Clinton Sets Hispanic School Goals

U.S. seeks to increase educational level dramatically

President Clinton, using the bully pulpit of the White House as a forum to influence policy long after he leaves office, is planning to propose on Thursday a set of national goals for increasing dramatically the educational level of Hispanics within 10 years.

The five goals, to be unveiled at a White House strategy session on Hispanic student achievement, will include increasing the high school completion rate of Hispanics to 90 percent from less than 67 percent today and doubling of the percentage of the Hispanic population getting college degrees.

In the most politically sensitive proposal, the president will ask all states and school districts to provide language instruction so that students graduating from high school will be able to demonstrate proficiency in English.

One of five panels at the White House session, which will bring together some 120 policymakers and leaders from education, business, non-profit groups and foundations, will discuss how to implement the English-proficiency target and whether bilingual education has proved effective.

Maria Echaveste, White House deputy chief of staff, said advocates of both bilingual programs and English-immersion programs–such as have been instituted amid some controversy in California–will be on the panel.

Bilingual education has come under attack for failing to provide students with necessary skills in English, and some school systems, including Chicago, are making efforts to limit the amount of time that students spend in bilingual classes.

Echaveste said Clinton has already taken the position that it should take no more than three years of bilingual classes for students to become proficient in English.

Reflecting the touchiness of the issue, the president’s proposal will include language giving weight to “the importance of multilingualism, age-specific learning needs, different research-based instructional approaches, and the variety of developmental levels at which limited English proficient children enter school.”

The remaining goals for 2010 will be to increase the Hispanic participation rate in early childhood education to the national participation rate, and to eliminate the achievement gap between Hispanic students and other students on state assessment tests and other indicators.

Echaveste said she expected the session to include discussions of the accuracy and proper use of the high-stakes tests that many states, including Illinois, use to evaluate students and schools.

Clinton is also expected to announce plans for an October summit in Washington of top corporations, interest groups and charitable foundations to form a partnership called the 2010 Alliance to support the Hispanic achievement goals.



Comments are closed.