Boosting Latino Representation Where It Counts

Boosting Latino Representation Where It Counts
Miguel Martinez, center, education and science commissioner at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C., gestures as he talks with Carol Lark, assistant superintendent of Clark County School District, and Roger Gonzalez, director of licensed personnel of Clark County School District of Las Vegas, outside the Royal Alcazar where they are attending a bilingual teaching Seminar in Seville, Spain, Monday, Nov. 7, 2005. School administrators brainstormed Tuesday with their Spanish counterparts on how to provide world-class bilingual education to Nevada, hungry for teachers as it copes with a growing Hispanic population. ``Las Vegas is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., with a big need for high-quality teachers, said Gonzalez. (AP Photo/Javier Barbancho)
Miguel Martinez, center, education and science commissioner at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C., gestures as he talks with Carol Lark, assistant superintendent of Clark County School District, and Roger Gonzalez, director of licensed personnel of Clark County School District of Las Vegas, outside the Royal Alcazar where they are attending a bilingual teaching Seminar in Seville, Spain, Monday, Nov. 7, 2005. School administrators brainstormed Tuesday with their Spanish counterparts on how to provide world-class bilingual education to Nevada, hungry for teachers as it copes with a growing Hispanic population. ``Las Vegas is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., with a big need for high-quality teachers, said Gonzalez. (AP Photo/Javier Barbancho)

At a time when policymakers are increasingly focused on better educating Nevada’s growing Hispanic population, several state and local education boards are virtually without representation from the Hispanic community.

Hispanics students represent nearly half of all Clark County public schoolchildren and nearly a quarter of all students in Southern Nevada colleges and universities. Yet, Hispanic membership on Nevada’s K-12 and higher education boards historically has been lacking.

“As a board we do not reflect the diversity of our district,” School Board President Carolyn Edwards said last week. “Improving that ratio on this board is important.”

Before You Go

Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, by Rodolfo Acuña

Latino Books Once Banned In Arizona

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