BY DANIEL G. SOL0RZANO

The California educational system is letting gifted Latina students fall through the cracks. Given the size and continuing growth of this population, the schools are also undermining the future viability of our state’s economy and social infrastructure.

Today, Latinas account for half of all female children entering public education, but they will also experience a dropout rate three times higher than their white peers. Thus, by the time they reach college age, Latina students constitute only 9% of undergraduates in the University of California system.

In a study that I co-authored with four Latina education students, we discovered that Latina high school students have limited access to the academic enhancement programs that will increase their likelihood of college admission. Though Latinas constitute 43% of girls enrolled in California public schools, they represent only 21% of the girls enrolled in Gifted and Talented Education programs (GATE). Conversely, white females make up 36% of the female student population and 52% of all girls in GATE.

What makes these disparities even more problematic is that current procedures used to identify “gifted” students are at the discretion of school districts, schools and teachers. There is little to no state oversight of the student eligibility standards or of the procedures for evaluating student success in the program. Such a situation raises more questions than it provides answers, since there are no safeguards in place to ensure equity, fairness and consistency for access to these important educational programs.

Educators like to talk about the educational pipeline. But in California there are actually two pipelines, separate and unequal, producing shocking disparities between the Latino and non-Latino populations. For Latinas, the route is filled with leakages and blockages. Latina students often face a lack of qualified teachers and adequate instructional materials, find themselves tracked into remedial instruction, and experience significant school segregation in underfunded schools.

Latinas are in a painful Catch-22. First, they are denied access to academic enhancement programs, and now university outreach efforts are expected to be cut by 50% next year. In short, Latinas are being “gated out” of receiving the same educational opportunities as their white peers. Outreach to underrepresented populations cannot remain at the margin of UC’s mission.

The American Civil Liberties Union, as part of its Latina Rights Project, originally commissioned our study. In the end, the courts might offer the only viable option unless educators and legislators are willing to examine the policies and other factors that produce such stark educational inequities.

In 2002, Latina/o students were 14% of those admitted to UCLA. While these numbers have increased ever so slightly over the last five years, they are not in proportion to the dramatic growth of the Latina/o K-12 population in California. By 2008, Latinas and Latinos will become the majority of the California K-12 student population. But how many will have been given an education that prepares them to go on to college? The future of our state will be determined by the answer to that question.

Solorzano is professor and chair of the Department of Education and the Faculty Advisory Committee of the Chicano Studies Research Center. His policy brief can be obtained from aztlan@csrc.ucla.edu.