Thursday, June 25, 2009
The academic downfall of Harding School has nothing to do with teachers, administrators, or the curriculum, but everything to do with students and their parents [“Mission Impossible,” 6/4/09]. Whereas before the majority white population could respond successfully to age-related academic demands, the current majority Latino population must first overcome a substantial deficiency in the English language. The fault lies directly with parents, who themselves seldom speak English at a high enough level to encourage their children to do the same. Moreover, Latinos parents do not instill in their children an appreciation for the value of education, a situation most evident in the high dropout rate and subsequent low percentage of Latino students who obtain a high school diploma compared with other ethnic groups. It is thus no wonder that white parents transfer their children from a basic remediation environment to a more stimulating and challenging setting. — Tom Woodring