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Latinos want vouchers, more tests, opposing national organizations

By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter

Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter: Education was the number two issue among Latinos, after racism and discrimination, in the Public Broadcasting Latino Poll 2000. That comes as no surprise to Dallas attorney Marcos Ronquillo. He recently served on the national board of MALDEF (the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund).

Marcos Ronquillo, Dallas attorney and MALDEF board member: I think everyone considers education a key to the American dream.

Zeeble: That's the way it's been for generations of immigrants. 70% of respondents to our poll were immigrants. While Latinos want their children to succeed in school, it's been tough. Nationwide, drop-out numbers place Texas 49th. The state ranks 48th in SAT scores. Public school teacher Thomas Montelongo, who participated in the poll, used to teach in a low-income Latino neighborhood in Fort Worth. While police there struggled with gangs and high crime rates, Montelongo saw, first-hand, students struggling, failing, to make the grade.

Thomas Montelongo, poll respondent and public school teacher: Performance on tests? You know, when you're afraid to walk home at night, or if you're hungry in the morning, or can't take a shower cause the water's turned off, that's going to affect your testing. See, those are the things people don't see; that I do, that teachers do see.

Zeeble: Thomas Montelongo can also see why an overwhelming 79% of poll respondents, including himself, favored an increased use of standardized tests to determine who graduates from high school.

Montelongo: I kinda read into that, teach my kid better English, teach my kid better skills, better communication skills. That wouldn't surprise me.

Zeeble: But it might surprise the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and other Latino groups which oppose current standardized tests. They say the tests are culturally-biased against minorities. MALDEF recently sued the state over standardized tests, when a student failed his exit exam and didn't graduate, even though he'd been accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MALDEF lost. Al Kauffman is the organization's lead counsel.

Al Kauffman, lead counsel, MALDEF: I don't think nearly as many Latinos feel you should use a test the way Texas uses it. When you carry out the issue a few steps farther, and you ask whether a test should be used so a failure on one part by one point can keep you from getting a high school diploma, I don't think most parents want that.

Zeeble: State Representative Domingo Garcia occasionally bucks state and national Latino organizations over education issues, and, like the Latinos polled, he does here, too.

Domingo Garcia, Texas House of Representatives, District 104: If you have a fair test that does away with those biases, I see no problem with that; and that's why Latinos support that. I think the current test has some flaws. But it's the best test yet developed.

Zeeble: Some Latinos say the huge Hispanic dropout rate, often more than 50% in Texas, will not improve as a result of more standardized tests. After all, it hasn't improved with the current ones. Both presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore defend standardized tests as a means to keep schools honest. But the candidates differ over what to do when a school fails to measure up.

Ray Sullivan, deputy press secretary, Bush presidential campaign: If they don't, after three years under the governor's plan, parents will have an opportunity to take some of their federal dollars and use them for tutors or other private or public schools.

Zeeble: In other words, says Bush deputy press secretary Ray Sullivan, vouchers: for everything from Catholic and private schools to good public schools.

Sullivan: School choice, in failing schools.

Chris Lehane, press secretary, Gore presidential campaign: Supporting vouchers really represents reigning in money from public education and from public schools.

Zeeble: Chris Lehane is Al Gore's press secretary.

Lehane: Al Gore believes we should put money into our public schools, make sure that every community in our country has the best available public schools.

Zeeble: Gore says if a school continues to fail over time, close it, fix it, then reopen it. He'd agree with Domingo Garcia, who proposed a public voucher bill in the last legislative session.

Garcia: The main reason to have public school choice, in my opinion, is by making the education system competitive, it'll drive the urban school districts to improve the quality of education for their kids, all kids. That's my goal.

Zeeble: In the Public Broadcasting Latino Poll 2000, 62% of the respondents favored the use of public funds to let students attend private or religious schools. Representative Garcia says that's because too many public schools are failing Latinos. Others believe that because many Hispanics are Catholic, it's understandable they'd like government funds to help pay for parochial school. But Dallas parent Robert Estrada, whose eight year old attends a Catholic school, doesn't fall in line with the poll.

Robert Estrada, Parent: I was always taught that nothing is ever given to you. You work for everything that you earn, even if it's going to school. I would not even consider taking a hand-out to send my daughter to school, 'cause that would make me more lax. I feel if my daughter's going to succeed in life, and I'm going to send her to private school, then I don't want any help.

Zeeble: At the same time, Estrada has no problem paying higher taxes to hire more public school teachers, even though his daughter wouldn't benefit. In this case, Estrada joins the majority of those polled (64%) who'd do the same thing.

Estrada: I would still want the Latinos as a whole to have better education, even though I'm paying for it. If we can bring out another generation of smarter children, then I have no problem with taxes going up so I could pay for it. Zeeble: In Texas, the legislature recently approved a pay raise for teachers, though unions say their members are still paid below the national average. But some Latinos, even teacher Thomas Montelongo (who'd like a raise) aren't sure even more pay will improve educational outcomes for Hispanics.

Montelongo: Just recently, over the last five years, I've seen a wave of immigrants come in. To them, success academically isn't as important as success financially. So their concern is getting a nine dollar per hour job. Parents are pushing that. And that's been part of Hispanic community, even when I was raised and born in Texas, it was always pushed: get a job, take care of your family, 'cause that's part of the culture too.

Zeeble: Montelongo says Latino children won't do better in school until their parents' education improves and those parents get more involved with their children's education. But KERA's Latino Poll 2000 shows more than half the participants failed to graduate high school. Some Hispanics interviewed for this story say it may take a while for first-generation Latinos to get settled and financially secure enough in this country to focus more on education. Yet our poll also revealed a strong desire to solve now the education problems hurting Latinos. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.