State Urged to Improve Migrant Education

California needs to work harder at building and monitoring its migrant education programs, federal auditors say.

The U.S. Department of Education has no assurance that California properly allocated the $120.9 million in migrant education funds it received for fiscal year 2001, according to a report from auditors with the Education Department’s Office of Inspector General.

The state also was “unable to report an accurate number” of the highest-priority migrant education students, auditors said.

California has more than 250,000 migrant students enrolled in public schools and receives one-third of the nation’s migrant education budget.

But some San Joaquin Valley migrant educators say directing funding is a challenge because of language barriers and the constant movement of families. Student eligibility also becomes fuzzy once a migrant farm worker family settles.

“There’s a range of needs the students have, so we have to make sure we’re targeting the most at-risk students,” Merced County Migrant Education Director Reuben Patron said.