Community Challenged to Address Latino Dropout Rate

Declaring that the Santa Ana Unified School District has embarked on “bold steps” to stem the alarming dropout rate among Latino students, Supt. Rudy Castruita on Tuesday challenged parents, business leaders and politicians to join in the campaign.

“Without our parents’ support, we are doomed to fail,” Castruita said, adding that both the corporate and political communities should provide incentives and leadership.

Speaking to a forum entitled “Hispanic Students--Are They learning or Leaving?,” Castruita said the dropout percentage of Latinos in Santa Ana schools is 29%--the highest among any ethnic group.

The forum was organized by the Santa Ana chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens after the state Department of Education reported that the dropout rate for Latinos in Orange County was a whopping 33%, compared to 13.4% for Anglos.

“I don’t care if it’s 1%--that’s 1% too many,” Castruita said.

Several times during his talk, Castruita chided parents and business leaders for not playing an active role in trying to solve the district’s education problems.

“How many parents can say that they’ve been out to the schools?” he asked.

And referring to a Louisiana businessman who is rewarding high school students with a free college education if they maintain good grades, he added: “Why can’t the business community come in and assist us? The corporate community must take a vested interest in educating the youths.”

Castruita said educators were also grappling with another problem--58% of the district’s students speak little English. He said 78% of the 40,000 students in the Santa Ana Unified School District are Latinos.

“The dropout problem is not the only problem we have to deal with,” he said.

Among the steps recently adopted by the district to reduce the dropout rate is offering English classes for Latino parents and their children. Educators also are encouraging professionals to visit intermediate schools and share their experiences with students.

Lydia Romero, a teacher at Freemont Elementary School who attended the forum, said she agreed that improving self-esteem among Latinos was important.

“We need to give them options and a vision by having (professionals) come in,” Romero said. “You wouldn’t believe how many of the children grow up saying their ambition is to work at McDonald’s or sell ice cream.”