HispanicVista Columnists
The Value Question in the Education of Latinos
By Manuel Hernandez
April 5, 2006
copyrights 2006 @Manuel Hernandez
Within the American core value system,
education ranks extremely high. While I grew up in a close knit Puerto Rican
family in Sleepy Hollow, New York, in the late 1960's and early 1970's, my
teachers imparted education as the most important value in American society.
But when my family moved back to their homeland, the Island of Puerto Rico,
in 1974, I immediately felt the shift in value system.
As a pre-adolescent in the sixth grade at an elementary school
in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, I wanted to excel in school, but classmates and
teachers alike described my attitude as shameful and egotistic. Even my best
friend nicknamed me "soberbia" (excessive pride). It was not that education
was not valued, but family, friendship and religion were above the value of
an education.
For hundreds of thousands of Latino families that migrate to the
United States, there are other values that do not necessarily substitute
education but undermine its position in the value scale of the education of
Latinos. There is a lot of talk about the potential of Latinos in America.
From the world of politics to the world of music and entertainment, Latinos
have become groundbreakers, frontrunners and pioneers. But education must
move up the scale of values to further upgrade economic development and
social mobility.
The overwhelming impact of the Latino family ("familia") and its
constituents is without reasonable doubt one of the most important values in
the American Latino family. When it is time to decide whether to leave
family behind for a college education or register in a school out of town or
out of state with a better reputation in the field, there is much more than
finances and scholarships to consider.
There is no doubt that we are gaining ground. According to an
article by Matthew Pinzur from the Miami Herald, in Miami, advanced
placement scores for Latinos are higher than ever. Miami-Dade had the
largest number of Latino students passing the test recently. This is good
news, and I applaud every local and national effort in the improvement of
the academic enhancement of our children, but we must refocus and redesign a
vision in education and transform education into our most powerful value.
Why not take advantage of those who have done exactly that and present them
as role models to those five million Latino children who are in American
schools today?
We do not have to reinvent the past to make a dent in our children's
values, but we need to act now, tomorrow may be too late. Only then will we
guarantee the legacy not only as the largest minority in the United States,
but also as a people that redefined the education of our children and
generations to come.
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Hernandez lives in Naguabo, Puerto Rico and enjoys spending his free time
with his beautiful wife, Maria and his seventeen-year old son, Jose Manuel
and his newborn son, Josue Esteban. He is a disciple at Abundant Life Church
in Fajardo. Also visit:
http://www.puertoricans.com/
(Editor's note: Manuel Hernandez created a Yahoogroup for the discussion of
literature and education. HispanicVista highly recommends this effort and
urges its readers to join and participate. Write to Manuel at:
mannyh32@yahoo.com or visit and join at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/latinoliterature