More experienced teachers will not be taking their places, according to Torres. "They're just going to have bigger classrooms, less resources," he said.
Torres, a former San Diego Unified board policy analyst, presented some alarming statistics about Latino education achievement that he hoped would force parents to get more involved.
Although there have been improvements, the most recent district statistics show:
58 percent of Latino students are not proficient at their grade level in English language arts
49 percent are not proficient in math in their grade level
70 percent of Latino students are passing the English portion of the California high school exit exam on their first try, compared to 93 percent of white students.
Less than one-third of Latino students complete courses required for entrance to a University of California or California State University system, compared to 54 percent for white students.
Torres noted that Latino students whose primary language is Spanish continue to fare the worst.
"The majority of our children who are English proficient do perform at grade level and we should be happy with that," he said. "We can do just as well as anybody else. But here is the problem: Two-thirds of our children who are not English proficient are performing way below grade level."
He took issue with the failure to help more Latino students get into college.
"Unless our children get into college and get higher-paying jobs to support their families, we are going to be stuck in this vicious cycle of poverty," he said.
Those in the audience said they appreciated the service provided Saturday.
"Why don't we get involved? We don't know the system well enough to help our children and grandchildren. We need to be educated," said Delia Contreras, who has grandchildren in district schools.
Speakers urged them to support reforms, attend school board meetings and get involved at their neighborhood schools and organizations such as the Association of Raza Educators, San Diegans 4 Great Schools and San Diego United Parents for Education.
Leonel.sanchez@sandiegored.com
