Colorado researchers seek more effective public policy role - Latino/a Research and Policy Center, University of Colorado-Denver

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 5, 1998 by Roberto Rodriguez

DENVER -- In perhaps the first event of its kind, educators and researchers from the University of Colorado-Denver's Latino/a Research and Policy Center held a symposium on legislation, research, and its impact on the Latino community. The symposium was held in early January at the State Capitol on the opening day of the 1998 state legislative session.

The gathering was designed to give Latino legislators an opportunity to update researchers on their legislative priorities. In effect, it was intended to synchronize the center's research with the legislators' political agenda in a state where at least 13 percent of the population is Latino.

In explaining the rationale for the symposium, Mike Cortes, co-director of both the event and the center (along with Estevan Flores), recently wrote that the goal of academicians is the pursuit of truth and applying their research to die complex political problems of our times.

"Sometimes, [however), the truth-seeking business makes us look politically irrelevant. Politicians and voters often ignore our work, even when it has implications for public policy, especially if our findings are politically inconvenient," he said.

As an example, Cortes cited the abundance of research that shows that bilingual programs -- when properly run -- improve student achievement; that immigration is not the primary cause of Latinos' rapid population growth; and that discrimination against people of color is still rampant. Despite this, he argued, there is a growing hostility toward bilingual education, immigration, and affirmative action.

Researchers fail to influence public policy, according to Cortes, because too often they fail to ask the right questions. Researchers must use their intellectual freedom and autonomy more strategically.

"We must formulate questions that matter to policy makers and the voters and the interest groups who influence them," he said. "The key is to formulae research problems that focus on specific decision opportunities that politicians are likely to have in the foreseeable future."

Based on that premise, the purpose of the symposium was to examine upcoming legislation on which the legislators would like to see more research. Of the legislature's 120 members, eight are Latino. Seven of these legislators attended the symposium.

Among the issues addressed by the legislators were education, bilingual education, and affirmative action. Gloria Leyba, state legislator and a member of the centers, advisory council, stated, however, that tax reform is "the largest issue, before the assembly this year." in seeking property tax relief, many legislator will seek to place greater emphasis on sales taxes, she said, which is the most regressive form of taxation and which disproportionately hurts the poor.

"We have to see how that will affect Latinos," she insisted.

Additionally, with a greater emphasis on school choice, ensuring, equitable funding for public education is of paramount importance because "that's where most Latinos attend school," Leyba said.

According to the Co the Department of Education, high school dropout rate for latinos in the state was approximately 38 percent for the class of 1997, and Latinos consistently score lower on standardized tests than their White peers. Cortes stressed that affirmative action will be at the top of the legislative agenda and will be very divisive this year.

The legislators expressed a deep interest in identifying research that would support their efforts. One of the reasons there is sometimes a disconnect between researchers and the communities they aim to study is that universities do not reward community work, said Cortes. Many professors also are so busy writing for approved academic journals that they can not publish the results of their findings in community media, where it is most needed, he added.

Cortes hopes this will not be the case at The Latino/a Research and Policy Center. The center's research associates come from all four University of Colorado campuses, Colorado State University, and other institutions of higher education. It also includes community associates such as the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA) and other community research, labor, and activist organizations. Cortes believes this configuration will ensure that the center's work is relevant to the Latino community.

One strategy Cortes said the center hopes to employ, so that professors will have more time to work on community problems without getting penalized, is assisting them in getting outside grants. Doing so will make "it easier to do research on problems that address Latino populations."

Other concerns addressed at the symposium included health care, welfare reform, and community economic development. They also stressed issues of taxes and their disproportionate impact on the elderly -- especially elderly women of color, who are on pensions.

The state's burgeoning prison-building activity was another concern. Since 1984, there has been a tripling of Colorado's prison population. Today, it houses 12,000 prisoners, at a cost of $30,000 per bed.