Emerging Need for Latino Teachers and Professors

Comment

Comment by LANYON on February 17, 2009 at 7:18pm

Rey:
I just joined LatPro's network. I recently relocated from Tulsa, Ok to Charlotte, NC, but my mother-in-law lives in Little Rock and we visit her every four months. I've been interested in the bilingual education aspects for a long, long time and was the Civil Rights Coordinator for the Oklahoma Vo-Tech System. My other concern has to do with math&science programs for girls, something that is mostly promoted for boys through "channeling" during the HS years. We will need a Workforce for the Future" to deal with electronics and instrumentation in the businesses, but we haven't prepared our youth to cope with these needs. Bilingualism and math&science could very well be their ticket to a better livelihood. Keep in touch. Tony Salazar (tsalazar66_@hotmail.com)

Comment by Rey Hernandez on January 9, 2009 at 9:22am

Let me clarify my point, because there seems to be some confusion corcerning this gap of which I wrote. Latinos and Blacks have 17% and 16% of the total number of k-12 students in America, yet Latino and Black teachers are only 5% and 6% respectively. This is not an issue if language or bilingualism, but rather an issue of having the teachers of color that could be role-models for our students. The fact remains that the population of teachers across the country do not reflect the populations (demographicly) that they represent. This means our children of color do not spend time in an environment that is reflective of the world in which they will live. It also means that they may not perceive that education is a career option for them.

Comment by michael barnes on January 8, 2009 at 11:05pm

Rey, please, that is pure nonsense. I was brought up in a bicultural household speaking english with my dad and Spanish with my mom. You would no imagine how much this fact has helped to open doors and self assurance. I may be confused about other things, such as the existence on hate, evil and betrayal, but never having been brought up speaking two languages. Agree with you Rob S.

Comment by Rob Steward on January 8, 2009 at 5:06pm

Hi Rey.

As you noted, I might not see the gap where I live in South Florida, with two kids in school, and I don't. But in my professional life, I hear the same thing all the time. I work for LatPro and schools come to us all the time from around the country trying to find bilingual teachers because of this discrepancy.

Jordi. I agree that it is totally BS that speaking both languages at home will confuse a kid. There are families in my neighborhood here in Miami that even go so far as to speak only Spanish at home (even though their English is perfect) because they know they will pick up the English from school and friends and everywhere else. My wife is Colombian, but I don't speak Spanish very well, so they often hear mostly English in the home. But they do get a dose of Spanish and I totally want them to be bilingual, as it's such an advantage.

Thanks.

Comment by Jordi on January 8, 2009 at 4:38pm

I have been living in the US for about 10 years now, and I am pretty sad about how the Spanish language is degrading in this part of the world. I would say it is not about having more Latino teachers, It is about having quality Latino teachers that knows how to speak proper Spanish. I heard ones a school telling a neighbor that they should stop speaking Spanish with their son because he would get confuse, ja ja ja. what an stupidity.
US needs to come out with a normalize Spanish language and needs to be teach in school, like other 1st world countries, the sooner the better. Us needs to be bilingual and historically California should have Spanish as a second language.

my 3 years old son speaks Spanish and English, I never seen him confuse.

thank you

Comment by Olga on January 1, 2009 at 7:47am

I am not aware about Obama's decision to change Latino educators for African American. I do know that at my present district they will be hard press for either one. Our district has 6% Latino student population and they are all at the same school. We have few Latino teachers and none in administration positions. We have few African American teachers, but they do have great representation in upper management. The district is still the "the good ol' boy network"

Comment by Hugo A. Villegas on December 31, 2008 at 10:06pm

I am interested in knowing your opinion about a perspective that is currently under consideration among higher education educators: It is believed that under Obama's government Latino educators will be postponed for African Americans. What are your thoughts about this issue?