Latino Student Struggles Challenge Connecticut School Reformers

As a parent liaison in a school district with a fast-growing Hispanic majority, Ana Lozada navigates a deep cultural divide: Parents think teachers are racist. Teachers doubt parents' commitment. Last year, the state took the unprecedented step of intervening here to address budget problems, falling test scores and soaring dropout rates. Nationwide, Hispanic students on average lag roughly two grade levels behind white students in reading and math exams, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Hispanics account for about 479,000 of the state's 3.5 million people