Editorial:

35 years ago when La Prensa San Diego first started publishing, one of our main goals was to influence and improve the education of our children. Without an educated community none of the problems which plague our community would improve. Crime, unemployment, poverty, ghettos, drugs, political persecution, and economic disadvantages would doom Hispanics to second class citizenry unless the community committed to education.

   In 1976 education was one of the most important issues of the day. Mothers, fathers, students, and the community went out onto the streets to protest, attended school board and city hall meetings in the pursuit of improving education for their children. The needs were painfully obvious: there were no Hispanic teachers, no bilingual programs, no migrant education, Hispanics were not graduating, not attending college and not earning higher degrees and/or leadership positions in government or business. .

    Change finally started when political and community leaders made the education of Hispanics a priority. Efforts to get Hispanic teachers into schools, create bilingual programs, and to develop migrant educational programs were implemented. With the first modest successes, the motivation for community action in the form of public protesting and demonstrations went away.  Sadly, efforts in Hispanic educational advancements has lately become an academic pursuit. And the community awaited the results of their labor and effort.

   35 years later we are still waiting to see the results of all this effort that created the change, we waited to see the number of graduates rise and the gap between Hispanics and others shrink, we waited to see our children on par with all other students. And yes, we have seen some successes, there are stories of students graduating, going to college, earning degrees, and becoming leaders.

   All this has been good, but it has not been good enough! Hispanic students, graduation rates, and college degrees for Hispanics all rank at the bottom – still.

   Two years ago, on the national test for academic achievement, barely more than one in ten Latino students received a score of proficient or advanced in math or reading. These children are being left behind.

   According to a recent report proficiency in English and math for California’s Latino students seems to drop as they progress through the public education system. Latino students’ English proficiency drops from 42% in 2nd grade down to 30.7% in 11th grade. With math proficiency, the decrease is even sharper: while 53% of Latino 2nd graders demonstrate proficient math skills, only 23% of Latino 11th graders do.

   What is equally upsetting is the achievement gap between Hispanics and White/Asian students has not closed at all. It is true test scores have improved for Hispanics, at the same time test scores have improved for all students, thereby causing the persistent achievement gap difference.

   Throughout the years the Hispanic community has been actively engaged in the education process, this can be seen with elected school board members who are Hispanic, the scholarship programs, the fundraisers, parents’ participation, and most recently the DREAM Act effort.

   But more needs to be done. Hispanics are becoming the majority population of this state and as this community continues grow it needs to be an educated community in order to lead. For this reason La Prensa San Diego has joined with the Mexican American Business and Professional Association in sponsorship of the Latino Education Forum, Saturday, May 14 at the Jacobs Center, to discuss the issues, the hurdles, and talk about the paths available to addressing the issue of educational attainment for Hispanic students.

   By no means is this an all encompassing forum, which looks to solve all the problems, but it is an opportunity to come together as a community and to talk about the issue of education. We need to continue the conversation that family, friends, community, and politicians have been pursing over the years.

   Education is a complex issue with many questions and with many answers. The only reality we know for sure is that the education process is failing our students, and like the 60s, we need to be active to create change from failure to success!

   Hopefully, as a community, we will continue to have more forums and conversations. We have to for the sake of our children.