O'Connell also waded into the immigration issue Tuesday [in a talke with the editorial board of the NC Times], saying public schools are required by law to educate any school-aged child in the state, regardless of immigration status.I'm no education expert, and I fully realize that many "studies" are simply stories fashioned around an agenda, and I realize that other factors may be involved, but it didn't take much work to find out that we've got a major problem.
"Twenty-five years ago there was a federal court decision that said, 'They're here,' " O'Connell said, emphasizing the federal mandates that require the state to provide a free, equal and appropriate public education for all.
Educating every student, regardless of origin, is not only required by law, but it's good for the state, O'Connell said.
"There's a reason we are the sixth- or seventh- largest economy in the world as a state, and that is our diversity," O'Connell said. "I think that's a strength."
One of the best ways to meet the needs of minority students in cities such as Oakland and Los Angeles where "more than 100 languages are spoken" is to hire minority teachers from the same background, O'Connell said.Of course, that will also have the effect of retarding assimilation, as well as helping create race-, ethnicity-, and country or state of origin-based centers of political power, but don't expect O'Connell to either be able to figure that out or to oppose it.
"If you want to understand the culture, the traditions, the language, the buying characteristics of those countries, hire people from there --- and they're already here," O'Connell said.
California · Wed, 04/18/2007 - 11:52 · Importance: 1
From this article [1]: _Californians' per capita income will drop 11 percent over the first two decades of this century unless the state closes the educational gap of its expanding Latino population, a nonpartisan research center forecast in a report released today. Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of the state's population and work force, and among the least-educated, said the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. According to 2000 census figures, in the 25-to-64 age group, 52 percent of Latinos lacked a high school diploma, compared with 8 percent of non-Latino whites, and 12 percent of Latinos had a college degree, compared with 46 percent of whites._ _CA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT JACK O\'CONNELL IS A POLITICALLY-CORRECT FOOL_ Since when was being one a hindrance to anyone's career? Realistically, he cannot afford to be anything else and still keep his job as a "public servant". Anyway, he's got plenty of company, which is why things are so bad, and getting worse all the time.
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[1] sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/BAG92FL9BD1.DTL&hw=egelko&sn=003&sc=777