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Charlotte Talks With Mike Collins

Inside the challenges and opportunities facing Latino students

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Latinos are the fastest growing population of students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Forty thousand of them are enrolled, and that number is growing.

Many have faced cultural or language barriers, but the pandemic has made things worse. So many Latino students are falling behind that their community believes it has created a “state of emergency.”

This week, WFAE and La Noticia have been reporting on all this in a special bilingual series, Breaking Barriers, exploring the well-documented barriers we know about plus the lesser-known obstacles that lead to learning difficulties and distrust in the community.

At least 40,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students identify as Latino. Many were struggling before the coronavirus pandemic and studies show they have now fallen further behind in school. WFAE examines the obstacles facing Latino students and the resources available to help them succeed.

Guests

Maria Ramirez Uribe, race and equity reporter for WFAE and La Noticia

Ann Doss Helms, education reporter for WFAE

Nhora Gómez-Saxon, Spanish teacher at South Mecklenburg High School and member of the Latin American Leadership Education Committee

Alba Sanchez, manager at the Immigrant Welcome Center for the Latin American Coalition

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Erin Keever is Senior Producer of WFAE's Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. She has been with the show since joining the station in 2006. She's a native Charlottean.