Evelyn Toriz moved from El Paso, Mexico to Norristown, Pennsylvania in 2019. She came to the United States with her young children; little six-year-old Johan and nine-year-old, Angeles. Both of Toriz’s children started attending school in their new neighborhood, however, adapting to a new education system was harder than she expected, and it didn’t take long for Toriz to realize the striking differences between education in Mexico and the U.S.
“… When my kids finally started school, because the process took a while, I was very worried because my younger child, Johan, didn’t really have a lot of experience with English,” Toriz said.
Toriz youngest child struggled to adapt to his new school and his mother noticed he started to fall behind in different subjects. He couldn’t read or speak, but despite Toriz’s concerns, his teacher always said this was normal. It wasn’t until Toriz moved to a different neighborhood, Plymouth, that she noticed an improvement in her child’s education, as they enrolled him in a special program after only his first week of school.
Zulma Guzman, Evelyn Toriz and Tannia Solis discuss how education changes between different neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
“The first week they started Johan got placed on all the programs I had to beg them to place him last school. They [old school] used to say he didn’t need them, but during the first week at the new school, they asked me to sign permission to enroll him in the programs without me even having to ask for it,” Toriz said.
Toriz is not the only Latina mother who struggles to navigate the school district. Latina mothers have a hard time getting the education resources they need for their kids, and this is directly impacting Latine children and their education. Seven out of ten Hispanic children don’t perform at a proficient level in math or English, and less than 60% of Latine students manage to graduate from high school on time, according to a 2024 study by Children First, a non-profit organization.
The Hispanic population in Philadelphia has grown at rapid rates during the past ten years and the community has almost doubled its size, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Now, the Latine community is one of the most prominent demographics in the city and therefore more schools in the area are seeing a bigger influx of Latine students. Around 24% of students in the city are Hispanic/Latine, according to The School District of Philadelphia.
Tannia Solis, Latina mother who has seen first-hand how Latine children are treated
Latine children need access to special resources like English as a Second Language, which is a program to help non-English speakers get familiar with the language. However, the data shows that Latine children are not performing nearly as well as their white counterparts. Only one in four Hispanic students performed at a proficient level on the ELA section of the PSSA in 2023 and their average proficiency went down by 9% between 2019 and 2021, according to a 2024 study by Children First.
Inella Ray, the director of Parent and Advocacy Engagement at Children First, has been working to get parents more involved in their children’s education and has seen some of the barriers people have to navigate in the city’s school system.
“Philadelphia represents a mosaic of diversity, and the Latine community adds to that beauty of difference. The educational terrain in our city is complex, especially for newly arrived-families. Public schools in Pennsylvania are required to educate every child, regardless of where they come from or what language they speak,” Ray said.
It’s harder for Latine children to thrive in the current school system and it’s even more complicated when their mothers can’t access the special resources that are key for their kids to thrive.
Tannia Solis is another Latina mother who has had to navigate the tumultuous education system in Philadelphia, and she has noticed the shocking gaps between schools depending on the different neighborhoods in the area. Solis has two children and both of them went to school in different areas of the city, but the difference was appalling.
“I don’t know what happened or why, but my son, who recently graduated, just told me he had a teacher who told him he would never be able to graduate,” said Soliz. “Yes [I’ve access to special education], for my other son, and I’ve had a good experience so far. He is in special education and so far I can’t complain about any teachers or anything like that in this program.”
There is already an education gap between Latine children and children from other communities. But the treatment Latine children receive, and their access to special education resources is very different depending on the neighborhood their school is located.
Not all schools get the same funding, so they don’t have the same resources to support their students. Therefore, the tools to help new immigrant families adapt to a new life might vary according to the neighborhood in which each family resides.
“…All public schools should be able to meet students where they are, motivate and inspire them, and keep them safe while they learn how to unlock their talents. We owe it to our growing city to support all children and the communities that raise them with the knowledge, support and resources they need to thrive,” Ray said.
Toriz also sees the changes between different neighborhoods in Philadelphia that have left mothers astonished. She remembers when she moved from Norristown to Plymouth and her children’s education completely changed. Toriz remarks that in Norristown even her son was falling behind and her daughter’s behavior was declining, but when she moved to Plymouth she had a completely different side of the education system.
“ I noticed with my daughter that her behavior got worse in Norristown, but when I moved to Plymouth meeting things changed. It’s a completely different district, the other side of the coin,” Toriz said. “Now he had two or three teachers. Some of them support them to speak, others to read, and others to write. It was a very slow process because he didn’t know English.
Children need proper resources to learn from a young age because early education plays a crucial role in their lives. If kids don’t have access to the resources they need to overcome specific challenges or behaviors, it can lead to a harder education journey and cause deeper issues, according to a July 2024 report on early education by Children First.
Please email any questions or concerns about this story to: [email protected].
Be the first to comment