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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Official Meets on N.M. Schools

By Martin Salazar
Journal Staff Writer
          The Obama administration came calling Friday for ideas on what Washington can do to help improve dismal educational success rates for Hispanic students.
        The visit to Albuquerque by Juan Sepulveda, director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, is part of a multicity tour to get the word out on the Hispanic achievement gap and to collect ideas about addressing the problem.
        Friday's meetings were co-sponsored by Central New Mexico Community College and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. More meetings will be held in Las Cruces today.
        Sepulveda underscored the seriousness of the problem by rattling off a number of national statistics on Hispanics:
        At least half of Hispanics aren't graduating from high school. Of those who do manage to graduate, about half are not prepared for college. Sepulveda added that over the past two decades, the percentage of Hispanics who have a bachelor's degree has been stuck at 11 or 12 percent.
        For the country to build a strong economy and to be globally competitive, it needs to improve the educational outcomes of Hispanics, he said.
        "This is a crisis that we can no longer accept and be comfortable about. ...," he said. "We're at a point right now that if we really don't step up and do something, we are in huge trouble as a country moving forward."
        There was no shortage of comments for Sepulveda.
        Albuquerque Public Schools board member Dolores Griego said teaching materials must be relevant to students in order to engage them. She said the level of expectations must be higher, not just for students but also for teachers, and that while many teachers work hard, there are some who need to find new careers. And she said attitudes about education are critical.
        Ralph Arellanes, a New Mexico LULAC director, said something needs to be done to boost Hispanic students' confidence so they know they can make it through college.
        Angelo Jaramillo, who works with New Mexico's GEAR UP program, said the administration should find a way to give amnesty to undocumented students. He said too many undocumented students come to him for help finding work, and his hands are tied.
        Finding a solution to the Hispanic achievement gap is crucial for New Mexico, said U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich.
        "This is the largest demographic group in the state of New Mexico," said Heinrich, a Democrat. "If (Hispanics) are not succeeding, then we're not succeeding."
        Sepulveda said the administration hopes to find the programs that are working and use them as models for programs around the country.
        He drew applause when he said the administration would like to pay great teachers more and get rid of ineffective teachers who aren't improving, despite attempts to work with them.
       

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