March 18, 2004

Mexico joins hands with LAUSD, inserts tentacles

From the L.A. Daily News article 'Mexico joins hands with LAUSD':

Hoping to boost academic performance and lower dropout rates among Latino students, the Mexican government and Los Angeles Unified School District officials announced a joint outreach program Wednesday targeting Spanish-speaking families.

Much of the mostly volunteer program, which could ultimately include a credentialing of LAUSD teachers in Mexico, already exists, but officials hope to expand its reach over the next few years.

Ruben Beltran, Mexico's consul general in Los Angeles, said the partnership will highlight the importance of education among Latinos, who comprise 72 percent of the 750,000 students in the Los Angeles district.

"We want to lower the dropout rate in three or four years," he said. "We want to produce a better environment (for) the Mexican children here..."

The consulate also vowed to increase the number of Spanish-language books it donates to the district and develop more campus-based community plazas, made up of computer banks and homework stations sponsored by Mexican companies.

Currently, North Hollywood High is the district's only school with such a plaza...

The district also hopes to work with the consulate on building a pool of potential teachers in Mexico over the next few years when 140 schools will be built and the demand for credentialed, Spanish-speaking teachers is expected to surge.

It sounds great! And, that's the way it's presented in the Daily News report by Rachel Uranga.

Gosh, could anyone think this might be a bad thing? Could it be possible that allowing a foreign government to spread its propaganda either in the form of books or accredited teachers might cause problems? And, good golly gosh, do you think Mexico might be able to educate their own people? I mean, these are "Mexican children," aren't they? Perhaps Mexico should educate them itself.

Contact the LAUSD Superintendent and politely let him know what you think:

Roy Romer
Superintendent of Schools
Office of the Superintendent
333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213-241-7000
Fax: 213-241-8442
superintendent@lausd.net

Posted to Immigration_consul at March 18, 2004 02:29 PM

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