Report Shows Silicon Valley Schools Failing To Prepare Latinos, Blacks For College
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – A new report is raising serious questions about how public schools in the Silicon Valley are doing when it comes to preparing minority students to go to college.
The report, 'Broken Promises: The Children Left Behind In Silicon Valley Schools,' from the education reform group Innovate Public Schools looked at all districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo County.
Innovate Public Schools Executive Director Matt Hammer said the study found 75 percent of Latino and African American students are not proficient in algebra by the 8th grade.
Report Questions How Well Silicon Valley Schools Are Preparing Minority Students
"And the numbers get worse in high school, where about 80 percent of Latino, African American and Pacific Islander children are not graduating in four years with the credits to get into a state university," he said.
But Hammer said the news is not all gloomy as some schools are making marked progress and they share a common culture when it comes to education.
"A number of the top schools that came out in our study are schools where there is just this uncompromising culture among the adults in the school that every child is going to make it," said Hammer.
According to the report, many of the public schools that have had the greatest success serving Latino students are charter schools, with six showing high percentages of college-ready Latino graduates.
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