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>>> Good evening, I'm José
Cárdenas.
>>> A report detailing the
progress of minority students in
Arizona from preschool to post
secondary education.
>>> And the new Phoenix city
Councilwoman for district four
is here to talk about her plans
for her term in office.
>>> Plus we'll talk to an author
and former television journalist
about why he thinks ethnic
studies should be taught in
schools.
All this coming up next on
"Horizonte."
>> Funding for "Horizonte" is
made possible by contributions
by the friends of eight.
Members of your Arizona PBS
station.
>>> Thank you for joining us.
>>> The Arizona minority
education policy analysis
center, also known as AMEPAC,
released its report, "Arizona
Minority Student Progress Report
2013: Arizona in
Transformation."
This report provides a snapshot
of the educational achievement
of minority students in Arizona.
Joining me to talk about the
report are AMEPAC committee
members Susan Carlson, executive
director for the Arizona
business and education
coalition, and Dr. Maria
Harper-Marinick, executive vice
chancellor and provost for
Maricopa community college
district.
Thank you for joining us on
"Horizonte."
Let's start with you to talk
about what AMEPAC is, and then
we'll get into more details.
>> Thank you for having us,
Jose.
>> Thank you for joining us.
>> AMEPAC is a policy analysis
center of the Arizona commission
for post-secondary education.
We have representation from all
of the public Universities,
community colleges, both urban
and rural colleges, the board of
regents, the department of
education, and of course ABEC.
Our mission is to publish
research of high-quality that
could be used to stimulate
conversations statewide about
how we improve the access and
the achievement of our minority
students in all sectors of
education.
All levels of education.
>> I know it's been around for
an a long time, but tell us
about it.
>> Thanks for having us here.
Arizona business and education
coalition, is a statewide
organization, we've been around
for 11 years.
It was convened 11 years ago by
business and education leaders
because there's a recognition
that in fact the quality of our
educational system has a direct
relationship with the economy.
Strong education, strong and
attractive economy.
Struggling education sand then
we struggle to attract the
businesses here we need.
So we are a 501(c)3, our focus
is on student performance,
improving student performance
and improving policy, public
policy that supports public
education, and we see the
information in this document as
a real call to action for all of
us who care about the economy of
Arizona.
>> Maria, let's talk about that
call to action.
Give us an overview of the
report, and then we'll talk
about a few of the slides in the
report.
>> This is the fifth edition of
the report, which is a progress
report.
It's data, a snapshot, a point
in time of how we're doing in
terms of educating our students.
What it does don't for clarity
is explain why things are
happening, why things are this
way.
So it is data, trend data.
The first time we've had about
20 years worth of data in this
report.
And it talks about demographics
of the state, talks about who
are the students in our
pipeline, beginning with pre-K
through graduate school.
And helps us understand if we
have made any progress in terms
of providing access, getting our
students ready for college, and
career, and helping our students
succeed and achieve degrees.
>> Let's talk about some of the
specifics.
We've got a few slides to talk
about in particular.
The first one is entitled "age
distribution by race and
ethnicity."
What does this tell us?
>> I think there's one important
point of the slide, and that is
that the population of minority
students, the young minority
students, are now actually
becoming the majority in our
public school system.
>> What we see on this slide,
the green line represents
Hispanics.
>> Correct.
>> And the yellow line would be
the white population?
>> Yeah.
So one of the things that the
study points out, which actually
I learned from the study is that
Arizona's population consists of
a larger proportion of American
Indian and Hispanic individuals
than any other state in our
nation.
And another important point is
that as of 2010, Hispanics are
the largest group of students in
grades kindergarten through
second grade.
And that's part of what the
graphic is trying to show, that
Hispanics now are becoming the
majority in our K-12 system.
>> Susan A. another --
The next slide we want to talk
about, which is educational
assane imby race and ethnicity
shows the two groups, American
Indians and Hispanics, aren't
doing very well in the state of
Arizona.
We're going put that slide up
right here.
>> Thank you.
>> And the green is Hispanics
and what would I call purple
would be American Indian?
>> Yes.
>> Let's talk about what it
shows.
>> So what that does show is,
the expected attainment for the
majority of students that are
Hispanic or Native American in
terms of high school diploma.
So we have --
That is what typically occurs
across a students of color, that
they --
Many achieve their diploma but
do not go on for post-secondary
education.
So the relevance of that
information is, we know that
students who do not go ahead and
get their post-secondary
education earn less money than
those that do.
So if we know that we have a
large growing population of
students of color, and in
poverty, by the way, and we know
if they don't achieve
post-secondary education, they
will earn less in the future,
then what does that mean in
regards to the infrastructure of
Arizona?
Because high-paying jobs pay
taxes that then build the
infrastructure.
>> What this shows is that
Hispanics are the largest group
with less than a high school
diploma, and as you go on up to
the educational ranks, that
green bar gets smaller and
smaller.
It's not a very promising
picture.
We've got one more slide to talk
about.
Which is Arizona in
transformation.
Maria, why the title and what
does this show?
>> That is actually the --
Representing actual data.
With the two lines cross, is the
point where the --
>> red is all minority groups
and the yellow would be white?
>> Correct.
So what this is showing is that
in about 2003 is when the
population of what we're calling
minority students actually is
becoming the majority students
in our educational system.
And that's a point in time when
that occurred, which is about
>> And the gap is getting
bigger.
>> And the gap will get bigger,
yes.
>> So Susan, what does this mean
for the future?
What is AMEPAC, what is ABEC
doing with this information?
>> Let me just say this is not
the only report there.
Have been several reports which
have demonstrated the situation
that Arizona finds itself in.
One was from the Morrison
institute, and it was focused on
work force.
So for us, we see this situation
as being a work force issue.
Because it is going to dictate
the future of Arizona.
Morrison did a recent statewide
poll that said only --
Of the respondents, only 41%
believe Hispanic students don't
do as well as whites because
they haven't seen this
information.
However, once informed, 49% were
very concerned about the
white-Hispanic education gap.
And we would say probably it's
more than Hispanic or ethnicity
than it's an issue of poverty
also.
Because 25% of our students in
schools are --
Come from poverty.
So what is the implication for
Arizona citizens?
And this is community --
The if we don't do something to
improve these statistics, we are
writing our future today for the
next decade.
This report actually does have a
set of recommendations, and the
recommendations actually are
actionable.
So one of the recommendations
for ABEC is actually
implementing some of the
strategies that work.
>> You're talking to businesses
and others?
>> And one of our goals in doing
that is to encourage the
business community to
participate in schools to be in
front of kids to talk about what
you can do when you have your
degree.
>> And on that note we're going
to have to end the interview,
I'm sorry we're out much time.
Thank you both for joining us
for talking about this very
important topic.
>> Thank you very much.
>> To find out more information
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>>> Educator Laura Pastor
defeated Justin Johnson back in
November in the race for the
district four seat, which
encompasses part of central and
west Phoenix.
She's one of three women now on
the Phoenix city council.
Joining me to talk about her
plan in office is Phoenix city
councilwoman Laura Pastor.
Congratulations first of all on
your victory are.
>> Thank you.
And thank you for inviting me.
>> Let's start there.
The election is over and I don't
want to dwell on it, but a quick
synopsis of why you think you
won over a very welt-financed, a
lot of support at least in the
business community for
Mr. Johnson.
>> Well, I'm reflection of the
district.
It's a minority-majority
district.
The women is who carried me and
the latinos are the ones who
carried me in order to win the
race.
>> Let's talk more about the
demographics of the district.
It seems to encompass the guts
or the core of the city of
Phoenix.
>> So it encompasses the core,
which is from the McDowell to
Bethany and from 24th street
to 56 Avenue.
And I just pretty much --
Mcdowell up to there.
So it encompasses the core of
central Phoenix, historic
neighborhoods, and the west
side, which is west Phoenix,
which is the Alhambra, Maryvale
and a little part of a little
Estrella neighborhood.
So it's very diverse, it
encompasses also the Phoenix art
museum, the Phoenix theater, the
Brett Tarver, golden gate.
So we have a very diverse
district.
>> I know some of your
activities involve some of these
things, like the arts and parks.
Before we get to that, you
mentioned a moment ago that
women carried you to victory and
there's been talk about the fact
there are now three women on the
Phoenix city council.
How is that playing snout.
>> You know, in doing research,
we found out at one time there
were four women on the city
council.
But with --
>> I was wrong when I said it
was historic.
>> With the three women, I think
the way it's playing out is that
there's more dialogue happening,
there's openness, we're all
collaborating with one another.
We're wanting to look at
different issues on how we work
on those issues, and move policy
through.
>> Let's talk about the issues
that are of greatest importance
to you.
What are you focused on?
>> Right now I'm focused on
making sure we balance our
budget, the other area I want to
focus on is public safety,
economic development, and making
sure we maintain all our
services.
>> Any particular initiatives in
those areas?
>> Public safety is very
important to me.
Our public safety needs are
health, especially in all our
districts.
But in particular district four,
and I was running I discovered
certain hot spots in our area,
and I really want to go in and
clean up those areas, get them
to the level they need to be,
and thrive, and be vibrant.
>> Does that mean greater
resources, more police officers?
>> That means being more police,
but that also means being very
creative and collaborative with
the neighborhoods and making
sure we're monitoring our
neighborhoods.
>> You mentioned a number of
times the budget.
How does that impact the kinds
of things you want to do?
>> Currently we're at a deficit
of 26 million, and we need to
figure out how we're going to
balance it.
I am --
I was surprised by that, I
wasn't anticipating it to be
that way, because previously,
other reports were saying that
we were doing well.
And so that's a great concern of
mine, and how we do it, we're
going to have to work
collectively together, work with
our employees on how we're going
to balance our budget.
>> There's been a lot of talk
about employee issues, I know
there are negotiations going on,
some of them involve --
We've got this recent court
ruling regarding police time for
union activities.
How are you balancing all that
in terms of your relationships
with the unions?
>> Well, the way I look at it,
because I'm a collaborator, I
have approached it as, here's
our problem.
Here are all the people that
need to come to the table to
solve the issue.
What the unions --
The labor groups, they
understand that we're in a
deficit.
I am asking, or several of them
I've asked to come up with
creative ways on how we can make
sure we close the gap.
And so that's the way I'm
looking at the issue.
It's not about us versus them,
it's about we and how we
collectively solve the problem.
It's also including our
neighbors, our constituents and
our voters, and letting them
have a voice in this budget
process.
>> Let's talk about education,
because that's a big part of who
you are.
Your background, both here and
in Chicago and so forth.
What are you doing in that area?
>> I serve as the chair on the
days, parks, arts, and
transparency board.
I will be having my first
meeting next week.
I'm working closely with the
education department.
What I would like to do, the
city has received a grant
working with the community
college, Phoenix college, south
mountain, and Estrella, and so
working with them to create,
what is it going to look like
and how are we going to be able
to educate our population?
And so it's a collaboration also
with Phoenix union, the high
schools, and several of the
elementary schools.
>> We're almost out of time, but
I did want to talk about some
much your outreach efforts.
I know you've got some things
coming up you wanted to discuss.
>> I am.
I'm going to have neighborhood
action summits in all parts of
the district.
And the first one will be
February 27th, and it will be
hosted at golden gate, so
anybody that wants to attend,
it's February 27th, and
everybody is welcome to attend.
We will be doing --
We'll be focusing on safety of
our neighborhoods, we will also
be focusing on economic
development, and education.
And so in their particular areas
and how we can partner up with
other agencies around the area.
>> Congresswoman,
congratulations on your victory
and thank you for joining us on
"Horizonte."
>> Pleasure.
>> Here at "Horizonte" we want
to hear from you.
If you have comments, story
ideas, or questions, email us at
arizonahorizon@asu.edu.
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>>> ASU's school of transborder
studies hosted a book talk by
author Jim Estrada.
Estrada is a corporate marketing
consultant and former San Diego
television journalist.
He wrote the book "The ABCs
and ñ of America's Cultural
Evolution: A Primer on The
Growing Influence of Hispanics,
Latinos, and Mestizos in the
USA" offering insight into
today's 53 million Hispanics.
Estrada discussed economic
reasons to learn Latino history
and culture.
Joining me now is Jim Estrada.
Welcome to "Horizonte."
>> Thank you.
>> Let's talk about the book,
beginning with the title.
It's an intriguing title.
>> Well, I pondered this title
for many years.
It took me nine years to write
this book.
What I basically wanted to do is
communicate how easily this
concept is to grasp.
The whole issue of cultural
evolution.
So the ABCs are the basic
principles of just about
every --
Any given subject.
The ABCs are the basics.
Basically what I did is I added
the Ñ, because of the cultural
aspects of language.
>> And the Ñ would be the point
of distinction between Hispanic
Latino culture and Angelo
culture?
>> It's actually it's the
melding of the two.
It's no --
No longer is it just the ABCs.
Now it's ABCs and Ñ.
Because of the Spanish language
component that latinos represent
in the United States.
>> And your book is basically a
series of essays, on a variety
of topics.
Most of them educational I think
in the sense of informing people
about the background of
latino-Hispanic people in the
United States.
Who's your audience?
>> Actually there's two
audiences.
One I think is basically --
Coming from a marketing
communications background, it's
my peers.
In the business.
And public agencies, who want to
be more effective in their
interaction with the growing
Hispanic consumer.
The fastest growing consumer,
voter, taxpayer, student
enrollment, and members of the
work force in this country are
latinos.
And we know very little about
them.
The second market and targeted
audience are latinos themselves.
We know very little about our
own history.
Because it's not taught in our
schools.
So the whole issue here is how
do we bring about this level
of --
How do we raise this level of
awareness?
>> You think it is important we
talk about this in our schools,
hence the focus or the topic
that you spoke about which is
ethnic studies.
Very controversial issue here in
Arizona as I'm sure you're
aware.
What is the economic case for
talking about ethnic studies in
the schools?
>> From a very personal
perspective, I've been -- for
the past 25 years been educating
or providing remedial education
to marketing practitioners about
the Latino segment of the
population.
As it continues to grow and
impact in terms of consumerism,
voting, student enrollment, we
have to start coming to grips
with a need to understand them a
lot better.
As a society.
And if we're going to be
effective in our communications,
our selling of products or
services, our enrollment,
talking to them as taxpayers, as
employees, we have to have a
better feel and understanding of
who they are.
And rather than having me come
in or people like me to train
practitioners about the Latino
or other growing segments,
ethnic segments of the
community, I think it makes a
lot of sense for us to start
learning more about each other.
>> Most of the students who will
be taking these ethnic studies
classes will be Latinos
themselves.
So in what way does that help in
terms of understanding the
different cultures?
>> I believe very strongly that
the high school --
The high levels of dropout among
Latinos, African-Americans, and
other minority groups is due to
the fact that there isn't a lot
of reflection of themselves or
their communities in the history
and the contributions that their
communities have made to our
society.
And I think that developing some
pride, if you look at incoming
immigrants who have had
schooling up to the sixth grade
in their native lands, they come
with a higher level of
self-image, and psychologically
a lot more healthy because
they've been steeped in very
positive ways and having them be
reflected in their society and
the role they play in it.
I think we have to do the same
thing.
We've done it with white euro
centric members of the
population for years.
We have a basically Europe-
White European-based social
construct around which we build
our curriculum.
Now it's time to start adding to
that curriculum, as time passes.
>> one of the points you make in
the book is it's not enough just
to know that there are Latinos
out there, that they're a big
part of the population, but
Latinos themselves, it's quite a
diverse group.
>> Yes.
I mean, we think --
>> You can make mistakes if you
assume it's not.
>> Yeah.
Keep in mind that Pugh and
Latino decisions have done
surveys where over half of the
nation's population thinks that
over half of all Latinos in this
country are undocumented
immigrants.
And that attitude, not based on
knowledge, but based on
perceptions, is what leads us to
a lot of disagreements over how
to resolve many of our
demographic issues.
>> What do you think is the most
important lesson a non-Latino
would get from reading your
book?
>> I think an appreciation for
the fact that we're more the
same --
We're more --
We have more things in common
than not.
This is a nation of immigrants.
And it's just a matter of
turning back the clock to see
what part of England, what part
of Germany, what part of France,
what part of Holland, what part
of the Scandinavian countries
people came from.
To become U.S. Americans.
>> And a big part of what's in
common I would imagine, you talk
a lot in the book about the
patriotism of the Latino
community.
>> Yes.
We're basically, you negotiation
I'm a veteran.
And almost all the people that I
grew up with are military
veterans.
So the whole idea that we're not
Americans or we're not patriots
to me is at times humorous.
But I think until we educate
people around us about our
contributions and our role in
the development of this nation,
we're committed to this nation
being number one.
And we think that if our numbers
continue to grow as they will
be, we're going to be more
influential in returning our
country to its number one status
in a number of areas.
So it's incumbent I think on a
lot of people to start looking
at all of us as a natural
resource that has to be not only
nurtured, but ensures that they
are as successful as possible.
>> I know you're touring the
nation, book tour, and you've
stopped here, you had several
meetings in Phoenix and by all
accounts it went very well.
Thank you so much for joining us
on "Horizonte."
>> It's my pleasure.
Thank you.
>> Pleasure having you here.
>>> That is our show for
tonight.
From all of us here at eight and
"Horizonte," I'm José Cárdenas.
Have a good night.
Captioning Performed By
LNS Captioning
www.LNScaptioning.com
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>>> Don't miss the return of
eight's "Check, Please! Arizona"
festival at cityscape on Sunday,
march 30th.
>> We are having a delightful
time, it's one of our favorite
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>> Taste and discover the best
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Your admission includes all
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>>> Eight's on a mission to
explore local history with the
help of viewers like you for our
brand-new show.
Arizona collectibles.
Expert appraisers are coming to
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To get a chance for a free
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>>> Coming soon top eight HD.
>> On masterpiece.
>> She was meeting a man.
>> I want to keep it a secret.
>> All I want is for you not to
lose control of your life.
>> I think I know how I can keep
the baby.
>> There's a farmer whose family
has been in downton for years.
>> His lordship is back.
>> What a relief to be able to
drink in public.
>> Downtown on masterpiece.
on
eight HD.
>>> They dress as Martha
Washington for an annual ball.
>> The average gown costs around
>> In this border town, these
debutantes are Allah Tinas and
the pressure is on.
>> It was a shock to see
somebody break down like that.
>> She fit into the dress.
>> A glorious melding of latina
and American traditions in a
lavish celebration.
>>> Support for eight comes from
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>> closed captioning brought to
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>> Ironwood cancer and research
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>>> Scottsdale center for the
performing arts presents Phoenix
rising.
Thundering rhythms of Japanese
drums in a show of precision,
power and speed.
Two nights, February 20th and
21st.
Scottsdale performing arts.org.