The Eagle Pass Independent School District has in fact been at the forefront of academics for years in South Texas and as a Recognized district in terms of State Accreditation, has been the envy of many a district abroad, therefore now with State cuts adversely affecting the district and a new more stringent state assessment in the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) is compounding the process of maintaining the academic standards they are used to. Last year's accountability standards held districts to 87% passing in reading and 83% passing in mathematics in order to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) which are extremely high standards to meet yet 13 of 23 schools in the EPISD managed to achieve this. This year those figures go up significantly to 93% in reading and 92% in mathematics along with the three other sub categories ranging from attendance, graduation rate and 95% of all students participating in this state testing. "This is not a local issue or a political move," stated Lopez, "It's a problem and we need to join forces as stakeholders; districts, parents, teachers, board members and even the media to fight the state in terms of No Child Left Behind." Lopez added that state budget cuts have left the district without resources which were used before to address these problems such as the hiring of additional literacy coaches, tutorials, after school programs, etc. "We need to make our voice heard all the way to Austin," Lopez added, "It's a national and statewide problem that needs to be fixed."