Thread: Segel: Education Is Not King Along the Texas-Mexico Border

Segel: Education Is Not King Along the Texas-Mexico Border

By Thomas Segel
December 21, 2010 6:52 AM
5 Comments

Americans have just received a report from the U.S. Census Bureau that those of us living along the border feel are decades late in being released. The majority of Texas counties along the border with Mexico have the least educated population in the nation. From Brownsville to El Paso, county after county claim to have populations where large percentages of residents have less than a high school diploma.

In the Rio Grande Valley, Starr County ranks at the top of the list among counties with less than 50% of the people more than 25 years of age who have obtained a high school diploma. Just over 46% of the residents over 25 years of age have completed high school. However, it should also be noted that county improved its educational level by 12 points in the past ten years.

In the Brownsville or Cameron County reporting area 62 percent of adults over age 25 have graduated from high school. El Paso County in the far west of Texas has about 69% of its adults in the high school graduation category.

This may come as a big surprise to most of America. For those of us who make the border communities our home, it is something we have been telling anyone who would listen for decades. Not only is the border area under educated, it is also under employed. Poverty seems to be the rule along the border, not the exception. Almost a third of the population in Border Counties can report family incomes of less than $25,000 a year. It should also be noted that most of this is predominately a Hispanic population that has settled in the border region as a gateway address in the United States. By an overwhelming majority, these immigrants have arrived from Mexico seeking to improve their lives. The people come from a country, which until very recently only mandated a sixth grade education.

The media and Washington's liberal wonks keep lamenting that Texas could solve the state's under-education problem by "investing" more in the educational process. These same people have not even taken the time to discover more than 44% of the Lone Star State's total revenue is devoted to educating its people.

America, in this high-tech age cannot afford to have a huge segment of its population lacking the multiple skills it takes to prosper. At a time when even entry level jobs require people to have computer skills, mathematical ability and advanced reading levels, those lacking the same fall by the wayside.

For the 36 years I have lived and worked in the Rio Grande Valley, this problem of under education and under employment has been a major concern in every city and town. Have things improved? Very little, if at all. For example, working with an organization that addresses the poverty problem, "Loves and Fishes of the Rio Grande Valley", I have seen the facility grow from a small storefront where those in need obtained a single meal during the working week, to a center where the charity provides shelter for homeless individuals and families, feeds 13,000 meals a month seven days a week, passes out food bags to needy families, educates people in computer skills and GED requirements, has a continuing job shop, hosts a family emergency agency and is also the headquarters for a family crisis center.

Why do such conditions exist you might ask? Could the reason be lack of border enforcement and the runaway problem of illegal immigration? The reader may note we have not even addressed Mexico's drug wars that are driving more and more of its population northward. Nor have we touched on the increased crime rate in border communities that is a direct result of under education, under employment, illegal immigration and narcotics.

In the United States, education was always King. Then the political left of the country decided it would be easier to control the masses if they could dumb down everyone by degrading the learning process. We now have dropped to 18th among developed countries educating its people. The migration problem that keeps growing along our southern border is doing nothing to improve that standing.

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/2010/1 ... border.php

Very good article! Why is it we can't figure this one out. Our education is going south because this country is filling with so many illegals who don"t want to be educated. As an educator, I can't count the number of times I have looked at incoming 9th graders records and see "from Mexico, no formal education." Then we have 3 years to get them to pass State testing and 4 years to graduate. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE! But our government figures if we throw money at the problem it will magically go away. Meanwhile we dumb down classroom education so the bottom who have never been to school and don't want to learn, can catch up to the top. School can always brag that they are closing the gap, but how many bright minds who come to school eager to learn are being lost in the cracks?

Originally Posted by bigtex

Very good article! Why is it we can't figure this one out. Our education is going south because this country is filling with so many illegals who don"t want to be educated. As an educator, I can't count the number of times I have looked at incoming 9th graders records and see "from Mexico, no formal education." Then we have 3 years to get them to pass State testing and 4 years to graduate. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE! But our government figures if we throw money at the problem it will magically go away. Meanwhile we dumb down classroom education so the bottom who have never been to school and don't want to learn, can catch up to the top. School can always brag that they are closing the gap, but how many bright minds who come to school eager to learn are being lost in the cracks?

I helped teach older kids in grade school basic addition like 1+1=2 and 2+2=4. We used to give them papers to draw on so the rest of the class could get an education as many of these kids either refused to or couldn't do the work. They were very good at drawing gang signs!

Originally Posted by bigtex

Very good article! Why is it we can't figure this one out. Our education is going south because this country is filling with so many illegals who don"t want to be educated. As an educator, I can't count the number of times I have looked at incoming 9th graders records and see "from Mexico, no formal education." Then we have 3 years to get them to pass State testing and 4 years to graduate. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE! But our government figures if we throw money at the problem it will magically go away. Meanwhile we dumb down classroom education so the bottom who have never been to school and don't want to learn, can catch up to the top. School can always brag that they are closing the gap, but how many bright minds who come to school eager to learn are being lost in the cracks?

As a former school director, my heart goes out to the dedicated teachers who are forced to mainstream these children. We have a 15% Latino attendance in our local school district.....but the weekly sheriffs blotter tells a huge tale. I don't think I could live in southern California....even in a gated community.

Originally Posted by Mayday

I helped teach older kids in grade school basic addition like 1+1=2 and 2+2=4. We used to give them papers to draw on so the rest of the class could get an education as many of these kids either refused to or couldn't do the work. They were very good at drawing gang signs!

This would be nice is we could do something like this but will the stakes being so high with the TAKS test we only have 3 years to get illegals signed up in LPAC classes to be ready to take and pass this test. Other wise school are subject to being shut down, lose state and federal funding and have teachers and administrators fired. There is not choice but to dumb education down so the bottom 3/4 are able to minimally pass the TAKS while the rest will take care of them selves. In fact, we have "experts" tell us that that is the key to the school as a whole passing, concentrate on those who are at risk of failing and the rest will pass.

Originally Posted by bigtex

Originally Posted by Mayday

I helped teach older kids in grade school basic addition like 1+1=2 and 2+2=4. We used to give them papers to draw on so the rest of the class could get an education as many of these kids either refused to or couldn't do the work. They were very good at drawing gang signs!

This would be nice is we could do something like this but will the stakes being so high with the TAKS test we only have 3 years to get illegals signed up in LPAC classes to be ready to take and pass this test. Other wise school are subject to being shut down, lose state and federal funding and have teachers and administrators fired. There is not choice but to dumb education down so the bottom 3/4 are able to minimally pass the TAKS while the rest will take care of them selves. In fact, we have "experts" tell us that that is the key to the school as a whole passing, concentrate on those who are at risk of failing and the rest will pass.

I don't know if this is true in your school or not but in the school where I used to work a lot of teachers taught to the tests these kids would take all year long so that they would look good.

Originally Posted by Mayday

I don't know if this is true in your school or not but in the school where I used to work a lot of teachers taught to the tests these kids would take all year long so that they would look good.

VERY true. Still going on.