February 25, 2005

Successful summer math program faces cuts

By Andrea Boyd Ball
Times Intern

The José Valdés Summer Math Institute, a program sponsored by the East Side Union High School District, has fallen victim to education cuts by the Schwarzenegger administration. For the first time in its 16-year history, the program will charge fees to some of its participants.

José Antonio Valdés, founder of José A. Valdés Summer Math Institute, started the program at Andrew Hill High School in 1991.

The Valdés Institute provides an intensive program of mathematics education for East Side middle school students during the summer months. The namesake of the program, José A. Valdés, believed that all students could be successful in mathematics, and he spent a lifetime helping minority children, in particular, to achieve that success.

The Institute is continuing his legacy by providing quality math instruction to East Side students in a classroom setting where students get individualized attention from highly dedicated, well-trained professionals.

Fees
After reconfiguring its budget and making cuts outside the classroom, the Institute’s administration determined that no admission fees would be required for students participating in Math 1, 2 or 3, or Introduction to Algebra I, but students will be charged $100 to offset transportation costs.

The same is not true for students who participate in the more advanced level courses, Algebra I or higher, who will be charged a $500 admission fee plus the $100 transportation fee, a total of $600.

According to Bill Collins, Valdés Institute director, the disparity in fees is because the state of California will only reimburse ESUHSD for students receiving remedial instruction. “We are not charging fees because we want to, state funding has impacted us to the degree that we must now charge [fees]. It is a matter of our survival,” Collins said.

The Institute has pushed the deadline for fees into April to allow parents as much time as possible to gather the required funds.

Other changes
Some of the other changes that have been made to the program this year are a new fee for lunch, which the school district used to provide to Institute students for free, and the loss of the full-time directorship with the reassignment of Collins back to the classroom.

If enrollment drops substantially, it is possible that the Institute will cancel the advanced mathematics courses, Algebra I and above, altogether.

While ESUHSD has made a commitment to offer the summer math program this year, it has made no such promise for succeeding years.

Last summer the Institute had its most successful enrollment year to date with 1,636 students being served, but Collins is worried that the newly installed fees will dampen student participation this year.

Nearly one third of all students in the program take courses that are Algebra I or higher. Applications are just now coming in so he does not yet know if submissions have dropped off.

Cuts to this program are poorly timed as recent test results show U.S. students lagging in math skills in comparison to students across the globe. The PISA, formerly known as Program for International Student Assessment, scored U.S. students 24th out of 29 countries in solving real life math problems.

Locally, the technology industry has complained for years that the United States is not producing enough students with the math and science skills necessary to drive our economy forward.

Curriculum
The Institute’s primary curriculum includes instruction in Math 1, 2 and 3, Introduction to Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Pre-Calculus. It works to bring students with remedial math skills up to grade level, and develops advanced math skills as well.

Admission to the Institute depends on three criteria. First, the student and his parents must formally apply to the program. The school district cannot automatically enroll a student in the program.

Second, the student is required to take the placement exam, a test to assess student math skills. And third, parents and students must attend an orientation meeting to receive school assignments and other pertinent information. About 90 percent of all students that apply are accepted into the program.

Students outside the East Side feeder program may apply to the Institute, but their enrollment priority will be behind those students who attend ESUHSD feeder schools. Since “out-of-district” students have been a small percentage of total program attendees in the past, there is currently no plan to charge an additional amount to these students.

Jordan Gallagher, 14, is an alumnus of the José Valdés summer math program who attended in 2003 just after his sixth grade year. According to Jordan, the math program improved his skills, made him mature as a person and allowed him to meet a lot of new friends too. “I now get As in algebra,” said Jordan proudly.

Jordan’s mom, Leslie, vouches for the improvement in her son’s math skills and enhanced self-discipline because of participation in the program. She said her family is fortunate enough to be able to pay a $600 fee, and would gladly do so knowing the benefits, “but a lot of families who send kids to the program really can’t afford that.”

Parents interested in the Valdés Math Institute may attend an informational meeting this Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2:30 p.m. at Independence High School. For more details, view the José Valdés Web site at www.valdesmath.org.

Individuals or companies interested in providing financial support to the José Valdés Summer Math Institute may contact Bill Collins at Valdés Project, Independence High School, Room D01, 1776 Educational Parkway, San Jose, CA 95113, (408) 937-2793, or donations@valdesmath.org.