Migrant workers value education

For some migrant students, a day filled with homework and classes can't compare to a day of working in the fields with their parents.\n"Migrant parents take their children to the fields to teach them the value of hard work," said Gerardo Lopez, an assistant professor of education. "To show them what life is like in the fields, and to demonstrate to them that if they did not graduate from school, their job opportunities would probably be limited to migratory work."\nSince 1990, Indiana Latinos accounted for 1.8 percent of the state's population. According to the 2000 census, the Latino population has increased to 3.5 percent. These figures show the Indiana counties of Marion, Lake, Elkhart, Allen, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe, Porter and Kosciusko have experienced the largest increase of Latinos.\n"Migration had to play a significant role in this growth," said Robert Aponte, a sociologist at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis wrote in a recent study.\nAponte said the Latino population is quickly shifting away from the long-standing pattern of concentration in the northwestern sector, thus spreading throughout the state.\n"The Latino population in Indiana is growing exponentially, and since the majority of migrant students and parents are Latino, this area is getting the attention of state leaders in education and social services," Lopez said.\nThe generic definition of "parental involvement" might include bake sales, helping with homework, or attending a Parent Teacher Association meeting. Lopez said many migrant parents might be involved in ways not visible to educators.\n"My work does not aim to teach educators how to involve migrant parents in specific ways, but rather, to educate them about various ways in which migrant parents are already involved in the educational lives of their children," Lopez said.\nMigrant workers view education as an essential aspect to a bright future, he said. Developing their skills and education beyond their families' farming is something many of the students aspire to. \n"Education is seen as a way out of the migrant stream," Lopez said. "It's not that parents devalue being migrants, but they want more for their children."\nHe said the increase of migrant students will cause the educational system to face a variety of challenges and demands. The schools will have to understand how to educate the migrant students while ensuring that the current students don't fall behind.\n"To educate the student at the highest level," Lopez said, "requires planning, professional development for teachers, adequate funding from (English as a new language) programs, translators, curriculum coordination -- just to ensure that migrant students don't lag behind academically"