Education Funding for Latino Students

There are constant rumors spread that Latino students, on the whole, are under-achievers. Racist and biased as this allegation is, one reason that there may be some truth to it is that there are fewer funds to assist Latino students, not merely to bring them into the mainstream, but to encourage them to continue their studies and prepare them for a brighter future than many of their parents may have had to look forward to.

A recent LA Times article told about Federal funds granted to Ventura College's Santa Paula campus which claimed that the money was to be used to "boost" the educational performance of Latino students with new programs. What is interesting to note is that this seemed to have been a contest for the money, with Ventura College edging out 60 other schools- all community colleges.

Ventura College, with some 12,000 students, of whom 30% are Latino, was eligible for the funds because they were reserved for those schools that have at least 25% Latino students. As the article points out, the money will be spent on that the dean of students calls "gateway" courses in which Latino students usually under-perform, He listed algebra, accounting, pre-calculus and English composition. Her also explained that the college may have to use what he considers "non-traditional" instruction to bring Latino students up to speed.

Worthwhile as these funds are, and certainly the efforts on the part of Ventura College, what is bothersome is the underlying cause for under-=achievement by Latino students. Is it the language barrier? Is it the fact that high schools may merely have pushed them through four years to get rid of them> Is there some core problem about resisting learning? Unfair as this last question may be, perhaps one should examine the reaction to Latino student under=achievement in terms of what their future holds for them.