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Minority StudentsDeclared IsolatedWASHINGTON (AP)TheU.S. Commission on Civil Rights says a study of Mexican-Americans in the nation’s schools reveals such students are “severely isolated” in the Southwest.The report, first of several assessing educational opportunities for Mexican-Americans inArizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, was released here and in Austin, Tex., today.The commission reported about 30 per cent of Chicano students in the Southwestern area attend schools in predominantly Mexican-American districts while about 45 per cent go to predominantly Mexican-American schools.It said more than 20 per centpupils surveyed are in schools 80 to 100 per cent Mexican-American.While geographic considerations may account for much of the isolation, the report said, many Mexican-American students are isolated in districts next to predominantly Anglo districts.It said only 4 per cent of the teachers and 3 per cent of theschool principals are Mexican-American while 10 per cent ofBoard of Education members are of the minority group.Only California, the report said, has taken action to eliminate ethnic imbalance in its schools. However, it said ethnic imbalance still remains in that state, even though substantial progress has been made.The most severe isolation ofstudents by school and district was found in Texas, the commission said. Almost two-thirdsof the Mexican-American students in the state are concentrated in 27 counties along the Mexican border or close to it. Nearly 60 per cent of the students attend schools in predominantly Chicano districts.The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency created by Congress in 1957. Information for its report came from a mail survey of all 538 school districts with Spanish-surnamed enrollments of more than 10 per cent in the five-state region.
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