Georgia concept could rally national help for immigrants

WASHINGTON—An initiative that brings teachers from Mexico to a town in Georgia with a large Hispanic population is the model for a new federal grant program being considered in Congress.

Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., proposed the “Immigrants to New Americas Amendment” hoping to duplicate the success of a private/public partnership in Dalton, home to at least 23,000 Hispanic immigrants. More than half the public school student population is Hispanic.

“The Georgia Project” began five years ago when city officials decided the children of the mostly Spanish-speaking workers at the area’s carpet mills weren’t doing as well as they might.

The community launched a teacher exchange program with a university in Monterey, Mexico, paying salaries with school district funds and tapping local businesses to cover teachers’ living expenses.

Supporters of the program say it was designed to offer a bilingual education for immigrants but has helped non-Hispanics too. Often, visiting teachers became part of the permanent faculty.

“Many of the students coming in had no prior education background,” said Erwin Mitchell, a former congressman who launched the effort. “They’re not fluent in their first language, much less English. These teachers have just been a godsend.”

Principal Debbie Haney of Antioch Elementary in Whitfield County said the Mexican teacher there didn’t leave her work at the classroom door.

“She has really been instrumental getting to know the families, helping to bring families in to make them feel welcome in the community,” Haney said.

As local businesses learned they would benefit from a better-educated work force, Mitchell and other organizers sought financial support from the community.

Two federal grants totaling $1.25 million funded much of the Dalton program. Cleland’s proposal, which the Senate approved May 16 as part of a major education package, would offer federal money to help other towns create similar exchange initiatives.

“It’s not one size fits all,” Cleland said. “They don’t have to copy the Georgia experience, but they can learn from it. There’s a tremendous need for this nationwide.”

Cleland admits the funding is modest – just $15 million nationally. He says he hopes the competitive grants will nudge immigrant-rich communities to consider alternative teaching methods.

The Latino population in the United States now roughly matches that of blacks. In Dalton, growth has been extraordinary: from 4 percent Hispanic in 1990 to more than 50 percent today.

Senators will likely continue debate this week on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which includes Cleland’s amendment. If it passes, Senate negotiators would have to work out a compromise with the House version, which doesn’t include the amendment.



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