she's often been
disappointed with what she perceives
as a one-sided, often
whitewashed narrative associated
with much of Austin's history.
At one point it stops being
lack of awareness and it starts
being willingly ignorant.
But she says this ride changed
something for her.
The day was hot and the hills
merciless, and still hundreds
of people were pumping their legs
and sweating their way to the next
stop and the next top and
the stop.
It was so
beautiful.
It made me realize, wow,
there are 400 other
humans here that are
willing to ride in the middle of the
summer.
It kind of gave me more hope
that in Austin, there's people
care.
Olive shared the entire route online
so people can take the tour
themselves.
But after seeing the turnout in
Austin, plans are in motion to
create Black History social rides in
other cities, like Houston,
Tulsa, and Detroit.
I, if anything, would
hope to be
giving people tools to learn this
history themselves and help people,
you know, give them an opportunity
to understand their own city a
little bit better.
Ultimately, Taleb says he
just hopes to inspire more people
to seek out the Black,
Latinx, and Indigenous stories in
their own communities.
If we can create avenues
for people to do that, that's a
win in my book.
Nadi Hamdan,
KUT News.
And again, that story was produced
back in 2020, a reach back
into the KUT archives.
And joining us now in studio is
Talib Abdulahi, creator of Black
History Bike Ride.
Talib, thank you for being on the
show. Yeah, thank for having me.
So first off, listening back to
that story, how wild is it to think
about how far you've come since
then?
You know, we
couldn't have really imagined that
Black History Bike Ride took off
from that very first moment.
And even at that
moment looking forward, we couldn t
have imagined to be so
blessed and fortunate to be able to
continue what we've been doing all
these years.
Yeah, now we're here in 2026,
so let's update the audience a
little bit. What has changed about
your bike ride and what has stayed
the same all these years later?
Well, everything's about community.
Everything's about history.
Everything is about
telling the truth, but also about
creating kind of an uplifting
and fun environment for people to
gather and be together in.
So we're 100% community powered.
We still think like a grassroots
organization, but we are fully
formed 501c3.
We've been fortunate to receive
grants like from the city of Austin
and other numerous
local orgs.
So we're really fortunate that we've
been able to kind of build this
sustainable education
and tool to
teach about black history in our
city.
Speaking of our city, it's one that
is changing constantly, and since
your rides have started back in
2020, has the changes
around Austin affected your bike
ride?
You know, yes and
no.
I think, you know, the changes
and the more that people both move
here and move away, I feel like it
explains, it's the reason
why we do this.
You know like as the city changes,
what I've learned over the years is
that like the more people that can
help be torchbearers, you know it
doesn't all fall on
one person or you know one
institution to act as
historians.
Everyone should take a vested
interest in both.
Teaching but also learning about the
city and then sharing those stories
with other people.
What do you think for you has been
the most surprising thing about
doing this ride year after year?
That people want to show up in the
heat and learn about history.
Our Hallmark event usually is on
Juneteenth, and somehow that always
ends up being one of the hottest
days of the year, but yet we
persist.
We have a wonderful team
of volunteers,
and now we have part-time staff,
too, to help coordinate things.
We actually have an EMS Code 4
and EMS service that's going to come
out this year.
So.
We've learned how to be both
strategic while still being kind of
fun, scrappy in the fun ways, but
professional and organized to like
where it makes sense.
And another thing that's come out of
Black History Bike Ride is a film
that's premiering tonight that you
are featured in. It's called Cycles
of Resilience, a journey through
Austin's black history.
How did you get involved with making
a film out of your bike ride?
So this is actually our second film.
Oh, really? Yeah.
Our first one is called The Route to
Emancipation.
Okay. We essentially
kind of had this crazy idea to
do a bike ride from Austin to
Galveston to raise awareness of the
Juneteenth holiday, which Galvestan
plays a really important role
in. So we rode from the Capitol to
Galvaston and filmed a short
documentary on it.
That's actually on PBS right now.
And so that
was just kind of shooting from the
hip, doing something fun and
And that, I
think, you know, because of that, we
were able to do some fundraising
also from the city of Austin to
essentially create a documentary
where the viewer is able to follow
our bike ride initiative and both
learn about like what we're doing
kind of at the grassroots level to
share black history.
And also to kind of get a
deeper dive into a lot of the
history from a lot of different
professors, historians and community
members that we interviewed.
Okay, so the first one's called The
Root to Emancipation, and that's on
PBS right now, you said?
And the new one, Cycles of
Resilience, is premiering tonight.
Where is that happening?
It's premiering at Austin Film
Society.
Okay, and I believe that's at seven
o'clock. If folks can't get out
tonight, though, there is a bike
ride happening this weekend.
Give us the details.
Yeah, so on Sunday,
the 21st, we're going to have our
seventh annual Juneteenth
social ride leaving
from the Haskell House at 10 a.m.
And that ride will stop at
various locations with some really
interesting important black history
and then we'll end that with a nice
little block party over on the east
side at Boggy Creek Farm on
Lyons Road. That should be around 1
p.m
But let me ask you before you get
out of here. There are a lot of new
people that have moved to Austin
since you started doing a black
history bike ride or maybe just
folks that are hearing about the
organization for the first time
maybe on this radio show.
Where can they go to learn more and
get involved?
Yeah, so you can check out our
website, blackhistorybikeride.com.
We're the most active on Instagram.
Our Instagram handle is just Black
History Bike Ride.
And we're a welcoming,
open, pretty laid back community of
volunteers and folks that like to
share black stories.
So come out and see us somewhere.
And yes, 7 p.m.
At Austin Film Society tonight.
Okay, very good.
And I did have another question,
sorry.
Where would you like to see Black
History Bike Ride go?
I mean, you've got a couple of films
now and people are still coming out
and maybe even the hottest day, I
believe. Thursday might be the
hottest of the year so far and then
Juneteenth is on Friday.
Where would like to your
organization go in the future?
You know, it's funny because
like the last segment ended with our
hope to go national.
I think there's always that hope
that's easier said than done.
And my hope is that we are
having an impact in our
community and we're able to
essentially share
the legacies of like local community
leaders in the black community who
came before us who, you know, paved
trails through the civil rights
movement, you through the Jim Crow
era.
Um, so my hope is for
us to go national and really far.
And now it, for me, it's like, if
we're able to really touch a small
group of people very deeply, I think
that's the most important thing.
So I hope that we're to sustain that
and do that over and over.
And if we happen to do it on a
bigger scale, we'll have more
opportunities. We'd love to do that
too.
Fantastic, we have been speaking
with Taleb Abdullahi, creator of
Black History Bike Ride.
Again, we're gonna have information
about that film preview tonight in
our show notes.
Taleb, thank you for your time.
Absolutely, thank so much.
And thank you out there for spending
the afternoon with us.
There's more from us at kut.org
slash signal.
We'll be back at the same time
tomorrow.
We'll talk to you then.