Meeting on Hispanic education set in NLV

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

Education Secretary Rod Paige will host a town hall meeting in North Las Vegas Wednesday to tell Hispanic families about new opportunities to help their children succeed in school.

North Las Vegas is Paige's fourth stop on a nationwide tour to promote the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Signed by President Bush in January, the law calls for better accountability by states and school districts and stronger efforts to close the minority achievement gap.

The new law will provide hundreds of millions of dollars in extra funding for reading programs, according to an Education Department spokeswoman. School districts also will have more flexibility in spending federal dollars on tutoring and summer programs for struggling students, the spokeswoman said.

The town hall, which will be held at Rancho High School, will be conducted in both Spanish and English, said Leslie Sanchez, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

"We want to be sure the underserved communities hear the message that help is on the way," Sanchez said Monday.

Clark County schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia is also expected to attend the town hall.

Hispanics drop out at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in the Clark County School District -- more than 8 percent of the enrolled Hispanic students dropped out in 2000-2001. School administrators say they must fight to find money for special programs to serve the soaring number of students who struggle with the English language.

The fastest-growing segment of the nation's public education system, Hispanics have the lowest rate of participation in early childhood education programs and the highest high school dropout rate, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. More than 30 percent of Hispanics drop out of school, twice the rate of black students and nearly four times the rate of white students.

Other featured speakers at the town hall meeting will be U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, the first immigrant to hold the federal office, and Peter Gallagher, chief excecutive of America's Promise. Jaime Escalante, whose success teaching mathematics to Hispanic students at a failing school was portrayed in the film "Stand and Deliver," is also expected to attend.

The town hall will be held at Rancho High School's gymnasium at 1900 Owens Ave., between Bruce Street and Eastern Avenue. The doors will open with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the town hall at 6:30 p.m.