Mexicans Education

Stereotypes abound when educators talk about the subpar academic performance of California school districts with hefty Latino populations. The children are fresh from Mexico. They don't yet know English. They live in poverty with poorly educated parents who don't read to them at home. In short, they are thoroughly unprepared for the rigors of formal U.S. schooling and thus under-perform as the years go by.

Florentino Vidal began working on his family's ranch in Mexico at age 7, forgoing grammar and high school for a childhood spent growing lettuce, carrots, watermelon and tomatoes. Vidal, 47, said he knows the Spanish alphabet and can read some, but gets confused writing much more than his name. Now he will have the opportunity to resume his studies and earn his Mexican diploma here in the United States.

In a scene reminiscent of Chicano campus protests 20 years earlier, more than 500 Latino students and others converged on the UC Santa Barbara campus Thursday to protest the university's failure to hire a controversial Chicano studies professor from Cal State Northridge.

Stereotypes abound when educators talk about the subpar academic performance of California school districts with hefty Latino populations. The children are fresh from Mexico. They don't yet know English. They live in poverty with poorly educated parents who don't read to them at home. In short, they are thoroughly unprepared for the rigors of formal U.S. schooling and thus under-perform as the years go by.

Six educators from Hermosillo, Mexico, will visit Irvine Valley College this week to learn about American higher education and discuss international business and commerce issues between the two countries. A key issue during their visit will be the North American Free Trade Agreement. The educators are scheduled to attend a World Trade Center of Orange County conference titled "Doing Business With Mexico" and will hear Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) discuss the merits of NAFTA.

Thirty educational leaders from Mexico met with Anaheim school officials Thursday to learn more about American schools and develop contacts in an era of improving trade relations between the United States and Mexico. The chief executives of Mexico's Instituto Tecnologicos, which is equivalent to the state university systems in the United States, are touring Southern California's high schools and colleges.

Florentino Vidal began working on his family's ranch in Mexico at age 7, forgoing grammar and high school for a childhood spent growing lettuce, carrots, watermelon and tomatoes. Vidal, 47, said he knows the Spanish alphabet and can read some, but gets confused writing much more than his name. Now he will have the opportunity to resume his studies and earn his Mexican diploma here in the United States.

Throughout a daylong conference Saturday in Anaheim, more than 200 Latino parents heard the message over and over again: Know what your children are doing in the classroom, and show that you care. "The single biggest reason dropouts give for leaving school is that nobody cared," said Russ Barrios, trustee of the Orange Unified School District.

Last weekend's assembly of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was not a made-for-televison event. Indeed, the deliberations exposed the raw feelings and frustrations of delegates in a way that neither of the two main U.S. presidential conventions did--or would dare to. The gathering represented party democracy in action--although that may be an oxymoron when discussing the PRI--and not public relations.

Six educators from Hermosillo, Mexico, will visit Irvine Valley College this week to learn about American higher education and discuss international business and commerce issues between the two countries. A key issue during their visit will be the North American Free Trade Agreement. The educators are scheduled to attend a World Trade Center of Orange County conference titled "Doing Business With Mexico" and will hear Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) discuss the merits of NAFTA.

Thirty educational leaders from Mexico met with Anaheim school officials Thursday to learn more about American schools and develop contacts in an era of improving trade relations between the United States and Mexico. The chief executives of Mexico's Instituto Tecnologicos, which is equivalent to the state university systems in the United States, are touring Southern California's high schools and colleges.

In a scene reminiscent of Chicano campus protests 20 years earlier, more than 500 Latino students and others converged on the UC Santa Barbara campus Thursday to protest the university's failure to hire a controversial Chicano studies professor from Cal State Northridge.