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Friday, January 15, 2010

New School District Would Address Achievement Gap

By Dan Serrano
President, PASS
      Recently, Gov. Bill Richardson proposed the Hispanic Education Act in order to close the achievement gap for Hispanic students, which is threatening to undermine our education system in this state.
       The Hispanic student graduation rate is now down to 56 percent, which is absolutely unacceptable for this state and made worse by comparison because Anglo students are 71 percent in graduation rate.
       Worse yet, the largest school district, Albuquerque Public Schools, graduated only 37 percent of Hispanics in four years. The problem is critical because in APS, 67 percent of the students are Hispanic.
       However, the state Public Education Department has this first of its kind program that would address Hispanic students' needs and boost achievement and graduation rates.
       While we support the Hispanic Education Act, there's some concern that the Legislature will not be able to act on it in the upcoming session. Yet we all know that there's not much time to wait. The Hispanic education gap is one of many issues that must be addressed now, in the next few years, and should not under any circumstances be put off for the better part of a decade.
       The commitment should be made, regardless of the current economic circumstances. We need to move forward now.
       Fortunately, there is a way to act right away, and that's to establish a new West Side school district.
       Currently, some West Side residents have made an application to the Public Education Department to create a district on the West Side of Albuquerque. This proposal is currently being evaluated by the state.
       In a few months, rather than several years, New Mexico can start significantly affecting Hispanic education with a new school district that's dedicated, among other things, to increasing achievement among all students, including Hispanics.
       Arguments for a new school district on the West Side are pretty well accepted.
       APS is failing our students at a rate that's clearly unsustainable. Test scores are sorely lacking, AYP standards are dropping and severely limiting the chance for our students to prosper, and a massive bureaucracy at APS is weighing down our schools.
       The new West Side district is meant to give our kids a chance to get a good education, and that's not happening now. In short, with APS just too big to do the job, a new West Side district will give students and parents accountability and better achievement.
       Hispanic students suffer at disproportionate rates compared to Anglo students. There is a crisis of insufficient Latino achievement. The Hispanic Education Improvement Task Force states that “NM schools are failing to educate half of Latino children.”
       Latino dropouts will cost our state $3.6 billion in lost wages over their lifetime, and increase unemployment, AFDC, food stamps, health costs, incarceration costs, and poverty in general. This is why Richardson has proposed the Hispanic Education Act, modeled on the Native American Education Act, to boost achievement.
       Our suggestion would be to let our new school district have a chance at improving Hispanic achievement, while funding for the act is being sought, and we can embrace the Hispanic Education Act when it comes online.
       In fact, the West Side district can become a model, a pilot project, for better Hispanic achievement.
       We are absolutely committed to improving Hispanic education, test scores and graduation rates. If the new West Side district is created, the demographic breakdown would be 57 percent Hispanic, 32 percent Anglo and 11 percent other. Thus, improving Hispanic education would be a major initiative for us, something critical for our school district to succeed.
       We would have the commitment, administrative dedication and public support to see a major achievement increase. In short, the achievement gap could be closed by a new West Side district, one that takes Hispanic educational concerns seriously. This long journey needs to begin with this first step.
       All students would get equal treatment in our new West Side district, but that treatment would have a strong achievement component and a better education for Hispanic students. A new dedication to the achievement gap would give our Hispanic students a fighting chance to succeed and graduate at a much better rate than only 56 percent.
       The new West Side school district is the best way to close the achievement gap for Hispanic students in the next few years and meet the Hispanic education crisis head on.
       Dan Serrano is the president of PASS, the organization on Albuquerque's West Side advocating for a new school district.
       

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