And, speaking of the Latino population, there needs to be some attention paid to this group, too. Half of my class have parents who only speak Spanish. These parents are fearful of the school, and won't come in for conferences. I had one child yesterday who wants to apply for a leadership academy in our county. She asked me how she could do it. The application must be done online. Her parents have no computer and they don't speak any English. They have seven children. I tried to encourage her to get her mom to come to the school to fill out an application for her. I doubt it will happen. Here is a child who has so many strikes against her, and I know that she really does want to do well. She's only in fifth grade, but already is losing out.
Sorry, for ranting and going off topic, I just get so angry for children who aren't given a chance to change!