From: Nigel.Allen@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Progress Report on Hispanic Education Earns Poor Grade
Organization: NDA
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 07:10:48 GMT

Here is a press release from the Hispanic Education Coalition.

 Progress Report on Hispanic Education Earns Poor Grade in Fulfilling
Its Mandate
 To: National Desk, Education Writer
 Contact: Alberto Rivera of the Hispanic Education Coalition,
          202-223-3915, ext. 24

   WASHINGTON, Oct. 15   -- The Hispanic Education Coalition said 
today that a progress report released Tuesday by a White House 
commission "fails to provide the necessary data and recommendations 
for federal action that were the hoped-for outcomes of the Hispanic
community."
   Richard Roybal, executive director of the LULAC National
Educational Service Centers, a coalition member, commented "The White
House Commission should be commended for their hard work, given the
scarce resources allocated to carry on the important responsibility
of advising the White House.  However, we believe that if the
commission had been appropriately funded, it would have come closer
to achieving its original goals and in providing a more complete,
accurate, and balanced portrayal of the status of Hispanics in
eucation."
   "The unfortunate result of the commissioners' good intentions are
unbalanced recommendations that tend to shift the burden of the
collection of data, the data analysis and the presentation of data
from the federal sector to private, nonprofit and community
organizations," said Ruth Pagani, coalition chairperson and public
policy coordinator for the National Puerto Rican Coalition.
   "The progress report is disappointing," said Antonia Hernandez,
president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, and another coalition member.  "It does not
propose specific national policy recommendations to address the
serious and pervasive barriers facing Latino children in the public
school system."
   "Given that this is a federal report prepared for the secretary of
education and the president, the lack of federal recommendations is
startling," said Dr. Janice Petrovich, national executive director of
the ASPIRA Association Inc., a coalition member.  According to a
HEP-CAMP spokesperson, "The progress report appears to be a step in
the right direction, but it fails to recognize existing federal
programs, which provide valuable education services to communities
with a large number of Hispanics."
   The report fails to delineate the gaps in the collection of data
on Hispanic populations at the executive agencies of federal
government.  "The data collected by the federal government allows it
to fulfill its mandate under law," said Louis Nunez, president of the
National Puerto Rican Coalition.  "Without disaggregated data on
Hispanic sub-groups, or the impact of certain socio-economic
indicators, there is no way of knowing how we are going to overcome
the barriers we face in the American educational system."
   The coalition also questioned the merits of channeling federal
funds into a new National Hispanic Council of Education in Chicago.
While the coalition acknowledged the merits of linking together local
Hispanic education reform initiatives into a national network, its
members voiced concern that this new organization might duplicate, or
inadvertently contribute to the dilution of, on-going efforts of
Hispanic organizations already in existence, or be tempted to relieve
the federal government of its responsibility under the law to improve
Hispanic education.
   In order for the commission to carry out its mission in the
future, coalition members recommend the following:
   -- The commission should complete and augment its data collection
on Hispanic participation in federal education programs to include
eligibility rates so service gaps can be identified and remedied;
   -- The commission should analyze and make recommendations to the
government regarding both the quality and cultural sensitivity of
existing federal programs that target Hispanics;
   -- Appoint additional commission members who are more
representative of the diversity in the Hispanic community.
   "There needs to be specific funding in the Department of Education
's budget and appropriations, a specific line item which will provide
realistic and sufficient funding for the staff and activities of the
commission to ensure the president's order is carried out effectively
and meets the goals of its charter," commented Jose Velez, LULAC
national president.
   According to Jose Roberto Martinez, director of the Puerto Rico
Federal Affairs Administration, "It is our opinion that the
commission should make an extra effort to find its own voice.  The
commission's publications should provide additional information on
the work of national organizations from the distinctive perspective
of Hispanic Americans in the United States," he added.
   The Hispanic Education Coalition is an ad-hoc group of National
Hispanic organizations that have come together to support initiatives
to improve education in the Hispanic community.  Most of the members
joined forces in the late 1980s to advocate for a presidential
executive order mandating data collection and action to improve
Hispanic participation in federal education programs.  An executive
order establishing the President's Advisory Commission was issued in
September of 1990.
   ------
 Hispanic Education Coalition:
   ASPIRA Association Inc.
   Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
   League of United Latin American Citizens
   LULAC National Educational Services Centers Inc.
   Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
   National HEP-CAMP Association
   National Puerto Rican Coalition Inc.
   Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration
 -30-

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