Parents’ Role Stressed at Latino Education Hearing

More than 150 parents, educators and business and community leaders from Los Angeles County and beyond turned out Tuesday for a federal hearing on ways to improve the educational track record for Latino students.

Many sought funds for specialized programs, bilingual teachers, anti-dropout projects and new schools and updated equipment.

But the dominant theme of the hearing, the last held on a five-city tour by President Bush’s Task Force on Hispanic Education, was parental involvement.

“Data has repeatedly shown that parental participation is the most critical factor behind the achievement of high levels of academic performance among all age categories and ethnic groups,” U.S. Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos said in opening the hearing at the county Office of Education in Downey.

Last spring, Cavazos, the first Mexican-American to hold a Cabinet-level post, angered Latino leaders by saying parental attitudes are responsible for many of the achievement problems of Latino students, including a high school dropout rate nearing 40%.

On Tuesday, noting that Latino youngsters will represent 20% of the school-age children in the United States by the year 2080, Cavazos said, “The future prosperity of cities like Los Angeles depends on how well we educate our children,” especially those most likely to founder in the present public education system.

“Sadly, Hispanic students are a disproportionately large part of this at-risk category,” Cavazos said, adding that the problem becomes more urgent as the proportion of young Latinos entering the work force continues to increase.

In Los Angeles County, Latino students make up nearly 50% of all public school students. In the giant Los Angeles Unified School District, the proportion is 62%, or 372,221 students. About 55% of the 18,131 who dropped out of the class of 1989 were Latinos, according to Supt. Leonard Britton.

“Those who do not value education will find not the ‘American Dream’ but the harsh reality of limited opportunities and frustrated hopes,” Cavazos said.

But Gabriel Alvarez, a parent who serves on a school district advisory committee, said Latino parents want to participate but often are made to feel unwelcome or feel they do not speak English well enough.

“The Spanish community is being offended by Dr. Cavazos’ saying they don’t want to participate. They would like to,” Alvarez said.

Although she did not testify, Sylvia Corona, a mother of three who works a swing shift and volunteers at Belvedere Elementary and Belvedere Junior High schools, attended the hearing with other East Los Angeles mothers “because I want to be involved. . . . I want a better education for my kids.”

Stuart E. Gothold, superintendent of the county education office, said schools have a responsibility “to make all parents welcome.”

City School Supt. Britton, in seeking federal dollars, told the 10-member task force that “parent-education programs are critical. . . . (Parents) are the most important models for Hispanic young people.”

And Board of Education member Leticia Quezada said Cavazos’ remarks about Latino parents not putting a high value on education “were a literal slap in the face to those parents that are trying, that are learning English and meeting with the teachers.”

Quezada and others testifying Tuesday agreed with Cavazos that it is important for students--and their parents--to learn English without losing their ability to speak Spanish.

Cavazos said testimony from Tuesday’s hearings--which were expected to last into the evening--will be added to that gathered in San Antonio, Chicago, Boston and Miami. It will form the basis of a report that he hopes will be the “blueprint for positive action . . . to improve the educational quality” for Latinos.

He said he expects to send the report to the President by the end of the summer.