Poverty and Learning

Re “Facing the Poverty Factor,” Nov. 1: Your story of Ruben Rocha and the difficulties we have educating children from poor families is bad enough, but to learn that one-third of all the schoolchildren in Los Angeles County live in poverty is overwhelming. Surely this must be a product of the tremendous number of impoverished immigrants who come here, but cultural factors are also involved. As a University of Michigan study demonstrates, the children of impoverished, non-English-speaking Asian immigrants do well in the same inner-city schools where others have so many problems.

Why can’t we cut back on immigration so that we can take better care of those already here?

C.M. DEASY

San Luis Obispo

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I agree that children are being sent to schools on empty stomachs. I volunteer once a week at my kindergartner’s school and I’ve encountered 5- and 6-year-olds not able to concentrate due to lack of food. We as adults seem to spend on things we can live without and yet we forget to feed our children before sending them to school. What’s so hard about putting some crackers, fruit and a slice of bread with peanut butter in our kids’ backpacks? Before you think of buying that lipstick or another piece of clothing, remember your child’s nutritional needs.

SANDRA SHIELDS

Lancaster

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Your article angers me because it offers the public a distorted, stereotypical picture of students and schools in Boyle Heights. It is an unfair portrayal to suggest 86% of Malabar students cannot read [at grade level]. Eighty percent of Malabar students are (limited-English-proficient) Spanish-speaking students. Last year’s second- and third-grade students tested above the 50th percentile on the Aprenda test (the Spanish equivalent of Stanford 9). These students are successful in learning and have established a literacy base in their primary language. Because of this, they are on their way to success in English literacy.

The article glosses over the issue of language differences that confront our students, and The Times, in its campaign to promote literacy by age 9, glosses over the devastating effect that Prop. 227 will have upon the literacy of LEP students. The simple solutions being put forward in this campaign, such as one-sided phonics reading instruction, English-only curriculum and ending social promotion sound good, but they are in fact simple solutions to complex problems.

P.S. I was Ruben Rocha’s second-grade teacher. The article failed to point out that Ruben repeated the second grade. As his teacher I attempted many different strategies in helping Ruben to read. I visited his home on numerous occasions and took him on my day off to the public library.

JOHN ESPINOZA

Los Angeles