Latino Education

Articles on the poor educational achievements of Latinos will always get people like Norma Cantu (director of educational programs for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) to declare that money and bilingual education will solve the problem.

I do not believe that this is necessarily the answer simply because we have in our history millions of immigrants and first-generation offspring who have overcome language, poverty and substandard educational facilities to not only join mainstream America, but in many, many instances, leap-frog it.

Since the mental capacities of Latinos are the equal of any other group, the answer has to be cultural. It starts in the home. Unless the parents provide the motivation, encouragement and the necessary sacrifice for the children’s educational achievements, not much can be accomplished to reverse this sad trend. Therefore, to make any meaningful progress in this matter, a concerted effort has to be made to get long-term parental involvement in their children’s educational process. Emphasis on extraneous, peripheral matters will only result in more of the same statistics.

SHIGEO YUGE, Los Angeles