Latino Students Lobby Legislators

By Editor Ken Harvey

Hundreds of Latino students attending the recent LEAP conference lobbied legislators to pass programs that will help them and others to achieve the American Dream.

The students met with legislators and testified before legislative committees to promote their cause. Before they went to the Capitol, Hispanic leaders explained some of the legislative issues that would impact Latinos.

Altogether 467 students, educators, parents and government leaders participated in the conference -- nearly double the previous record, says LEAP Executive Director Cristina Gaeta.

"Our top priority this year," said Ricardo Sanchez, chairman of the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project (LEAP), "is we want the government to invest in future bilingual teachers."

While 12.2% of all Washington students are Latino, only 2.1% of the teachers are Latino. Having bilingual teachers in a school "does make a difference" to Latino students, said Mr. Sanchez.

According to Dr. Tom Stritikus, assistant professor at the University of Washington, "Teachers who possess bilingual and bicultural skills are able to build upon students' prior knowledge, serve as role models for immigrant students, and connect directly to communities from which diverse students come. Two decades of research evidence has documented that the use of students' native language and culture has a positive impact on student achievement."

And since Latinos are by far the fastest-growing ethnic group in the state - growing by 405% between 1971 and 2003 while the number of white non-Hispanic students declined by 2% -- and since language, poverty and other challenges are causing Latinos to lag behind other groups in their WASL test scores, an increase in bilingual teachers could eventually have a powerful impact.

Even on the short-term, proposal could give today's high school students something to shoot for. "Giving these kids hope is the short-term strategy," Mr. Sanchez says.

Antonio Ginatta, former executive director of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs and now on Gov. Gregoire's staff, also spoke to the students prior to their lobbying efforts.

"We want bilingual teachers who can talk to recently arrived students and their parents," he said.

With the state facing a $2.2 billion budget deficit, LEAP has offered to help raise donations for teacher scholarships and match the state dollar for dollar to provide $1 million in funding over the next two years.

"Even if we don't meet our goal to raise $500,000, at least we try," said Mr. Sanchez. "If we don't try, that's the only way we fail, and we fail future generations of children, as well.

"Things in this system do not change quickly, and they don't change easily," he said. "It takes work, and It takes time."

But changes, he said, need desperately to be made.

"If state policies stay the same, 2/3 of the students won't be graduating in 2008," Mr. Sanchez said. "Different strategies are needed."

LEAP feels an increase in bilingual teachers is the most cost-effective thing the state can do.

Mr. Ginatta told students to tell legislators who they are, where they're from, what problem concerns them, and what can be done about it - what legislation is needed.

But the most important thing students can do, he said, is tell their own story. "Tell how the problem affects you and people you know."

Mr. Sanchez urged students to be respectful as they meet with lawmakers.

"If you want to be confrontational, do it somewhere else at some other time," he said. "If you are disrespectful, they will go in and say, 'Remind me never to vote for their issues and to never set an appointment with them again."

"Last year," said Sandra Linde, "this was the largest group to visit the legislative delegation, and it made a big impression."

At the Capitol, several students and Mr. Sanchez testified before the House Higher Education Committee about the importance of the Gear Up program in preparing ethnic students for college. The program provides direct early intervention services to students in grades 7 through 12 and their families.

Currently the program provides year-round services to 1,200 Washington students and outreach activities for another 5,000. Services include academic planning and tutoring, field trips to colleges in the region, information about financial aid, career advisement, and mentoring.

Students who remain active in the program also qualify for college scholarships of over $4,000 per year.

The result of the program, Mr. Sanchez said, is that 73% of the Washington Gear Up graduates enroll in college, as opposed to only 35% of all other students from similar low-income backgrounds.

Raul Castro, a Wapato senior, has been involved with the program for five years. He told the committee, "Gear Up has helped me a lot. It helped me develop more people skills. ... I'm hoping now to pursue a degree as a pediatrician."

Alice Whitney was a single mom when her children started the program.

"I'm happy my children were able to experience this," she told the committee.

The program, along with a previous LEAP conference, inspired Ms. Whitney, as well, as she returned to college and became a teacher. Now married, she and her husband help sponsor other children in the Gear Up program.

The $2.7 to $3.5 million the federal government has been providing for the program is in jeopardy with proposed federal cutbacks.

The program is needed, Mr. Sanchez said. "It really gives kids hope that they can go to college - that they need not despair."

Guadalupe Contreras, a junior from Pasco High School, and Rosa Orozco, a senior at New Horizon High School also in Pasco, testified before a Senate committee in favor of SB 5938 - legislation calling for creation of a "joint select committee on equitable opportunity for all." The joint committee is to analyze the impact of "poverty, educational opportunity of parents, recent immigration, family mobility, society and institutional bias, and the fact that English is not the primary language in many homes" in creating the academic achievement gap between ethnic and white students. The joint committee, if approved, is to produce a report on what efforts should be made to mitigate these factors.

Rosa told legislators that Latinos need a good education so "our kids can look up to us. We need to be educated so we can help them." She noted that her father dropped out of school after third grade. "I want to be something more. Not only do I desire that, but everyone deserves that. This is important for everyone."

Guadalupe says such challenges as lack of support from parents are difficult to overcome, but the proposed joint committee could help clarify the issues that relate to the achievement gap.

Later that night Mr. Sanchez introduced Guadalupe and Rosa to conference participants and said, "In our student voices, there is some remarkable wisdom."

Rosa said, "I felt nervous. I felt scared. It was a risk I took. I said a prayer to God, 'Please don't let me choke.' Now I feel great. It was important; it is our future. Taking a risk can change your life; it can change your future."

Guadalupe speaks English very well despite only being in the U.S. for one year, and she went from a Mexican high school with 18 students to Pasco High School with 1,800.

"I know the effort my parents are making, and they don't want me to have to pick cherries," she said. "I know many of us suffer from illegal status, but we want to make this country better."

"That is the future of our state," Mr. Sanchez said, "and they represent us very well."

Rep. Don Cox of Colfax met with students and told them educational issues are vital if America is going to continue to compete effectively on the world market.

"It's up to you," he said. "You need to know as much and be able to solve problems better."

He feels the state is moving in the right direction, but students need to "renew your efforts and never give up."

Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez-Kenney said "hard-working Latino families are less likely to go to college." But with the right education, she told the students, "you can be the next doctors; you can be the next teachers; you can be the president of the United States. .. You are going to continue to work. You're going to continue to fight. And you are going to succeed."

The day before going to the Capitol, the teen-agers were trained as to how the U.S. system of government works and how they can impact legislation.

In one workshop, titled "Civics 101, Mr. Sanchez and LEAP Executive Director Cristina Gaeta discussed local, state and federal government. They were assisted by Sunnyside City Councilwoman Bengie Aguilar, Yakima School Board member Vicki Ybarra, and Yvonne Lopez-Morton and Uriel Iñiguez of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs (CHA).

All of the speakers urged the students to get involved in government.

"All politics are local," Mr. Sanchez told students. "To get involved, you don't have to come to Olympia, and you don't have to go to Washington, D.C. It all starts at home."

Elections and issues relating to city councils and school boards have major impact on every citizen, the teens were told. But even the federal government is controlled by Congressmen who are elected locally and then go to the capital to represent their local constituents.

Ms. Aguilar estimated that there are no more than 20 Latinos serving among the thousands on city council's around the state. Similarly low numbers of Latinos serve on the hundreds of local school boards around the state. Yet these elected councils determine how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ms. Ybarra noted that Yakima School District's annual budget, for example, is about $123 million.

"They have a lot of authority to determine how to allocate their resources," Mr. Sanchez said.

At the state level, laws, policies and budgets are all set by the state Legislature, made up of two bodies - the House of Representatives and the Senate. One senator and two representatives are elected to represent each of the 49 districts around the state.

Mr. Iñiguez said that as he has taken Latinos around the Capitol, they have been surprised.

"They didn't know they could talk to their legislators," he said. "We can have a lot of influence - especially since we are the largest ethnic group in the state."

"We need to be running for office, and we need to speak up and not be timid," Ms. Lopez-Morton added.

"If you have the passion, nothing will stand in the way," said Mr. Iñiguez.

Ms. Gaeta said LEAP is one of the most effective organizations Latinos can support.

"Before LEAP was here, there was no one to put our educational issues before the Legislature," she said.

Students, parents and public officials activated by LEAP lobbied successfully for the Resident Tuition Bill, which allows undocumented youths who grow up in the state and graduate from Washington schools to pay in-state rather than out-of-state tuition, explained Mr. Sanchez.

But additional legislation is needed, he said.

Perhaps most important is the federal DREAM Act being considered by Congress.

"The DREAM Act would allow college students to gain immediate temporary legal residency," Mr. Sanchez said. And after two years in college they can apply for permanent legal residency.

"We have to be strong enough and resilient enough to convince our Congressmen that this is the right thing to do," he said.

The Latino students also participated in a legislative reception the night prior to their Capitol visit.

Rep. Dave Quall of Mt. Vernon told students, "You may be the first generation of your families that will go to college. That's why we need this scholarship money."

Rep. Janea Holmquist of Moses Lake, the youngest legislator, said, "I'm so excited to see so many students here participating in the political process."

She predicted that at least one student in the room would someday return as an elected official.

Rep. John Ahern of Spokane encouraged students to be politically active. "Just jump in if you feel like running for office someday."