In July of 2002, five years ago, the Cutting Edge-a talk show attended a No Child Left Behind Town Hall meeting held at Huntington Park High School in LA. This was the fourth of seven Town Hall meetings to promote this Executive Order whose aim was to close the achievement gap for our failing children.
In the press conference held prior to the meeting Ron Winship and I asked former US Treasurer Rosario Marin and recording artist Jon Secada questions about funding of the Initiative. For the record. This Town Hall meeting was our first bilingual coverage in that most of the speakers spoke in both English and Spanish.
Treasurer Marin said that the “President begins with a premise that every child can learn and it’s up to us to challenge the District and Secretary of Education Paige–it’s not always about funding–of course funding will always be an issue.”The Act “challenges the District to provide teachers that are qualified–providing instruction that they can sell–it challenges the school that within three years they have to show that the child has learned–should the child not show any progress–than each parent will be given options to change to other schools. Huge component there for parent involvement.”
Jumping ahead to the public meeting. Brian Jones, Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Education, said that this Initiative is now a matter of federal law. “Every kid in America can learn and we will hold states accountable for learning.” Brian stated that “$11.5 billion dollars are being spent on the poorest kids in this country.” Title 1 funding.
Brian mentions some areas of empowerment in the Bill such as “changing schools after three years..the federal government makes money available to parents .. provide supplemental services available for kids..like after school learning and tutoring and summer school.”
He went on to provide some troubling statistics. He quoted from a 2000 National Assessment Test to look into the racial achievement gap.
Reading proficiency. “White kids” did not exactly have a great average coming in “at 40 percent.” However, the picture is bleaker in that “Hispanic kids” were only “at 16 percent.” In the math tests the “White kids were at 34 percent” and the “Hispanic kids only scored at 10 percent.” Brian went on to say that “30 percent of Hispanic kids drop out of high school before they graduate.”Let me share three government web sites that provide additional data for parents and students.
I just verified that the following interactive bilingual web sites exist:
www.YoSiPuedo.gov
www.yesIcan.gov
www.yesIcankids.gov Note: You can see our friend Pablo on this site
During her remarks Rosario stated that although her parents only finished elementary school yet they wanted her to go to college. It took seven years for Rosario to get her degree finishing up at Cal State LA. She did not speak English when her family came to the US from Mexico when she was 14 years old. She became “the highest ranking Latina in the Bush Administration and the first US Treasurer born outside of the country.” At some point during this event she stated the importance of being immersed into the English language if you expect to have any chance of advancement.
At the end of our 50 minute program we interviewed Roy Romer, former Governor, LAUSD Superintendent of Public Education. Prior to my asking my question I referenced a report indicating that “over 1,000 schools in CA are not meeting the muster of the numbers they are supposed to achieve–accountability is one part of the HR-1 program.”
My question. “Do you perceive that this is going to be a problem for you in the LAUSD?”
Superintendent Romer. “I think all of us have a challenge to improve performance but I think we will substantially meet, not just the federal standards but our own standards that are higher than those.”
OK. Long summary. “Read my lips” were three words that we will never forget. Rather than accepting my transcription of our coverage perhaps you might wish to view and listen yourself. Simply go to our web site Archives and select No Child Left Behind. http://www.cuttingedge-atalkshow.com/videoarchives.cfm
Note: This Town Hall was entitled: “The President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.”
Questions for Juice readers:
Based on the reported 50 percent drop out rate in LA schools has the LAUSD met the No Child Left Behind standard?
Has the federal government fully funded this Initiative?
Has the federal government provided funding for after school tutoring as stated by Brian Jones?
What grade would you give President Bush for his efforts to address this issue?
In your view how would you assess the No Child Left Behind Act?
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