Meet Thomas and Amalia

Kevin P. Chavous: Hispanic and Latino communities represent the second largest ethnic group in the United States, and they account for more than a quarter of our nation’s students. But does our education system reflect the rich diversity that exists within our schools, are English language learners getting the support they need to thrive inside the classroom and out?

And are Hispanic and Latino cultures being adequately represented in the push for greater equality in our curriculum? Are we doing enough to prepare for an influx of Hispanic and Latino students? And how can we ensure that these students feel welcome when they walk through our school doors. This is what I want to know.

The Hispanic and Latino population is growing by leaps and bounds in this country. According to the 2020 census, half of the population growth in this country, in the United States, was in the Hispanic and Latino population, and now one fourth of all American school age students are Hispanic and Latino students.

What does the census tell us about this new reality, and how can we avoid what you experience in terms of the acceptability?

Thomas A. Saenz: I think the story is not just in the magnitude of the numbers that you’ve described. And how they play out in public schools because the Latino population nationwide is younger than other populations.

So there are more school age kids in the Latino population and even more preschool age kids in the Latino population in comparison to others. So what you’re describing is going to become even more pronounced in our public schools in future years. But I think the other story is how broadly distributed across the country the Latino population is now, and that’s been true and going on for the last quarter century or more.

Certainly when MALDEF, the organization that I have the honor of leading was founded in 1968, you could fairly describe the Latino population in the United States as regional.

Kevin P. Chavous: Yeah.

Thomas A. Saenz: Concentrated in the Southwest from Texas to California with pockets in Chicago, New York City, and South Florida, but a regional minority population. But what the census confirms is that Latinos are now present in significant numbers in every region and virtually every state in the country. And that is the challenge because states like California, states like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona that have long had significant minority populations.
Student populations from the Latino community are better prepared to address some of those issues far from perfect. There’s still lots of work to be done, as you know, even in those systems, but I have concerns about some of the systems where this is a newer phenomenon, having significant numbers of Latino kids states in the southeast.

States in portions of the Midwest, states in the Northeast, where there is not that experience, you have to be concerned about whether those schools are prepared to take the steps necessary to ensure that they’re serving that growing population.

Kevin P. Chavous: It seems like there are more and more, even in the wake of the pandemic, more and more of these kind of sort of single bullet efforts to throw a dart in the face of equality and equitable treatment. How do we deal with that?

Thomas A. Saenz: The fact is that what the pandemic forced upon our public education system, namely remote learning, has had racially disparate effects on our student body. And we now have to engage with real creativity, but most importantly, with real clear direction to address those inequities.

We really have to be talking nationwide about what compensatory education is essential because it is essential to make up for what occurred over the last year and a half because of the pandemic. We’ve got to acknowledge the racial disparities and we’ve got to invest our efforts in a way that addresses those disparities. If you don’t, if you don’t call out the problem and define it accurately, you’re never going to solve it. And this reluctance to accurately and openly talk about racial inequity is an ongoing problem.

Kevin P. Chavous: We talked about government structure when it comes to the acceptability of the growing number of Hispanic and Latino students. I want to talk to you about moving hearts and minds. So this is what I really want to know. How do we gain cultural acceptance of Hispanic and Latino students in America’s schools?

Thomas A. Saenz: Well, I think it starts with increasing knowledge of that community and its history, the history of Latinos in this country, even though, as I said, 50 some years ago, we were a regional population. It’s deep and long, and it is full of commitment to the United States. So that’s really shared across whether you’re a citizen or not, how long your family has been here, how many generations, or how many days you’ve been here. And we need to take that shared commitment and make sure everyone understands it.

There’s too many who have demographic fear. So we have to take away that threat with that factual basis, the historical basis of commitment. And I think we also have to ensure that leadership is not seeking to exploit that demographic fear in irresponsible ways. That’s what we saw with Donald Trump, but it wasn’t new.

You mentioned Proposition 187 in California. We saw it with Pete Wilson. He exploited demographic fear of the growing Latino community to secure his own reelection as governor. Jan Brewer in Arizona used SB 1070, another anti immigrant, infamous anti-immigrant measure, She used demographic fear of the growth of the Latino population in Arizona to secure her election as governor.

She had succeeded to the position when Janet Napolitano left. Donald Trump did the same at a nationwide level. That’s why he launched his campaign, as you recall, in the middle of 2015, with a slur against all Mexican immigrants, that they were criminals and murderers and rapists. That was all. And that was an ongoing theme that was all about seeking to exploit that demographic fear.
We’ve got to end that. We’ve got to put more of our outreach and education on understanding our common shared philosophies, our common shared commitments to the future.

Amalia Chamorro: I am leading education policy at all levels from early childhood to K 12 and higher education for the largest Latino civil rights organization in the U. S. That is a professional dream come true, but it’s also something that is very personal to me and my day to day really varies, which is what keeps things challenging and exciting, is that every day there’s a new battle or fight.

To achieve education equity for students that have been historically marginalized in the system. And so I do a lot of work at the federal level in terms of working with Congress members and staff on the Hill to influence policy, budgetary decisions, as well as with the administration at the department of education in issuing guidance and putting forth administrative policies.

That are going to help the most students in need and all of that is especially critical at this time when we have been in the pandemic really for a lot longer than people thought a year and a half, we’re about to enter the third school year under the pandemic. And in fact, many schools have already started.
And that’s really elevated the inequities that already exist in existed in the education system and the achievement gaps that have widened as a result of the last year and a half.

Kevin P. Chavous: What are the needs that must be addressed in our schools to make sure that the diverse needs of learners that you represent are being met.

Amalia Chamorro: There’s definitely a need for equitable funding and resources to make sure that the schools and the students with the highest need and that have the highest rates of poverty actually receive the most funding.

Kevin P. Chavous: So, Malia, let me unpack that because I know what you’re talking about, but a lot of times people say was not about money, but what do you mean by equitable funding? Because our schools funded the same anyway or not,

Amalia Chamorro: That’s not actually how it plays out. And we have a lot of data that shows that even though funding is supposed to go towards title one schools, which are the schools with the highest population of students with poverty when you see that the resources that come from the federal government and that trickle down to the state and local levels is the schools with the most privileged populations with the most resources that actually garner the most and we have long fought for transparency in terms of how that funding is allocated to make sure that it’s actually targeted to support the students with the most needs and that that includes English learners, most of whom are Latino English learners, like myself, most of whom are Latino and for whom there has been an underinvestment in targeted support at the federal level, the state and local level as well.

Kevin P. Chavous: Are today’s teachers properly trained to be able to assist with the academic needs? And the immersion of Hispanic, Latino learners in schools.

Amalia Chamorro: So that’s definitely an area where we could do better. Even during the pandemic, when schools pivoted pretty much overnight to remote learning, the U S department of education had already issued a report that found that English learner teachers had actually received less professional development in remote instruction, and obviously that’s something that had an impact as schools switch to remote.

So not only professional development, but also in terms of just preparation in teaching programs and credentials for English teacher for English learner teachers, but also for all general teachers, because most teachers will see an English learner students in their lifetime at some point in the classroom. And so it’s really important that teacher preparation programs also institute those kinds of practices that are linguistically and culturally relevant into their practice.

Kevin P. Chavous: Let me ask you one other question about the academics because this idea of assessments and standardized tests and how you measure a student’s progress, for immigrant students, students that come from other countries like you did, if they don’t have the support, it may take them a little time to get acclimated.

And this sort of above-the-line, below-the-line measurement based on one test or a certain period of time, it’s not always fair to the students and sometimes it doesn’t always recognize some growth. So how did, what is your view about how we should look at standardized tests as it relates to this population of students?

Amalia Chamorro: Sure. Yeah. And, you know, standardized tests are one way to measure progress and student success. We have actually been advocating for native language assessments, which are encouraged under federal law in the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is the overarching K 12 federal law.
But there is no federal funding necessarily to help states either adopt these programs or scale them up. We have been working in the state of Florida, for example, where you have not only very a significant population of Latino Spanish speaking students and immigrant families coming from places like Venezuela, for example, but you also have a significant Haitian Creole population.

And so we have actually been working in partnership to try to pass a bill there, where the state would adopt a native language assessments program. Whereas students that are native Spanish speakers or native Creole speakers can actually take those assessments in their native language, which would give us a more meaningful read an accurate read in terms of where the what level they are actually at academically and math and science in particular.

And so just making sure that we have an NLA program. Would help to both put a better spotlight on where these students are at to make sure that they are properly placed in that we are making sure that they receive the supports and proper instruction to continue their education.

Kevin P. Chavous: It seems to me that policymakers should be adjusting some of their historical views on this issue to meet the growing population of the students that need help. So, Amalia, this is what I really want to know. If you had to share one important message to policymakers about the needs of Hispanic and Latino students, what would that be?

Amalia Chamorro: Well, what I would say first and foremost is that Latino students are worth making an investment on because we are the future workforce of the U. S. And we are growing in numbers. And it’s important to make sure that we have an education trajectory.

Kevin P. Chavous: Well, Amalia Chamorro. I appreciate your work. Thanks for listening to what I want to know. Be sure to follow and subscribe to the show on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. So you can explore other episodes and dive into our discussions on the future of education and write a review of the show. I also encourage you to join the conversation and let me know what you want to know using hashtag WIWTK on social media. That’s hashtag W I W T K. For more information on Stride and online education, visit stridelearning.com. I’m your host, Kevin P. Chavis. Thank you for joining What I Want to Know.
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