And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Currents (February 23 - March 1, 1995)
Native Power
Yaquis And The Interfaith Council Push TUSD For Better Schools.
By Jim Wright
EVERY SCHOOL DAY Sharon Flores-Madril leaves the Pascua Yaqui
Indian reservation and drives her son, Silas, 20 miles to attend
Santa Rita High School on Tucson's eastside. The 40-mile round
trip is "the only option" Flores-Madril says she has if her son is
to attend a school with a decent learning environment.
Other Indian students from New Pascua Village attend westside
Cholla High School, which is closer to the Yaqui reservation. But
Flores-Madril would not have her son attend a school she believes
is "out of control and overrun by gangs, drugs and violence."
Now, some help is on the way for Flores-Madril and other Native
American parents.
Last week, the Native American arm of the Pima County Interfaith
Council (PCIC), a community action group in the no-nonsense
tradition of the late social activist Saul Alinsky, invited key
community leaders to talk with nearly 100 Native American parents
about their concerns regarding Tucson Unified School District.
Attending the meeting were Tucson Mayor George Miller, Pima
County Supervisor Raul Grijalva, Tucson Unified School District
Superintendent George Garcia and Brenda Even, chairperson of the
TUSD Board of Education.
Even today, in this age of desegregation and cultural diversity,
Yaqui parents are not happy with TUSD's treatment of Native
American children. History has taught them to be wary.
Because Congress did not recognize the Yaquis as an official
tribe until 1978, Yaqui children were able to avoid the much-hated
boarding school experience forced on so many other tribes.
Nevertheless, says Rebecca Tapia Ponder, a Pascua Yaqui, "The
experience at the hands of Tucson Unified School District was
similar." The policy of the school district was to assimilate
the Indian children.
"Whole generations of Yaquis lost their language skills because
the district insisted we speak only English in school. That policy
did more than punish children for speaking Yaqui," says Ponder.
"It told the children the language of their parents was bad. Their
culture was bad. They (the school district) reinforced this message
in hundreds of ways."
Last week marked the first time many of the parents had attended
a meeting where the mayor and TUSD officials were present, let
alone actually listening to them.
PCIC has a five-year history of pushing its grassroots-driven
agenda to improve the status of children, families and community.
Working under the guidance of what PCIC organizers call "the iron
rule" ("Don't do anything for anyone who is not willing to do for
themselves"), the group has developed a core of trained and
disciplined leaders.
Ponder says, "If parents are unwilling to get involved and
participate, we're not going to do it for them."
According to Ponder and Flores-Madril, massive problems with TUSD
still exist. Some of the problems are hold-overs from the past era
of racist-based policy. These issues are often subtle, finely woven
into the fabric of everyday school life. But the end result to
Yaqui children is catastrophic.
The system, says Ponder, must change. "Our children are now in
these schools. Their lives are the ones that stand the chance of
being ruined."
At last week's meeting, held at the Old Pascua Neighborhood
Center, Ponder and Flores-Madril were on hand to add their voices
to those of other Yaqui parents.
The official "guests" of PCIC were told how the organization
wanted to see the drop-out rate at TUSD schools cut by 10 percent
in two to three years. The strategy which shows the greatest
promise, organizers say, is one linking year-round, part-time
jobs for youth to schools.
One successful program doing just that, say PCIC leaders, is
underway at Sunnyside High School. The jobs offered to Sunnyside
students are directly connected to grade improvement and strict
attendance rules.
In response to questions from parents, the TUSD and community
leaders promised, among other things, to:
-- Promote year-round youth employment, making parents part of
the planning, development and evaluation process;
-- Increase summer jobs for Native American youth;
-- Work with parents, school and other government officials to
build viable neighborhoods;
-- Work to develop community parks at Lawrence, Mission View and
Richey schools; and,
-- Work to prevent funding cuts for renovations at schools with
high populations of Native American students.
Says Rosario Otero, a PCIC Yaqui organizer, "We keep asking
ourselves, 'What can we do for our children to be successful?' "
Currently, Native American PCIC members are trying to organize
in four locations: Old Pascua, New Pascua, South Tucson and the
San Xavier District on the Tohono O'Odham Reservation.
February 23 - March 1, 1995
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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