Self-Improvement Lessons : Education Program Gives Migrant Children Chance for Better Life

The eight children happily greeted Julie Laguna as she stepped inside Santiago and Celia Hernandez’s two-bedroom apartment on 6th Street.

“Hi, maestra !” said 3-year-old Santiago Jr., the younger of two boys in the family, referring to Laguna as teacher.

From a living room sofa, Hernandez, 45, and wife Celia, 48, watched as their children--seated at the family table--presented Laguna, a tutor, with their homework from the previous week.

Six children are of school age but Santiago Jr. and his 2-year-old sister, Janet, often join in the lessons.

The lesson began, and silence descended on the room as the children drew or read their books.

Laguna, 28, works for Migrant Education, a program established in 1966 with federal money that provides home tutoring and other services to children of migrant farm workers and fishermen.

Even though the program is aimed primarily at newly arrived migrant workers and their families, officials say the trend has changed. Most of the families no longer fit the traditional definition of a migrant worker.

MargarettLewis, director of Migrant Education in Orange County, said that many families, which qualified for the program as migrant workers, are no longer in agricultural jobs. Hernandez, for example, is a part-time construction worker; his wife works at a local restaurant. Some migrants have become factory workers or skilled laborers and about 90% have not moved in the past year, Lewis said.

While migrant workers lived in labor camps in the past, most of them--like the Hernandez family--now live in apartments or other low-cost housing facilities, she said.

“Migrant workers don’t want to do farm labor all their lives,” said Dixie Rookwood, support services manager of Migrant Education Region IX, which coordinates services in Orange and San Diego counties.

“It’s our goal that they move on to better jobs, that through education, their children will have the choice of jobs,” Rookwood said.

A few of the migrant workers have prospered.

David Gomez, 37, works for the Irvine Valencia Growers, distributing water to farms and nurseries in Irvine and Tustin. His five children, ranging in age from 5 to 17, are currently receiving weekly tutorial help. They have been in the program since 1990.

He rents a comfortable company home and owns a house in Tustin. His wife, Rafaela, has her own business. The oldest child, Rogelio Gomez, is 17 and will be a senior at Tustin High School in the fall. He plans to go to medical school.

“This program has been of great benefit to us, especially with the children,” said David Gomez, a strawberry and asparagus picker when he started working at 17.

Children of migrant workers often suffer as a result of the interruptions in their education. Studies show they lack the language skills necessary to compete well in school. The majority come from homes where Spanish is the primary language. And older children are often forced to quit school and work in the farms to supplement the family income.

Laguna, who tutors more than 50 children weekly, said home tutoring has made a difference. She teaches math, language arts, reading and science. In addition, she tells the parents about the education system and how they could be involved in their children’s education.

“This is very rewarding,” Laguna said of her work. “It’s good to see the children progress and meet the family on a regular basis.”

“I like it when she comes,” said Carlota Hernandez, 12, the oldest of the Hernandez children. “My mother said we cannot go to summer school because we can not afford a baby-sitter.”

KatiAnderson, Migrant Education coordinator for the Tustin and Orange school districts, said 199 students are currently enrolled in Migrant Education programs in the Tustin school district. About 70 are receiving tutorial help. The rest attend summer school. Starting in August, all Migrant Education students will get tutors once a week, she said.

In Orange County, Migrant Education serves more than 6,000 children, Lewis said. However, there are fears that funding for the program will not keep pace with enrollment, she said.

In five years, enrollment has more than doubled from 2,462 students in 10 school districts in 1988-89 to 6,894 in 13 school districts in 1992-93, records show. The budget for 1993-94 is more than $2 million.

In addition to home tutoring, Migrant Education programs include summer school, leadership seminars, emergency health services, preschool classes, dropout prevention and counseling, Lewis said.

An applicant need not be a farm worker to qualify for the program, Lewis said. But the family must show that it has moved during the past six years to look for an agricultural job, she said.

“A move across school district boundaries satisfies the federal requirement,” Lewis said.

The duration for the program is six years, she said. Eligibility is determined by interviews conducted by Migrant Education employees, which are considered confidential, she said.

“We don’t check their workplaces,” Lewis said. “We assume that the document they sign contain true and correct information.”

She said she is not aware of any report of abuses.

For Santiago Hernandez and other families, the program offers opportunities for their children--and they are grateful.

“They will find better jobs than I do,” Hernandez said in Spanish. With daughter Carlota translating for him, Hernandez explained that he left his farm in Guerrero, Mexico, in 1980 but has not found a steady job in the United States.

But while he is thankful, he is also worried his children will forget their heritage.

“They talk English to each other,” he said, sighing. “Sometimes, I don’t understand what they’re saying.”

And as Laguna prepared to leave after her visit, Santiago Jr. was again at the door.

“Bye, teacher,” he said, this time in perfect English.

Transitory Education Thirteen Orange County school districts receive federal money to operate education programs that provide supplementary instruction and services to children of migrant workers. The participating districts for the 1993-94 school year:

Per student District Students Funds funding Anaheim Elementary 526 $117,193 $222.80 Anaheim High 304 71,511 235.23 Capistrano 715 237,865 332.68 Fountain Valley 59 25,259 428.12 Huntington Beach 237 85,350 360.13 Irvine 52 22,495 432.60 Newport Mesa 978 317,027 324.16 Ocean View 409 136,606 334.00 Orange 530 166,998 315.09 Placentia 623 196,025 314.65 Santa Ana 1,873 558,785 298.34 Tustin 199 66,562 334.48 Westminster 256 91,506 357.45 Total 6,761 $2,093,182 $309.60

*Enrollment Explosion The number of children in the program has increased 180% in the past five years. Total enrollment for all 13 participating school districts:

School year Enrollment 1988-89 2,462 1989-90 4,058 1990-91 5,526 1991-92 5,858 1992-93 6,894

Source: Office of Migrant Education Region IX-Orange and San Diego Counties; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE / Los Angeles Times