Hispanics speak out during fed tour stop at Rancho High

By Emily Richmond

Thursday, April 18, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

Education Secretary Rod Paige descended on North Las Vegas Wednesday to plug sweeping education reforms for minorities, and ended up getting an earful from students, parents and community leaders about some of the harsher realities of Las Vegas Valley life for Hispanics.

Although Paige and the other speakers had an enthusiastic audience at the Rancho High School auditorium, some community members said later the new legislation won't help solve the most pressing problems keeping Hispanics from achieving academically, including poverty and fears about citizenship status.

Paige chose North Las Vegas as the fourth stop on a nationwide tour to promote President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, which was enacted in January. He was accompanied by U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, the first immigrant to hold the appointed post, and members of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans and award-winning educator Jamie Escalante.

The legislation calls for annual accountability reports for all state public schools, $400 million to develop new testing standards and more choices for parents of children at failing schools.

The federal assistance, while welcomed, won't work unless its tailored to meet the specific needs of the community, said longtime Las Vegas activist Patricia Price.

"It sounds like they have a good plan, but they didn't do their homework before coming here," Price said. "You have to address the roots of the problems, not just what to do when the problems show up at the schools."

Julio Meza, a junior at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, said even though he has a 4.2 grade point average he will likely lose out on college financial aid because he cannot qualify as a citizen for another two years. Most federal and private grants require U.S. citizenship, said Meza, a native of El Salvador.

"I don't think they get the point that this is a big issue for Hispanics achieving in education here in Las Vegas," Meza said. "If their goal is to not leave any child behind, then they're going to have to deal with this."

Several people also asked how the federal government was planning to help the children of the working poor, who routinely drop out of school in order to take jobs and help support their families.

In response, Paige told the audience such topics were state -- and not federal -- areas of concern and were best addressed at the local level.

The mandate of No Child Left Behind is to improve how schools are operated and increase accountability, Paige said. Social services are not a component of the legislation, Paige said.

George Cantu, a Democrat running for the District 11 Assembly seat, said the federal education reforms proposed fail to address the underlying problems facing Hispanics. Upgrading schools won't help the students who are working at fast food restaurants to help feed their families, Cantu said.

"Giving more money to the schools isn't necessarily going to translate into more money going to our children," Cantu said.

Following the event, Marin said the issues raised by the audience would be included in the final report for the president.

"An awareness was created here," said Marin, the first immigrant to hold the appointed post of treasurer. "These are local issues, and we have to respect jurisdictions, but some of these areas may become national concerns."

Hispanics have the highest drop-out rate both in Nevada and nationwide. Only a third of America's fourth graders can read proficiently, and just 10 percent of Latinos earn college degrees, Paige said.

"We can do better than that," he told the assembled crowd. "We have to close the persistent, nagging, un-American achievement gap." Paige urged the hundreds of parents, students and community members jammed into the school's auditorium to fight what has called a result of the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

"When we do not expect much from our children, we are participating in bigotry," Paige said. "We shouldn't make mental pictures of who can, or cannot, do well. We have to give every single child the opportunity to succeed."

Marin spoke of her own struggle to earn an education after her parents brought her to America from Mexico at age 14. She attended college at night and worked days, taking four years to earn a two-year associate's degree at the community college.

The key, Marin told the audience in English and then again in Spanish, is a supportive family.

"My dear mom, when I worked until three in the morning on homework she was right there," Marin said, her voice choked with emotion. "She couldn't help me, she couldn't speak English ... but she was right there. And when I was appointed as treasurer, she was right there."