Who Is Failing Our Kids?
by Angelica Escobedo

Californiaıs population has risen dramatically and has caused the ³minorities,² to become the majority. The 1992 Census showed that forty percent of the population was composed of only Latinos, while African-Americans and Asians made up another twenty four percent of the minority population. Though the minorities are the majority in California, they are still under-represented in the the political arena. This under-representation and blocked knowledge of the minority people has taken a severe toll on their well being. There have been little minority representation in Los Angeles, but it wasnıt until 1994 when three Chicano representatives were awarded seats on the Los Angeles City Council.1 Since many problems have arisen because of the increasing minority population(especially the Latino community), several measures have been taken to control this rapid growth. Amongst these tactics evolved Proposition 187 which was mainly aimed at the Latino community. Proposition 187 entitled government forces to deport any non-citizens back to their homeland. The proposition also took away any non-citizens right to work, health care, and more importantly the right to an education. This is where the lack of representation failed the minority people. Government was taking away human rights, and there was no political power to fight. More recently now the Affirmative Action program has been dismantled right before our eyes. The affirmative action program was designed to help minorities get an equal chance in continuing their higher education. Affirmative action was a tool used to reverse the bias that existed against minorities by allowing minorities to get a chance to compete with others.2 Affirmative action was a necessity for the minority population because it enabled them to move up in life without having to be rejected because of the prejudices that our state had placed upon them presently and historically. Affirmative action was an education getter. When I say this I mean that it was in many cases the only way to be able to move up on the educational ladder. And now that it is gone, it raises many fears amongst the minority community. The depletion of the affirmative action program has affected me personally. Coming from a financially deprived household, a financially deprived neighborhood, and being Mexican, I realize that my chances of getting into a top school will be very difficult. But my main concern at this time is not myself because I have managed to do well in school, but it is seeing the effect that it will have on the elementary, jr. high, and high school kids. Knowing that the performance level of inner city children is increasing but not satisfying, frightens me. How are inner city kids going to succeed when programs are being dropped, when teachers donıt have the right skills, and when no one expects much of minorities. I have taken my questions and thoughts and put them into writing my research paper on them. I have taken this opportunity to explore my environment which is in South Central, mainly Southwest Los Angeles. I have focused my time and effort into wanting to speak to the principals, teachers, and students, of the public school system in my neighborhood. Wanting to know who is failing our kids is not that simple. I struggled to try to find answers and at times I wanted to cry. I set out to speak to three schools. I would call these schools often, leaving messages for them to return my phone calls. I wanted to conduct interviews for my paper. I finally was able to visit the schools, and to my surprise I found people who were very rude. I can not explain how rude these people were. When I first arrived at the elementary school, I went up to the front desk and no one seemed to care. After about five minutes I was asked what I did I need help in, and I told them that I was the one who called asking for interviews. She told me that she was sorry, but that the principal would not be able to see me after all. I then asked her for the schoolıs accountability report and I was denied access to it. I told her that that document is public and that I have a right to receive it. She then told me to hold on. She later came back and said that I could see the principal. Again to my surprise, I came across a well dressed, but unprofessional lady. The principal began to tell me that I had no right to conduct this survey because it was to extensive of a project for a college student, and that I should not have been able to go to the school because I did not have authorization from the Los Angeles Unified School District, and that I should have been told by my college professor that this was not a suitable project. Though I was very upset, I held my composure and told her that I needed the accountability report. She denied me that right and asked me who I was, after I had already told her I was a student. I replied to her by saying that I have a right to the accountability report because it was a public document. She still told me no, and I told her that I had called LAUD and that they said I have a right to that document because it was a public document. She then told me to leave and told her secretary to make me a copy of the report. The exact same thing occurred with the other schools, but instead of them arguing with me about the accountability report, they asked me what it was. I do not understand how people who work for the school not know one of its most important documents. The student accountability report gives the statistics of the schools, like dropouts rates, grade averages, programs, and expenses that are incurred by the school. Because of them not knowing of this document, I was only able to receive it from two schools. With the other schools I was told to leave my address and that it would be mailed to me. It has been about two weeks now and I have yet to receive anything. I could not let this damper my project, but it has taken a big toll because I wanted first hand answers from the principals, teachers, and children about why minorities are doing so poorly. I wanted to be able to share the astounding findings on the statistics about minorities. In a way this setback helped me think more. I began to question our failing system. I wanted to know why it wasnıt working and for what reasons wasnıt it working. I then began to think that maybe it was not all of the educational system that was failing our kids. Maybe there were more answers. I began to think that ones environment has something to do with the minorities academic performances, I also began to think that family is an important issue that should be looked at, and teachers skills should also be looked at. I found a common thread between the information that I had gathered. I found that one of the main causes for the poor performance of the minority student was due to the lack of the teachers ability to teach minority students. ³A 1991 survey by the National Education Association found that 86.5 percent of all public school teachers were white, the same percentage as twenty years earlier.²3 Now with increasing minority population rising(Latino), how would an Anglo person be able to fully communicate with a student and teach them. This was one of the main reasons for below average testing. In, Frederick L. Yeoıs book, Inner-City Schools, Multiculturalism, and Teacher Education, his main thesis is on changing and adapting to new teaching methods to help teach inner-city schools.4 Yeo as well as other authors also suggest that teaching inner-city schools because of minorities requires special technique and handling. That teachers should attend special sessions to be able to teach in inner-city schools. ³The modern teacher is a co-operative participant in the learning and living activities of his pupils. His influence extends beyond the classroom into the school community. He needs to understand the many aspects of the urban culture in which his pupils live.²5 This, written in 1966, already shows the awareness of what needs to be done to teach inner-city kids, but I donıt understand why none of these programs were installed, and why arenıt they being used today knowing that there is increasing problems facing our kids in the public school system. What is it going to have to take for action to be taken to improve our schools? On May 3, 1997, California was ranked 138(bottom 6), on how eighth graders fared on a 300 point science test.6 And Los Angeles was ranked 201 for kid friendly cities.7 If Los Angeles was ranked at the bottom of the list for kid friendly, it is no wonder that the kids here are not doing so well. Another fault that teachers may carry with them but may not realize it is that they already have an interpretation of how inner city kids perform, so they do not actually strive to make it change. ³Research indicates that many teachers have low academic expectations of working-class and minority children.²8 Other factors that make this problem worse is family environment. Family environment can include if the parents are married or not, and the households financial situation. Many of the inner- city kids come from low income households. When parents can not supply their kids with proper clothing, nourishment, and school supplies, it ends up taking effect. But when the school is unable to provide for the student, the result is even worse. As what happened in South Central, at the school I wanted to interview, there was a lack of textbooks. In reality, the school did not provide any textbooks for the students at all. Students were not given homework because they had no book to use and during class time the textbooks that were available had to be shared by three or four students at a time. It was even said that students would ask the teachers to lend them there books, but the teachers would have to say no fearing that their only book would be gone. The LA Times article also states that teachers are scared to distribute the books because they feel they wonıt be returned or unproperly managed. They also say that the kids would not put them to use. When they asked the kids about the new books some were happy but others dreaded the fact that they may get more homework and would now have to carry books home for the first time. But one teachers optimism makes me happy when he says that when the freshman begin to use the books it will be a cycle that is common because every year after that, kids will always be using books not knowing that they wouldnıt have been using them.9 I was able to interview some neighborhood kids. It is most interesting how I got to meet these three young boys and girl. My mother was talking to me concerning this lady that had approached my father. She told me that the lady wanted my father to speak to her kids to see if he can get them to go to school. When my mother told me this, I asked her where my father was so that I could speak to him concerning this. When I finally got to talk to my father, I asked him to do me the favor of asking his parents if I could speak to them. My father then proceeded to go talk to the parents and the boys and girl and asked them if it would be okay if I interviewed them. They agreed. I set myself up to interview them individually. I felt that this way they would feel more comfortable and open up to me. I was amazed that all these kids were from the same family. The parents had trouble getting them to go to school. Their ages varied, from the oldest who is sixteen to the youngest who is six. I was shocked to find out that all were not regularly attending school even the youngest, the girl. I started from the bottom up. I first talked to the the six year old girl. She was very shy at first so I started playing games with her to make her feel at ease. It was as though she was afraid to tell me anything because she thought she would get in trouble. I did not ask her any thought seeking questions. Instead I asked her if she enjoyed school, if she had any friends, if she liked her teacher, and her school. She said she liked school and that she liked her teacher a lot. But she was hesitant to answer the question about having friends. But after thinking for a while, she said, ³oh yes, I have lots of friends.² I looked at her for a while because she looked really sad. I asked her why she was sad when she has so many friends? She responded by saying that she has no friends but her mom. She said that the kids in school make fun of her because she is over-weight. I did not want to make her cry, so I decided to tell her that since she did so well answering the questions we would get ice-cream. I then proceeded with her brother who is eight. He unfortunately is not attending school at all. I had always seen him and his brothers during the day time when I come home from school. They live sown the street from me. I asked him why I see him so often during school hours, and he responded by saying that it was because school lets him out early. I told him to be honest with me because I was there to listen and if he wanted to help. He was not really interested in what I had to say and he did not cooperate to well. The only question I got to ask him was why he wasnıt going to school, but he responded by saying ³I donıt like it.² His two older brothers were able to give me what they thought was the answer for their younger brother not attending school. They said that it was because he was also teased to much because of his weight. I was able to converse much better with the older two. The fifteen year old did not hold back. When I asked why he didnıt go to school he said it was because it was boring and that he didnıt need an education to work. I asked him what he wanted to do for a living and he said he wasnıt sure, but that he still is young and has time to decide. I asked him what interested him and he said that he liked soccer and basketball. I asked him if would like to play for school and he said that he would. So I asked him that why doesn't he try out for the school team and he said he had never thought about it. I asked him what his parents thought about him not going to school and he said that they hated it but that they could not do anything about it. He said that it irritates him that they bug so much. He says that he likes being able to do whatever he wants everyday. His older brothers excuse was just horrible. He said that he does not go to school simply because he does not want to take the bus home. When I told him that that was not an excuse he laughed. He said that it is a hassle to get up early in the morning to go to school when he wonıt even do his homework or pay attention in class. I asked how well did he do in school and that if maybe one of the reasons was because it was a little difficult. He said it was not hard work that was given to him, but the time he had to spend doing it hassled him. He did say that some of the work was hard for him to understand because of the wording , but that that was not a main factor. When I asked how he felt about his brothers and sister he felt bad. He said that he encourages the two younger ones to go to school because it is important. When I asked why it is important he shrugged. I felt really comfortable talking to the older brother. I could tell that he wanted to tell me a lot more. I made a deal with him that if he went to school next semester, he could come over my house for help and tutoring. He liked the idea and he said he would think about it, but that he would let me know. I have to mention that they did not want me to mention their names for some reason. It seemed like they were scared that they would get into big trouble if they knew that there name was printed out. I respect that and I promised them I would not mention it. As for the other brothers and sister, they ask my dad if it is okay that they come over to help them with their homework. In conclusion, though things did not go as planned, I came out knowing that there is no single answer for what is occurring, but that something really needs to be done. Though in that respect it is really sad, I am happy that I can help the neighborhood kids and they can look up to me.