Jerome Torres is the former senior policy analyst for the San Diego Unified school board. He is a consultant for San Diegans 4 Great Schools, which is campaigning for a makeover in how the school board is chosen. Torres is the first in a series of guest bloggers I'm hosting at Schooledthis week to talk about the achievement gap for Latino students in San Diego; check back tomorrow and later this week for more perspectives. These are his views, not mine or those of voiceofsandiego.org. Comments? Questions? You can contact Jerome at jotorres22@msn.com or just post a comment on the blog.
The continuing failure of San Diego Unified School District to address the needs of its largest and growing population is growing into a crisis.
Today, Latino students comprise 46 percent of the total student population — 61,000 strong. Addressing the prevailing academic achievement gap between Latino students and their white counterparts has evolved from a moral imperative to an economic one. We are literally risking the future viability of the greater San Diego region if we don't