Hitting Home: The Last Latin Student

Lura C.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011


This Commentary by Thomas G. Palaima over on the Austin American Statesman website struck a chord with me personally and hit on something I've been fuming over for a few weeks now so forgive me if this critique includes a bit of my own commentary on the matter as well.

The commentary starts off as a summary of education in America with a prose-like sound to the words. Perhaps not prose, exactly, but literature, at the very least. The commentary does not get to the "juicy stuff" and actually become a commentary until the last several sections of the commentary. This author hits on a subject I took in high school, Latin, and even uses my personal high school, LASA, as one of the main examples and arguments for keeping this subject in schools. LASA, which is technically no longer part of LBJ but is its own high school (but is still on the same campus and in the same building as LBJ...), is the magnet academy for Liberal Arts and Science which I graduated from in 2009 with my foreign language credit being in Latin. Mr. Browne, the Latin teacher there, is one of the most dedicated, thorough, strict, successful, inspiring, and all-around awesome (I might even say bad ass) teachers I have EVER had the joy of being taught by. Needless to say, when I heard that not only his job, but that of Mrs. Browne, his wife who is the head of the Spanish department at LASA, was on the line I was furious not only for their sake but also for the sake of the future LASA students who would no longer get the experience I was able to have. This has been a tender issue with all Latin student graduates from LASA ever since we heard the news. In fact, many of us showed up at a meeting the school had to attempt to argue for the job of Mr. Browne. I was not present but I can not imagine the impact was enough.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, onto the actual commentary. Thomas G. Palaima is a regular contributor to this portion of the Statesman's website and it is clear in his writing. A quick google search shows that he is not only a good writer, but also the perfect person to be writing this particular commentary: He holds a Ph.D in Classics, is a professor of Classics at UT Austin and holds a chair in the Classics department at UT Austin. Needless to say, I believe he is more than qualified to write this commentary.(And that is not just because I agree with him with my entire heart and soul).

As far as his evidence or fact checking the statistics he lists, specifically for LASA, I lived most of those statistics, I do not need to fact check. Yes, ALL of the Latin students that took the AP exam scored AT LEAST a 3. Most students who obtained a 3 were disappointed in that grade and in fact most students made HIGHER than a three. Yes, Latin not only has increased my vocabulary and overall reading skills but also my ability to learn, read, and understand other foreign languages.

As for his intended audience, hopefully anyone who is able to read would see the sense in this article however I believe it will only truly hit home with other scholars, teachers, and students that are already familiar with, and angry at, this particular budget cut.

P.S. Why cut Latin rather than Japanese? I have been a Japanese student in my past, I love the language, and I don't WANT it to get cut, however I can honestly say it has not helped me nearly as much as Latin has. I'm simply pointing this out.

As always, this has been a student's perspective. (However in this case I believe this makes me more credible rather than less credible.)

Pat Culpepper said...

I was personally struck by Lura C's 'Hitting Home: The Last Latin Student' published in her blog, "A Student's Perspective," March 8, 2011. I had also read the "Austin American-Statesman" article about the Brownes' with great regret. And I had seen the list of AISD teaching positions to be eliminated and thought eliminating the Latin teachers was a big mistake.

I took four years of Latin in public high school in Dallas. My first year Latin teacher Mrs. Elsie Jones required us to look up and list all the Latin derivatives we could find in the dictionary for new vocabulary words. That required practice had a very marked impact on me. Early in the tenth grade, we took the required Iowa vocabulary tests. In going over the test results, my English teacher told me that I was 99% which was the highest score in the class. I beat out the future class valedictorian who planned to go to medical school. In tenth grade, I was on "easy street" when I took first year Spanish. I not only used the similarities in the vocabulary words between the two languages, but I had learned from Latin the structure of language which served me well in picking up French and Italian. I so enjoy being able to just know the meaning of a new word. Latin also served me well in biology courses when I was a biology major.

To my happiness and surprise, I discovered in an article 'The New Case for Latin' in the December 2, 2000 issue of "Time" that in the 1970's and 1980's the federal government gave funding to underperforming elementary schools for Latin classes. Everyone was surprised by the spectacular results. With one year of Latin, students were five months ahead of other students in reading comprehension and vocabulary. They also had large gains in math, history, and geography. Last summer, Latin came gave me the freedom of comprehension in Italy's churches and museums because I could read in several languages.

But, I was disappointed to see the article end with Congress cutting the funding and school districts biased toward Spanish over Latin because it is more important that the "kids to be socialized to the outside world." Often I have been thrilled over and over again that I took Latin.

Is $10,000 a Realistic Price Tag for a Four Year College Degree?

According to the Editorial Board of the "Austin American-Statesman" article, "Is There a Degree of Value at Bargain Rates?," dated April 27, 2011, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is looking into Rick Perry's challenge to a four year college degree that costs $10,000 including books.

A strong academically inclined student could look for ways to do things on the cheap. For example, a four degree requires a minimum of 120 hours or 40 3-hour courses. A student in the last two years of high school could take two College Early Start courses offered by Austin Community College and their high school each semester. Tuition is free, but students are responsible for the purchase of their textbooks. Potentially, this could beeight courses. Then the student could take AP or CLEP tests to earn an additional 30 hours of credit(some colleges limit test credit to 30 hours). I figure that is six CLEP tests at $77 each making a total of $462 in test fees. With the textbooks from College Early Start and the CLEP test fees, the first two years is about $2000.

That leaves $8000 for the last two years. If the student lives in Austin, they could save on room and board by going to The University of Texas. UT's graduation policy is that students must have 60 hours in residence to graduate. According to UT's website, tuition varies according to the school and degree that one is seeking. On the low end is tuition at the liberal arts school which ranges from $8520-$9808 a year for a full-time student who is taking at least 12 hours each semester. UT's tuition for one year more than blows the $8000 budget for two years. At best, it looks like this degree will cost about $25,000 including the textbooks.

The editorial mentioned credit for prior learning. This is for students who have been out in the work world for some years who have college level training and skills. Credit for prior learning takes paper writing to explain what was learned and documentation to back it up. There are limits on the number of hours that one can earn credit for prior learning and not many universities offer this. Certainly no one earns a diploma wholly based on this unless it is from a diploma mill.

In an interview, President of South Texas College Shirley Reed brought up the idea of reducing the number of hours in degree programs and questioned whether employers thought the student would have the competencies for which they were looking. I think the idea of reducing the number of hours in degree programs should be thought through very carefully. If the numbers were reduced lower than the minimum 120 hours, this could jeopardize the degree's validity. And if this was interpreted to mean less lecture hours for the same academic credit, then the accreditation of the university could be at stake.

Throughout the editorial, the editors are doubtful that a $10,000 four year college degree can be a reality. And as I reflect on how to make a $10,000 price tag a possibility, I do not think it is realistic. Students will have to strategize on how to make attending college a reality ("30 Ways to Reduce College Costs," Student Aid on the Web), and I hope the cut-backs on financial aid will be minimal.

The Middle Class Will Pay

In “Kelsey Scott’s Texas Government Blog,” Thursday, February 10, 2011, in the article entitled, “Financial Aid Assistance?,” she refers to Dan Patrick’s “Middle Class Should Not Pay for College for the Poor,” posted Tuesday, February 8, 2011, on Texas Monthly.com where the article gives information about universities putting up to 20% of student tuition into a financial pool to assist students with financial need in the form of grants, scholarships, work-study programs, and student loan repayment assistance. On first thought, it does sound unfair when one thinks everyone should pay their own way. Both articles argue, “A student, whose family is paying tuition, shouldn’t have to contribute to educate another family’s child.” But, the fact is that everyone who pays property taxes is paying to educate somebody else’s child from Early Childhood through the 12th Grade. Basically, it is an agreement by our society that it is best that education is offered to all children rather to just the rich who can afford it. Through education, the playing field in the job world becomes more level.

In both articles, universities, in particular, were mentioned, but not community colleges. At community colleges, many students are no longer somebody’s child, but the non-traditional older student who has a low-paying job and family responsibilities. The student comes to a community college to earn a vocational certificate or degree, or a traditional degree to provide a better future for themselves and their family. What can make the crucial difference about whether this person succeeds is whether they receive financial aid which helps cover tuition, books, and some living expenses such as gas and babysitting money. This could also mean he/she does not have to work so many hours at their low paying job and concentrate on school more. It has been my observation that if a student receives more than enough financial aid and if their life situation permits, he or she will take one or two more classes a semester so they can finish sooner. Another point to consider is that sometimes someone is born into a family who receives welfare benefits, and this person wants out of this situation. Financial aid can give them the opportunity to get an education. Reality is that the middle class will pay, whether it is in financial aid or welfare benefits. However, financial aid is preferable because it is less money and of a more limited duration. It enables the student to get a better paying job, support their family in a self-sufficient manner, and become a better taxpayer. And students are held accountable to pay back their loans.

Happily, as of Tuesday, April, 12, 2011, the State Finance Committee voted to restore 90% of current funding of the Texas Grants program which is the main financial aid program at state universities and colleges according to reporter Robert T. Garrett “The Dallas Morning News.”

Will Texas Pay More for More Prisons or Invest in Education to Prevent Recidivism?

I was dismayed to read in The Austin-American Statesman, March 23, 2010, by reporter Mike Ward that the Texas legislature is considering cutting money spent on college degrees and vocational programs for Texas’ prisoners through Windham School District which provides literacy programs at all levels. Senate Education Committee Chairman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano and Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston denied knowing about the existence of this program which I find hard to believe. I believe they just do not want to appear soft on criminals and become politically unpopular in these hard financial times as difficult decisions are being made in what to cut in the budget. I find it hard to believe that they do not know that the more education that a person has that it decreases the chances that this person will turn to a life of crime.

In recognition of the importance of education in rehabilitation, Windham School District was created as the school system for Texas’ prison system statewide to offer education for Texas inmates. I looked at their website and found mention of these programs right away. While the website states these programs are there to help prisoners who are within seven years of release have job training to help them with reemployment, it also states studies have been done to document that postsecondary academic educational programs cut recidivism. In fact, in 2004, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reported that Texas prisoners who earn an associate’s degree while in prison have a recidivism rate of 27% compared to the 43% recidivism rate of the prison population as a whole. Recidivism is defined as returning to prison within three years. That year, 415 earned associate degrees so 66 fewer would come back to prison within three years.

Another reason to cut funding for this program is that only one-fourth of the prison inmates who signed agreements to pay back the tuition have paid in full. The article states that there is no way to make them pay back. There are parole officers who can keep up with whether the parolee is making repayments and there is also the Texas Attorney General who already enforces child support. Even if there was no way to compel parolees to repay, it is much more cost effective to educate them so they do not return to prison. In Texas, it costs about $18,000 a year to house a prison inmate. If one used Austin Community College tuition rates, an applied science degree (this degree has a vocational major along with courses in English and math) would cost well under $4,000, books not included. Do Texans want to spend $18,000 a year to support an inmate or help an inmate become employable and economically self-sufficient at the cost of less than $4,000 for an associate in applied science degree? Education is an investment that not only saves Texas from building more prisons, but it helps former inmates become better employed, support their families, and become taxpayers which helps the Texas budget and all Texans.

Number of Undocumented Immigrants Is Greatly Overreported

You should read this opinion from the former census director Stephen Murdock in the February 24, 2011, Texas Capitol Report. He says the number of undocumented immigrants is grossly exaggerated in Texas and the United States. At the end of the article, he states that the conclusive proof is,"We get their bodies when they die and if there are really 25 million undocumented immigrants in the United States they are the healthiest group of people who ever lived in the United States."

He implies there is seldom any of the deceased from that group. For starters, people have to be in good health to withstand the rigors and dangers of sneaking across the border and evade the border patrol. So unless the person dies by violent or accidental means, then it is likely they will live many more years. It is going to take a long time for 10.8 million to 20-25 million undocumented immigrants to die for us to know these numbers. This is assuming the family is going to confess their undocumented status. His remark implies that there is a question about citizenship on the death certificate. I have been a genealogist for many years; no, there is not. The death certificate asks for the birthplaces of the deceased and of the deceased's parents. There is nothing about citizenship status. Sometimes on a death certificate, it is written that the birthplaces are unknown. However, in recent years, social security numbers are put on death certificates. But this is not proof positive that the social security number is valid. I doubt that a verification check is going to be run on a social security number to make sure it was not bought at the local flea market.

I suppose since Steve Murdock has been United States Census Director that he gets his numbers from the census. If so, I doubt that all undocumented immigrants come to the front door when the census taker shows up. With INS workplace raids in recent years fresh in their memories, they would not want INS to know where they live so they can pick them up later. And irregardless of citizenship status, anyone who is worried about the bill collector showing up will not answer the door.

What is his rationale or motivation to support the figure 10.8 million? Since he has also been the first Texas demographer and is a sociology professor at Rice, I am sure he has worked hard to insure that his census numbers are accurate. Hispanics were hired to be census takers in neighborhoods of predominantly undocumented workers. He believes these census workers were able to get full cooperation and disclosure from everyone.

Unlike Steve Murdock's certainty about his numbers, I do not believe there is conclusive proof about the numbers which are probably somewhere between his 10.8 million and the legislative group who thought the number were 20-25 million.

Texas Budget Should Fund Advanced Placement Program

Tuesday, February 22, 2011, the Austin American-Statesman editorials ended their silence about the effects that proposed Texas budget cuts would have on education and its programs with an editorial entitled “Spare Advanced Placement.” The Advanced Placement (AP) Program is not included in the budget of neither the House nor the Senate. Its price tag is $14.2 million. The AP program was established to offer high school students to undertake a college level curriculum in core subjects: English, history, mathematics, and thirty other subjects. At the end of the school year, students take the standardized AP Test to earn college credit. Presently, the Texas AP Program subsidizes a third of the $87 test fee for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch program and pays for AP teacher training. The program saves money although Texas ranks No. 20 in passing AP rates.
The author believes that this is one program that will more pay for itself by saving tuition and textbook purchases and by getting more students to graduate within four years. To prove his point, he interviewed Mary Knight, University of Texas budget director, who said that freshmen who come in with 12 to 24 college credit through Advanced Placement are already at least a semester ahead. AP gives students the chance to better their performance for college.
After reading the editorial, I wondered what students did pay for an AP exam because I thought two-thirds of $87 which is $58 was still too high for a student whose family has limited resources. On AISD’s website, I found a link to Bowie High School. Students pay $13, and students who qualify for free or reduced lunch pay $8. I do not know if this is true for all the AISD high schools. I do believe AP classes offer minority or economically disadvantaged students the opportunity and challenge in their high school to rise in their academic performance. If students came to Austin Community College with 12 to 24 hours of AP credit, they would save $504 to $1008 in tuition. An associate’s degree requiring 66 hours at $42 an hour would cost $2772 in tuition. This would bring the tuition cost of an associate’s degree down to the range of $1764 to $2268 which is a saving of 17% to 36% in tuition. Also there is the saving in the textbooks not bought for these courses.
The references “while a butcher cuts with a meat ax” and “cutting in the dark” demonstrate that the author is very concerned that the House and the Senate are not looking closely at the programs being cut and the possible ramifications. In reading the editorial, I do not detect a personal bias unless the author is someone who got college credit through the AP exams. However, he does use verifiable facts to support his viewpoint and to win my support.

Hope for Increasing Texas' High School Graduation Rate

I am excited to read the Associated Press article published in February 8, 2011, Austin American-Statesman  "Laura Bush to unveil anti-dropout initiative;" especially, since Texas needs a solution to bring up its high school graduation rate. Based on research results on this problem, the George W. Bush Institute concludes the focus should be on the middle schools, grades 6-8, which is a critical time. Middle school is where students are likely to start to lose interest in their studies. High school is when students walk away. Laura Bush will call the initiative "Middle School Matters." It will have a trial run at Stovall Middle School in Houston. Some of the 11 areas on which the initiative will focus will be dropout prevention, reading interventions, school leadership, effective teachers, and school, family, and community support. By 2012-2013, the initiative team plans to have the program in 10-15 schools, and hopefully, more later. I fervently hope that "Middle School Matters" will be so successful in bringing up Texas' high school graduation rate that this will be a program that will spread throughout Texas including Austin.