Latinos: Can You "Behave" in School?

I feel like I've spent much of this week ranting about racism in education, but here's another great example (unfortunately): Fairfax County Virginia's "Behavior Study," which ruled that Black and Hispanic kids behave worse and have worse "moral character" than White and Asian students. 

Some brave School Board members are protesting the "study," which was conducted by surveying teachers and asking them to judge the moral character of their students. The results were disaggregated by race and then presented as a staff report. 

For the past few decades, educators have worked to convince the public that all children - regardless of their race or economic background - can learn. And now, they're recanting that statement. Talk about a step backwards. 

Update: The Fairfax County School Board has decided to suspend voting on the report. 

Too Cool for School?

Today, Eduwonk's guestblogger J.B. Schramm asks the question, "How Can We Make Going to College Cool?" 

Schramm claims that high school students are more likely to attend college if their friends also plan to attend. Therefore, according to his logic, "positive peer pressure" is the solution to getting kids to go to college. You have to make college cool, or so he writes, because then, kids will want to go. 

One problem: minority and low-income kids don't avoid in college because "it's uncool." They do not enroll because it is expensive, the admissions process is confusing, or they are not academically-prepared for the work, amongst other reasons. These students understand the value of a college degree - it doesn't have to be "cool" - but they are up against a lot of obstacles in reaching that degree. 

It is important to have a "college culture" within schools - and especially important in low-income, high minority schools. But peer pressure isn't enough. Schools need to give our students the practical skills and strategies that will help them understand how to apply to college, get in, and stay through graduation. Kids understand the value of college - let's teach them how to get there. 

The Dropout Crisis: Not a Problem After All

So, maybe this whole dropout thing isn't as terrible as we thought. 

Or so says Steve Blow in his Dallas Morning News article, published yesterday. 

"Here's my guess," he writes, "Most kids who drop out manage to become productive citizens anyway." Later in the article, Blow declares, "Look around. Lots and lots of jobs require only a basic academic education. Let's tailor some schools to match those students and those jobs." 

He's right - there are a lot of jobs that require only a basic education. But are those the jobs that provide livable salaries, that come with health care benefits, that include a 401k plan? 

Most likely not. 

The point of education - which Blow misses - is to give our children options for the future. We must prepare them for any career path that they choose. Students should be equally prepared to choose to become auto mechanics as they would be to become pre-med students. There is nothing wrong with having a job that doesn't require a lot of education, but children must be able to opt out of these jobs and not be forced into them. 

I'm pretty sure that Blow has never heard the phrase, "the soft racism of low expectations." Unfortunately, that is just what he is promoting. 

The Daily Grito is back, new and improved!

The Daily Grito has returned from its brief hiatus - and we are ready to make some changes to our blog! 

Firstly, we will begin to post regularly three times per week: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. These postings will cover all of the weekly news and information about education reform and the Latino community. 

Secondly, we will be partnering with some new guestbloggers to provide you with even more commentary on education reform. More news about that to follow. 

Thirdly, we will now offer periodic interviews and analyses of educational issues. We will also switch the Friday blog round up to be a periodic feature. 

We look forward to all of these changes and the improvements that they will offer to our blog. We hope that you do too! 

Hispanic High School Grads Are On the Rise

By Guestblogger Rena Mathena

The West Interstate Commission for Higher Education has just released its 7th edition of their report, Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity, 1992-2022, which has some shocking and exciting numbers for the Hispanic high school population across the country.

Out of all high school students, Latinos are the ones who will see the largest increase in their graduation rate from 2004-2005 to 2021-2022. In states where there is a large Latino population, like Arizona, Colorado, and Florida, the increase is an exciting surprise, since all three states are looking at more than a 60% jump, with Arizona expecting a 102.6% swell in graduates. The increase of Hispanic graduates is going to be an excellent contributor to the overall increase of the national graduation rate.

Even in states with smaller Latino populations, like Tennessee, Nevada, and Utah, the projected growth of Hispanic high school students and graduates will give their parents a powerful influence in the education systems of their state. With more Latino students and parents becoming part of the school system, their voice for change and choice will be louder and could help bring about more educational reforms in states where that had never been a big possibility.

Some of the most impressive expected growths, like Nevada’s 228.7% increase of Hispanic graduates and Tennessee’s +400% projected increase, will be a big bright sign to state educators and officials. Parents are going to be looking at their schools and wanting the best choices to assure their children will be a part of this rising achievement trend.

Language Debate Across the States

In Florida, some educators and individuals are calling for better instruction in Spanish and more efforts to ensure that bilingual children are also biliterate...whereas in Arizona, the battle is still raging over the state's new English fluency requirements and their potentially punitive effects on students.

Even for Citizens, In-State Status is Hard to Attain

The Washington Post has an article today about how some Latino students - U.S. citizens - have been denied in-state tuition at public universities because of the immigration status of their parents. A number of universities have ruled that if their parents are illegal immigrants, these children can be denied in-state tuition, because they are "technically" dependent on the status of their parents.

This seems like a clear violation of citizens' rights to me, but take a look for yourself...