by Jorge Zavala
Managing Editor
Twitter: @ProfZavala, #Zavala4CHGO

Education is essential for diverse purposes. First, why is education important? It is the fundamental base which helps us understand our rights, opportunities, and responsibilities in life. Education does not only gives us more opportunities to get better jobs but also helps in developing ourselves as better human beings.

To understand my perspective, I would like to give a brief introduction about myself. I went to elementary and high school in the city of Chicago and, afterwards, I went to Mexico. In Mexico, I attended prep school and studied medicine. Due to an illness that my mother was having, I returned to Chicago. With my educational background and credentials, I was hired by the Board of Education (CPS). After a few years, I went to teach for the City Colleges of Chicago.as a professor while at the same time I furthered my education with a second master’s degree. As you can see, you never stop learning.

As a teacher that worked with affluent and not so affluent students, I think that it is important to mention that education is vital and we should care more about it.

There are many teachers that are passionate about teaching but lack support and resources. Our government does not prioritize our education. Not only are we falling behind other countries around the world with regards to education, every day our city, state, and federal government are eliminating programs for our youth to receive a well-rounded education.

Let us analyze this: does the government want everyone to be educated? Many people think that it is not to the government’s best interest to invest in education. A nation that is well-educated cannot easily be manipulated. Due to our slow economy, the unemployment rate is around 9%, and out of this rate 17 % of 15-24 year-olds were unemployed in 2011, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The government does not see educating our children as a priority. On the contrary, the state is firing teachers that have dedicated their lives in giving their best effort to providing their students with the best education possible.

There have been several budget cuts in education without taking into account that if we do not provide our youth with resources they may not be as successful in the near future. If these cuts in education continue, this country will go from being a world leader to a country without leadership role in the world. From my experience, I have learned that we must value education and must stay on top of it.

by Jorge Zavala
Managing Director

Have you ever stopped to think what is happening to our children? Are we doing enough as parents, educators, and society to prevent violence?

Despite claims that schools continue to be some of the safest places for children, recent school shootings have contributed to the perception that few places are safe anymore. No rural community, suburb, day care, elementary, high school or college is immune to potential impact of violence. Even if a school or district has well-developed safety plans, security personnel, metal detectors, and hotlines, children in those schools are regularly exposed to violence. Given the attention paid to the tragedies in places like Jonesboro and Columbine on local and national television news, in newspaper headlines, and in conversations of parents and school staff, the very fabric of what it means to a young child to “go to school” is disturbed.

Violence at school can have a significant impact on young people, affecting emotional, physical, and mental health and their academic achievement. Most importantly, it also affects overall socialization and adaptation. In an effort to reduce the incidents of violence in public schools, several state legislatures and, subsequently, Congress passed laws implementing school disciplinary sanctions that became known as Zero-Tolerance Policies.

Every day since Zero-Tolerance Policies were implemented throughout the United States, children have been deprived of the education system. These policies require that children in kindergarten through 12th grade receive harsh punishments. This doesn’t surprise me that even at the college level this might be happening. Often for minor incidents that pose no threat to safety, students and their families regularly receive severe hardship. A strong body of compelling research indicates that these “get-tough” disciplinary measures most often fail to meet sound educational principles, and in cases their application defies common sense if we all agree on what common sense means.

More alarming than punishment meted out in schools is the tracking of children into the juvenile justice system for minor misconduct in school, which could also be misinterpreted. What is minor misconduct? Often, minorities, such as African-American and Latinos, are the students that bear the consequences of these policies. Also, children with disabilities or those who are a part of the special education program are categorized in this group. Policymakers, educators, and parents should be very concerned with the long-term implications of denying educational opportunities to millions of children, especially when effectiveness of these policies in ensuring school safety is highly suspect.

School safety is a critically important issue. Recent tragedies have heightened the public’s fear, which has led to legitimate calls for stronger preventive measures. We must ensure that schools remain one of the safest places for children and students of all ages, including college. Yet, the evidence gathered makes it clear that efforts to address drugs, guns, and other dangerous school situations have spun totally out of control, sweeping up millions of schoolchildren who pose no threat to safety into a net of exclusion from educational opportunities and into criminal prosecution.

by Jorge Zavala
Managing Director

First thing to remember is that we are a country built by immigrants. We are the land of opportunity, and when the U.S. became involved with World War II it was the Mexican workers that saved the U.S. economy while Americans were fighting overseas.

Until 1948, the US had an open-door policy with regards to immigration. It was back then when the relationship between Mexico and the U.S. was excellent. The U.S. has not been always been grateful for the support and assistance during a “man power shortage” Mexico helped with.

As a nation we are rather fickle when it comes to asking for help and what we do. Like in 1948, Americans are now in need of help and what do we do? We beat our wives, we scream at the kids. We blame immigrants for everything without looking at the lack of responsibility that is missing when it comes to businesses that are monopolizing all the money. Government assistance is not always present to facilitate such events.

We forget to acknowledge how good a neighbor Mexico has been. Last year, Mexico did over 400 billion dollars worth of business with the U.S. That’s more than Brazil and Argentina combined. Is this how you treat neighbors?

Even though the decline in undocumented immigration is no surprise, there are several explanations. The U.S. economic is weaker while Mexico’s economy is strengthening. Its growth demographic per capital is 15,000 dollars: a third of what Americans make. Some of Mexico’s competitiveness is due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Because it avoids U.S. tariffs, Mexico’s exports are cheaper than China’s.

President Obama has spent more on immigration enforcement than his predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama has deported more than 400,000 immigrants in one year. What is surprising, however, is the drop in net legal migration. Obama has disappointed many Mexicans by failing to deliver on immigration reform. Instead, the Department of Homeland Security has spent over 250 million dollars building the nation’s largest fleet of domestic surveillance drones, such as fences, surveillance planes, and personnel. Clearly the Democrats talk about it in a tone that is much more appealing to Mexicans than the way Republicans talk about it. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the high rate of unemployment has caused Mexicans to return to Mexico.

The Pew Research Center shows we’ve clamped down on undocumented immigration, but it also shows that Mexicans don’t want to come here legally as much as they did before. Perhaps an increase in economic stability and steady jobs have allowed for Mexicans to flourish and remain in Mexico so as to decrease the overall numbers of immigration into the United States. It is actually a mixed picture.

What are we doing when an aging country creates a deficit of workers and a surplus of retirees who spend? Instead of preparing for the future we are trying to demonize undocumented immigrants, and hoping they self-deport. We seem to have forgotten that it is the spirit of acceptance and hospitality that has made America so attractive to legal immigrants for centuries.

by Jorge Zavala Sr.
Managing Director

I ask myself, why is it so easy to criticize someone and why is so difficult to praise them? In a debate I had with a well known columnist with regards to the 50,000 dead in Mexico due to drug trafficking violence, we had a disagreement about who the culprits were. If there were no consumers of drugs here in the U.S. then we would not have this violence in Mexico. The well known columnist tried to put the blame on President Felipe Calderon.

According to El Universal, a Mexican newspaper, the state of Nuevo Leon in Mexico confirms that the last 49 people were killed by the drug cartel Los Zetas. This group is responsible for most reason killings in the states of Veracruz, Jalisco, Michoacán and Nuevo Laredo in Nuevo Leon. The municipality of Cadereyta, Nuevo Leon has been used as a clandestine trench to bury the remains of the Golf cartel killed by the Zetas.

Based on forensic evidence, the dead’s ages ranged from 20 -30 years old. Where would we be now if President Calderon had not declared war on the Cartel’s leaders?

The United States as well as Mexico have not done enough to prevent the use of drugs or their control. These wars have been going on before Calderon came in as President. But no one knew they existed as frequent because they had never been brought out to the public. A few people affirmed that Calderon made a mistake by going after the Cartel’s leaders. This caused a war among cartels for control of the market. It is easy to criticize, talk and write but to do something to make this world you think twice before you do anything.

This criticism of Calderon confirms that the media is more interested in negative publicity that sells then positive information.

Why don’t they write or talk about all the positive things Calderon has done? In the past 12 years, people have been able to buy an automobile, buy an apartment, build thousands of miles of new roads, new hospitals, schools and many more things. Additionally, there is more freedom of speech.

Why can’t we see the two perspectives?