Ignoring Latino input may harm ELL curriculum, some say

There is neither time nor a reason to slow down a plan to update the English language arts and reading curriculum for public schools in Texas, State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy said Wednesday, March 19, 2008, 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,” Representative 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. Read the article in The Houston Chronicle online.