McCaskey alumna / NY teacher on Latino drop out rate

"The Latino high school dropout rate is disturbing" said your paper which I read 11/15/08.

The fact that 50% of all Latinos drop out of school before graduation is not a local problem. I graduated from McCaskey many years ago and have been teaching in New York for nearly fifteen years. My high school is 80% Latino and the dropout rate is even higher than 50%. And we have great competitive sports.

Yes, sports teams can help keep students in school -- to a minimal degree. But the real problem lies with the Latino value system -- their attitude toward education and their community.

As long as we remain politically correct by encouraging diversity to the point that groups become entrenched in a system of system of exclusion the high dropout rate will continue. What needs to be done is to teach the values of mainstream America and encourage all groups to join American society as equal and informed members.

Yes, there are standard American values which need to be taught. I've done it as an English and English as a Second Language teacher. It's very difficult to do this in New York. However, Lancaster is in a much better position to do so.

I suggest that you start by providing instruction on American values in the classroom to the students and at community centers and churches where you can help the Latino parents better understand the society they have chosen to enter.