Teaching & Learning – Special Education Alum Crystal Brumfield has recently accepted a position in Washington, D.C working for a LEA (Local Education Agency) as a Policy and Legal Strategy Analyst.  Brumfield will be analyzing education policies and disaggregating data and advice for legal resolutions with school conflict cases.  After receiving her bachelor’s at the the University of Houston College of Education (UH COE), Brumfield was accepted to the University of Texas at Austin where she received a Master of Education Administration with a concentration of Education Policy and Planning.

During the summer 2015, Brumfield interned and lived in Washington D.C. as an Archer Fellow for the University of Texas at Austin which is a public policy graduate fellowship program that sends students to Washington, D.C. in the summer to participate in public policy/government classes. While there, she interned for The Education Trust , A D.C based Education Think Tank. During her internship she had the privilege of personally working on probably one of the most important education bills to date, the re-authorization of No Child Left Behind. “The amount of gratitude I gained through attending lobbying meetings, authoring an amendment summary that was actually read on the senate floor and just overall being included in the day to day activities of an advocacy organization was unforgettable,” said Brumfield. “From jumping in taxis every 2 hours to head to the hill to lobby meetings, to attending press conferences to report breaking news back to the office, I was able to gain valuable experience in seeing what it takes to advance the legislative priorities of an organization.” 

Brumfield has never been more proud of being a UH COE graduate. “While at the University of Houston, I gained invaluable experience and tools needed to successfully work in the field of education administration and have a keen understanding of the day to day activities of being an educator in today's world,” she said. 

Brumfield says she gained the most guidance, encouragement and knowledge from retired professor Cathryn W White. “The care, compassion and expertise that she brought to the field of special education was not only inspiring but it transferred over so well to her students and the classroom climate as a whole,” said Brumfield. “To this day she is one of the persons in my life that I can look back on and say that she definitely made a positive impact in my life for the good.”

Brumfield was a bright and dedicated student while attending UH, and her accomplishments show that those things are still true of her now. “She is a wonderful example of a UH COE Coog,” said undergraduate advisor Alyssa Adame.  “I’m so proud of her.  I admire her ambition, work ethic, and the strides she’s making toward bettering education for our nation’s students.”

Houston opened the door for a world of new possibilities and opportunities that Brumfield would have never imagined had she not taken the first initial step of thinking outside the box. “Initially I did have the goal of many other students going into the teacher program at UH, which was to become a special education teacher,” she said. “During my student teaching experience I realized that there was a bigger calling that fit me better than being in the classroom, which was to support teachers and education agencies so that there is more autonomy and proper regulation for true fundamental learning to take place.”