Education The 1984 “Conditions of Education in California” by the Policy Analysis for California Education, the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University reported a 40% high school drop out rate among California’s Latino students, who left school before reaching the 12th grade. In general, Latino and other students of color were well behind non-minority students in educational achievement. The San Diego Unified School District (District), the largest in San Diego, exhibited the same troubles. A 10-year legal battle initiated by parents, known as the Carlin class v. the Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District, resulted in a court-ordered desegregation plan in 1977. Citing inequitable educational achievement and resources at 23 of the 159 District’s public schools, the San Diego Superior Court began supervision of an integration plan that included “voluntary ethnic enrollment” (busing) and “magnet school” programs to alleviate racial isolation. The District would not emerge from court monitoring until July 1, 1998.
MANA de San Diego Latinas also organized to increase their representation in the workplace and political arena. The San Diego Chapter of the Mexican American Women’s National Association (MANA) was founded in 1986 to empower women to serve as directors on policy-making boards and run for elected office. In 1987, MANA expanded its mission to include mentoring of young Latinas by creating the Hermanitas (Little Sisters) program. Mary Salas served as the organization’s president from 1993 to 1996. She credits MANA for helping her—a single mother of two daughters—get through college and launch a political career. “Through MANA’s encouragement and mentorship, I got through SDSU, got my degree, and started working. While I was working, I was appointed to the Chula Vista Planning Commission, and then the Civil Service Commission,” states Salas. She also was elected Chula Vista City Councilmember, a California Stat Assemblymember (2006–2010), and later, Mayor of Chula Vista (2014–2022).
The San Diego Union March 10th, 1977 (Courtesy San Diego Union-Tribune)
Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas signs Gaylord Hotel Construction Agreement, 2018 (Photo courtesy ©Mary Casillas Salas Archives)
Report Card Under the leadership of Alberto Ochoa, Ph.D., professor of the Department of Policy Studies at San Diego State University, along with a coalition of community and educational stakeholders, the San Diego County Latino Coalition on Education was created in 1997 to address the educational achievement gap in the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). Annually, the Latino Coalition would issue a “report card” on progress by school districts in meeting the needs of Hispanic/Latino students, which, by 2020, made up the largest ethnic group enrolled in San Diego Unified at 46.5% of its student enrollment.
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 6 – Perseverance
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