Article published October 15, 2002
Study: TPS needs more Latino staff
Toledo Public Schools are in need of more Hispanic teachers, and administrators and a more diverse curriculum to help Latino students succeed at a higher rate, a study done by the University of Toledo's Urban Affairs Center says.
The long-awaited study, made public by the City of Toledo's Hispanic Affairs Commission yesterday during a luncheon at the Clarion Hotel, sparked a list of nine recommendations that the commission gave school officials.
The study was first suggested in 2000 during a hearing by the commission on the treatment of Hispanic youth in the district. The Hispanic dropout rate - put as high as 70 percent and as low as 30 percent - was a major concern then.
While the study's creator, Dr. Ellen Edwards, admitted she was not able to put her arms around an accurate dropout figure, Baldemar Velasquez, chairman of the commission, said the study will help bring to light problems and possible solutions.
"We've been waiting for this study for 21/2 years," said Mr. Velasquez, who is also president of the Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee. "Whether [the dropout rate] is 70 percent or 30 percent, it's still unacceptable. We needed to respond to this in a concrete way and develop strategies to address it properly."
The study was a mix of local, state, and national data on the Hispanic population and education that highlighted problem areas and possible solutions.
Northwest Ohio has the highest percentage of Hispanics in the state, the result of decades of migration here. In Toledo the number of Hispanics jumped nearly 30 percent from 1990 to 2000, with the census showing there were 17,141 Hispanics in Toledo in 2000, or 5.5 percent of the city's population.
Dr. Edwards said Hispanic students tended to do better than white and black students on the proficiency test at Marshall and Westfield elementary schools.
Those test results, though, dropped once those students reached high school. Some believe the success at Marshall can be attributed in part to the school's three Hispanic teachers. Roughly a quarter of the students at Marshall and Westfield are Hispanic.
"We looked at all the schools that had significant Hispanic students, 10 percent or more, and the only thing we saw different in those schools and Marshall was the three [Hispanic] teachers," Dr. Edward said during the earlier news conference. "There seems to be something happening at the junior high level that's resulting in lower scores. It's something we need to take a closer look at."
The commission's nine recommendations include adding a Hispanic ombudsman to the school administration, stronger recruiting of bilingual and bicultural teachers, and curriculum that deals with Hispanic accomplishments and history in America.
"Having an ombudsman is critical," said Margarita DeLeon, a member of the Hispanic commission. "We have Hispanic teachers and principals, but we don't have anyone in the administration. We all know if we don't have anyone in those positions advocating for [the recommendations], it will never happen."
WilliAnn Moore, president of the Toledo branch NAACP and a retired teacher, said that the Hispanic and black communities can work together on numerous initiatives that can improve the educational experiences of both groups.
"The African-American community and the Hispanic community have a lot of the same issues," said Mrs. Moore, who was invited to the meeting by Mr. Velasquez. "We have many commonalities. We're poor, and our children are being taught by people who don't look like us. We have to work with the people who are working with our kids."
Some expressed frustration. Dr. Manuel Caro, who formerly taught at Bowling Green State University, said two years ago he had a verbal agreement to work with teachers and Latino students at Waite High School, only to be told later that studying for the proficiency test was more important.
"You must have the will to do something about this," Dr. Caro said. "Everyone knows the problems are there, but I don't see the will."
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