education for hispanics
To all who take the time to read. I see a future that is not ready to be represented at this time. Education is power, and so far, there is a limit on that power. I do not see the Hispanic professionals that have already recieved the honor of representing the Mexican American in a higher society,helping the struggling Hispanic. Whether it be Education, finance, Employment, health issues, or just talking to people who want to express simple happiness with so little. I have heard many racist remarks against our own people.What happened to being a proud people. A strong people. A united people. What happened to the representatives of the Hipanic people. There is an unbelievable silence and we are left to support ourselves. No, we are not ready for the change that is coming. We can not survive what the future will bring. Unity will devide the people, because there is no one to bring the people together and show the world that the History of the Mexican American is a strong history. it had Unity, strength, and a voice to be heard.Tell me where can I find better choices for education so that I can be a proud Hispanic and help another who may need a hand from the struggles of this America.
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hispanic educators needed
It has come to my attention that there is a huge lack of Latino teachers. I myself am not highly educated and it has created limitations for me. Recently, when applying for a job,the lack of a bachelors degree outweighed the fact that I had 35 years of experience including 20-years military service. The acheivement gap and drop out rate is greater among Hispanics than any other group. It's for this reason that I call for more Latinos to consider a career in teaching. No this is not about language... but it is a cultural issue. Children who do not have role models from their culture or see that the only ones in their everyday contact are NOT like themselves, they may tend to exclude themselves or feel they have limited worth. Studies reported by the NEA have shown that having teachers of color and diversity can actually help close the acheivement gap and reduce drop out rates. Besides it helps all students see that there IS diversity in our world. Im in Arkansas and the growth of the Hispanic population here has created a huge opportunity. But teachers of color and diversity are lacking here even more than the national averages. Nationally, while 16% of students are Hispanic, only 5% of the teachers are Hispanic. Here in Arkansas we see greater percentages of Hispanic students in some areas, and the Hispanic teachers are less than one percent in those areas. What a great opportunity for a Latino teachers to go somewhere where they can truly make a difference.
chilean opinion
Hun, to start off, most of the non-english speaking ornot willing to learn latino parents set a bad example for their children. STudies show that a lof of children not learning english as well because at home only spanish is spoken. I know when we came here everynight after dinner for 2 years, we sat down as a family(me, mom, and dad) and watched english lesson videos. I found it to be the best way to learn. My dad is dyslexic and of course at two years old, I could not yet read. I would allow the excuse that a lof of indigenous latinos use about being illiterate but they make cds, dvds, and vhs tapes that teach english. I think parents should lead by example. The problem is that I see a lot of latinos blaming their oppressed past and brainwashing children with things like "white people this and white people that". It is one thing to teach your kids where they come from, but to teach your kids that whites are evil and by not trying to associate with americans(not just gringos but other immigrants in the country as well.) I think groups like La Raza and Maldef keep these things going. I feel sorry for the children. I mean, their parents should not have brought them into the world knowing they would not be able to take care of them. I do think that illegals should not get benefits. I cant stand to hear them complain about tuition rates. They are lucky to get to go to college period. I despise latino activist groups. I don't want my children to see themselves as a race. Where I come from, race is not an issue. As it is now Chile is the richest country in latin america. YOu know why? The indians and europeans got together and instead of being full of anger and bitterness, they combined their cultures, put education ahead of everything, and worked together to make Chile what it is today.If latinos love where they come from and are proud of their country then why are they running away? IF they really loved their country they would be organizing massive protests against their government and demanding rights. I dont understand the whole white hatred. ESpecially when spanish is a white language. Most of the spanish from central america and mexico is merely some castillian combined with nauhatl(aztec language) if you are from the north, and/or mayan and castillian.
Bush's plan for Hispanic Children???
I went to the website for the Risk of Opportunity, I googled it and found it at http://www.yesican.gov/paceea/finalreport.pdf
Nice and glossy , lets translate it into reality
1. Set new and higher expectations for Hispanic American Children.
But don't fund it, let charter schools circumvent state standards and fail to provide instruction that all the other children in the state are getting. So test them but you don't have to teach them what they need to know for the tests.
2. Full implementation and full enforcement of the No Child Left Behind Act.education for Hispanic graduation rates.
But fail to provide the money for it. Bush's proposed budgets have broken his promise to fully fund No Child Left Behind, falling short by $33.2 billion, including $22.4 billion less for Title I programs for low-income children. His 2005 budget freezes enrollment in Head Start programs National Education Association states: Disadvantaged children left behind: 5.3 million http://www.nea.org/esea/budget.html
3. Reinforce a highquality teaching profession by more fully preparing all teachers accountability and coordination of programs within the federal government to address the diverse needs oftheir students,including Hispanics, those with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency,by attracting more Hispanics to the teaching profession,and by providing incentives and compensation for successful performance as evidenced by improved student achievement better serve Hispanic American children and their families.
But remember the charters schools aim to be efficient by hiring uncertified people to teach with little to no preparation in teaching and no obligation to follow organized teacher compensation or salary increments. This just leads to people who don't have a job to try their hand in teaching whether they can or not. Experimenting on our kids!
4. Initiate new coherent and comprehensive research agenda on the educational development of Hispanic Americans.
Really? Does that mean that the Federal government is funding research to study why our kids are not getting what they need? Why not spend the money on better schools and better teachers. You can even assign educational researchers to conduct action research on this. Educational research is fairly inexpensive because it consists of watching what works or doesn't in the classroom. We know less money and poor teachers do not work.
5. Ensure full access for Hispanic American students to enter college and demand greater accountability in higher education for Hispanic graduation rates.
Yup, but put students into really over crowded schools swarming with drooling military recruiters with promises of the G.I. bill and cut affirmative action for Hispanics and Blacks students. Tell them they should go to University but the only way to go is to put your life at risk first. The twins didn't.
6. Increase the accountability and coordination of programs within the federal government.
Increase?? How is that measured? What is the baseline? what is the commitment?
This is the answer?
The answer is hold Mr. Bush accountable for a failed education program.
Sincerely Elsa Salazar Cade
Charter schools harming our children
charter schools: the facts
I am angry about the suggestion that it is good for our Hispanic children. Now I have some details about how the charter school movement has impacted on our school children. Recently released data from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress report put out by National Center for Educational statistic has revealed some interesting information. NCES is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data for the U.S. dept. of Education.
The New York Times revealed that based on this report, charter schools are lagging behind traditional public schools. Fourth graders attending charter schools performing about half a year behind students in other public schools in both reading and math. Their excuse is that they are working with the same students that public schools were only now with new and uncertified teachers who were not prepared to handle the behavioral and learning and language problems. Well, DUH!
Oh... and federal officials said they did not intend to hide this information, claiming poor publicity on their part. As the church lady says “Oh, how convenient!”
The schools that are becoming charter schools are predominantly schools that have been struggling as public schools. The excuse from the Dept. of Education is the data is limited in what you can conclude because many charter schools are relatively new. The dept. of Education’s analysis of the raw data will be ready by late fall. Hmm is that after the election??? How else can you-know-who claim to be the “Education President” You know the person that was governor of Texas. On September 15, the Texas school finance system was again declared unconstitutional by failing to provide sufficient funding for economically and limited English proficiency students. He was governor, couldn’t he have fixed that? Now charter schools are key to Mr. Bush’s education policy. Eight years of this and your first grader will graduate from junior high never to return the hallowed halls of school again.
Alrighty then, lets just keep putting our most disadvantaged school children in them till we know for sure they don’t work. Sounds like throwing away years of children’s learning opportunities is ok, especially when most of the children in the nation’s charter schools are poor and of minority background.
As reported by Helen Gao, Californians are well aware of the closing of 60 campuses leaving 10,000 children without a school just before the start of the school year. The school operator said the schools were closed because of financial problems. A huge number of them were Latinos children. Were do you think those children went to school after that. The public schools, of course . Moving from one school to another is a huge event for children and their parents especially when they were repeatedly brainwashed into believing they were in a better situation. But again, they were only poor and of minority background.
In Helen Gao article on the San Diego Union Tribune website, Luis Huerta is quoted as explaining how there have been as many as 80 charter school closed around the country due to questionable finances.
In an email to my former colleagues, Phil Rumor, president of Buffalo Teacher’s Federation, indicated how three charter schools seem to be resegregating the school population in Buffalo! One charter school being 75.2% white and another charter school 99.7 minority. This, in the city that bussed its children for years under court order to desegregate schools. there are many pUerto Rican American Children affected there.
So I ask you, would you choose to eliminate your post office, prefer the rent-a-cop to your city police organization? How about some guy that likes to play with fire to put out your burning house with his garden hose instead of having a trained fireman? But then again, Mexican Americans now make up 37 percent of all active-duty Marines. Where would the cannon fodder for the war on terror come from if our Hispanic American children got a good education and actually developed real careers and got nice jobs? Heavens, they might move next door!
Sincerely
Elsa Salazar Cade
Education for Hispanics
Hispanics for the longest time have been family oriented and supportive of one another, but in today's society of everyone for themselves we have lost our identity. Now the educated hispanic has slowly forgotten that his or her relatives struggled in the fight for some sort of equality. Being an "american" really means nothing to our younger genreations. They don't realize that education was not always an option for hispanics, and therefore our future is not taking full advantage of this gift. So those of us who were fortunate enough to go to college and further, let's start helping one another in the community and stop waiting for someone else to pick up the torch that our parents and grand parents pasted on to us. If we start in the small communities and then meet in the middle the largest population of people in the united states will no longer struggle because they are not educated, but instead make a difference as an American, a hispano, and as a familia.
stop it allready
Why are you so focused on identity. I am from CHile and yes I still keep my culture but I dont focus on the chilean identity. AFter all, we are all individuals. I mean when I got here, I spoke castillian. I did not speak the indian-spanish. I got put down by a lot of people. It was not my fault I was born in Chile but I was expected to learn mexican spanish. I let people know right away(those who were too lazy to learn english that would ask me to interpret), I dont speak mexican, I am chilean , I am not going to depend on getting a job based on being bilingual. LIke I said, a lot the reason -well at least children of non-english speaking latino are not doing as well because their parents are not leading by example. They have every excuse for not learning english and/or integrating. A lot of them are leading with fear or every other race but theirs. For one thing, I think la mecha, la raza, are taking away from kids education with their stupid racial identity speeches. IN Chile, race is not an issue. I know that you have to earn respect to make it in this world and apply yourself. Americans do want to integrate with us and come together and embrace us but when some of our people are coming over here and disrespecting the country by putting mexican flags outside the door and fearing gringos. A lot of americans would be willing to even embrace illegals if they would at least try and speak english. I mean even I dont feel sorry for the pity poor me stories I hear from illegals because I Have been poor. OUr country was under the threat of communism. WE like to go visit our country once a year but we love america. It is time for latinos to stop seperatism. We are better than that. MOst of us our good people. Why focus on identity in america. I mean, really waht is culture. Imagine how I felt when I was expected to speak mexican spanish. Concentrating on your cultural identity should not matter. What we should be concerned about as a people is our INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS ALONG WITH SELF EDUCATION. I could not understand why they wanted to lower curriculum standards for latinos. I had no problems because of the fact that as soon as we arrived we were learning english as a family and I was allready fluent in english before i got into school. The latinos who feel this way need to let go of their anger, put the past behind them and challenge themselves. They need to stop blaming other people for not succeeding our for not being able to accomplish academically or professionally.
No Wondel
The comment posted is quite confusing. It also has "recieved" instead of "received" as an indication of the need for some basic spelling education. It is also contradictory to call for Hispanic unity when the focus is upon Mexicans. The fact is that although this group might be considered a majority, it is first not that homogeneous. Second, there is such a disparate array of ethnic compositions that no wonder we continue to be the underdogs of society. In many cases, we are our own worse enemy. We so easily capitulate to the corruption around us. "I want some of that too," becomes the path to "success" when the fact of the matter is that the Empire is crumbling and our allegiance to Babylon will lead us in the same destructive path.
The non-Hispanic world has a much easier job benefitting from our political, economic, and strategic dysfunctionality. In may case they just watch as we continue to sink into the abyss. Some Latinos get bonuses and bigger offices for the same matter.
oh please
being an immigrant from a very poor area in chile in which allende at the time was turning us into a communist government. They were wanting to rid the middle class. OUr family was one of the first on allende's execution list for speaking out against the government. HOnestly, the only time I have ever been discriminated against was from other latinos because I spoke castillian and had dark skin with clear eyes and dark hair. My father was one of the most respected of his peole in the work place. First off, in Chile there is no seperatism or racial issues. I dont understand why there are latino seperatist groups. We shouldn't be concentrating on our past or whether or not one of our countries used to occupy parts of this country. My husband is mexican and he is extremely successful. My husband does not focus on his lineage. When we speak english, we speak in a very educated manner and we have learned to speak without an accent. I still speak castillian at family get togethers but I know that in this country if you show americans you respect them, respect the culture, and even if you dont know much english, make an effort instead of playing stupid or depending on interpreters, americans respect that. Escpecially if you work around them and they see your progress. I dont see myself as a different race. That is the problem with this country. If we could stop the racial profiling and all the paranoia of each other's race being out to get us, life would be good. In my country of birth there are mestizo, mapuche indian, german, french, spanish, jewish, lebanese, a little of everything. Immigrants there know that the way to succeed is to learn the language. Chile is now the richest latin american country. The focus primarily is education which is probably why unlike most hispanic families, we all sat down after dinner and popped in english videos. Whatever we could say in english(even if we could not say everything), we said. AT first, it was not that great but with practive and support of americans we befriended/and or went to school with, we were fluent within a year. A lot of latinos who are scared to learn english as well of those who are too cowardly to try thinking that someone will make fun of them. So much for the macho bravo stereotype. I for one dont care what people think. 15 years ago, latinos applied themselves. NOw, I see a lot of self loathing, bitterness and anger. Chileans were in Cali before mexico had independence from spain, you dont hear us sobbing. Another thing, those of you who only claim indian heritage while talking about how whitey oppressed you, stop speaking a white anglo european language. Well, actually mexican spanish is nahuatl/spanish. If you guys are so prideful, why not protest against the mexican government, why is it you protest the exploitation of your people. Why do you eat up our president's ass kissing to your people. I was in Chile during the apec summit and most chileans now are also being taught english in school. Bush figured out right away that we were not an uneducated people, the migration has gone down to the united states. Political ethnic pandering does not work over there. I am sorry, but the americans are suffering because of some of the latinos who are not bettering themselves . HOnestly, that sounds pretty primative. We should all be trying to better ourselves, we should be working on leaving our mark in society. A good start is letting go of all that pity poor me and the whites are out to get me ideas. Have you ever stopped to check out the skin color as well as ethnic backgrounds of the officials in mexico. Yes, the white elite. Mexicans send billions of dollars in remittances and things are not changing. YOu know I check off other on race on application and I dont tell co-workers where i am from at first. NO, not because I am ashamed or feel the need to hide my culture but because I dont want ethnic stereotypes and/or ethnic indifferences in the work place to be a factor. If they ask where I am from, I tell them here. I dont want to be judged and/or perceived as a chilean girl whose family fled during political upheavel. I dont depend on being bilingual to get a job. I think that is stupid. THe language is english here. We as latinos should not be making ourselves lazy by not learning english and not educating ourselves. I would like to see more success among those who come from indigenous countries in latin america who got the job because she/he was highly qualified not because of bilingual skills.