Texas: State panel rejects Latino call for input on curriculum. No more time to alter policy for English and reading, state chair insists

[Harold Schiffman]

March 19, 2008, 11:22PM
State panel rejects Latino call for input on curriculum
No more time to alter policy for English and reading, state chair insists


By GARY SCHARRER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau


AUSTIN — There is neither time nor a reason to slow down a plan to
update the English language arts and reading curriculum for public
schools, State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy said Wednesday
after a Texas lawmaker pleaded for input from Hispanic experts.
Hispanic children now make up a large plurality of the 4.7 million
students attending Texas public schools.
"There is no way that ignoring such a sizable chunk of this population
from consideration of education policy will do anything but harm the
opportunity of a generation," Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown, told
McLeroy and a four-member board subcommittee. Herrero represented the
House Mexican American Legislative Caucus, which has asked McLeroy to
include experts in Latino culture before adopting a final document. He
and other advocates did not have specific examples of how a lack of
such experts may have resulted in omissions in the newly released
document.


Preliminary vote coming
The board plans a public hearing Wednesday and will take a preliminary
vote March 27 on new curriculum standards that will influence new
textbooks for the 2009-10 school year. Mary Helen Berlanga, the senior
member of the State Board of Education, said the refusal of her
colleagues to include Latino experts in developing the new curriculum
amounted to malice. "It's ignorance on their part," Berlanga said
after the subcommittee signaled its intent to stick to a schedule and
not call in Hispanic experts.

"We're trying to teach (minority children) English language arts, and
all we want is someone who has researched these children and their
learning styles to find out where they are deficient and where we can
help them," Berlanga, of Corpus Christi, said. "We can save a whole
population of children.

"It makes no sense except that there is malice and individuals who
want to see that the Texas public (school) system fails individuals
(and) who are not interested in seeing minorities progress,"she said.

McLeroy, of Bryan, said he was shocked by accusations that he and some
board members are trying to shortchange Hispanic students.

"There's no malice at all, none, zip, nada. There's just no time to
get another expert in," he said after the meeting. "None of us would
do anything to hurt any group of children or any (individual) child.
What we want is for them to be successful in the English language
because it's so important."


No wholesale changes
Of the 4.7 million children attending Texas public schools this year,
Hispanics make up 47 percent, Anglos 35 percent and African-Americans
14 percent, according to the Texas Education Agency.

The number of Hispanic children will continue to increase. Among the
1.5 million children enrolled in kindergarten through third grades,
Hispanics make up 49.6 percent and whites 33 percent.

Teachers and other English language and reading experts can offer
comments on the 78-page proposal at the public hearing next week.
There has been plenty of opportunity for various experts to provide
input earlier, McLeroy said.

"If there's something that could cause a certain group to stumble, I
think we ought to fix it," he said.

But a wholesale substitution or even major changes no longer are
possible, McLeroy said, adding, "We should have had this done a long
time ago."

Lawrence Allen Jr., of Houston, the only minority member on the
subcommittee, supported the call for experts in Latino culture to
review the document.

"It's a simple request, one that we need to meet to satisfy such a
large population of our state," he said.

Cindy Tyroff, an English language arts and reading expert in San
Antonio's Northside Independent School District, said it will take
some time to assess the proposal.

But she said it is not an exaggeration "to say it's always prudent to
have lots of eyes and people with lots of expertise" involving in
writing a new curriculum.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5634125.html

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