In Search of a Day in Paradise: Aztlan

By Moises Venegas

New Mexico is a land of crisis; steps must be taken to improve the lives of its residents. In In Search of a Day in Paradise: Aztlan, author Dr. Moises Venegas analyzes the history of Hispanics in the southwest and makes a call for change in New Mexicos education, policies, and politics.

Venegas shows that after four hundred years, mestizo Hispanos are still searching for their elusive day in paradisethat cultural, economic, political and educational paradise that could help put them in a better place in the future. In Search of a Day in Paradise: Aztlan discusses how, in this modern era, New Mexicans can strive for the return of AztlanNew Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and Californiaby demanding a better education , voting for leaders who do not just talk but act when it comes to improving the job situation in New Mexico, and eliminating poverty.

In Search of a Day in Paradise: Aztlan offers insight into how using historical data can be of influence as Hispanos seek to improve their standing in todays society. Time will tell if they will perform better educationally and politically in 2075 than they have in the past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475957396

Moises Venegas

Dr. Moises Venegas has been a political scientist and educator for more than forty-five years. He has taught, researched, and written about constitutional democracy as a teacher/professor in California, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Venegas lives in New Mexico.

Book preview

In Search of

a Day in Paradise:

Aztlan

Moises Venegas

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Copyright © 2012 Moises Venegas

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-5738-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-5739-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012919737

iUniverse rev. date: 10/30/2012

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1      New Mexico Hispanics: A Mestizage of 400 Years

Chapter 2      New Mexico: A Culture of Poverty

Politics and Poverty

Chapter 3      Hispanics in Politics

The Territorial Period: 1848-1912

Hispanic Governors and U.S. Senators

Chapter 4      Accidental Education

The National Achievement Gap

Forty Years of Educational Reform in New Mexico

School Finance in New Mexico

Public School Reform – 2000

Improve, Reform, Educational Options

Charter Schools Put on a Happy Face with Little Value

Aspirations and Expectations

Chapter 5      Aztlan: Is it the Paradise We Seek?

Hispanics in New Mexico and the Southwest: The Next 100 Years

Education First

Bibliography

Dedication

This book, first and foremost, is dedicated to people struggling through the perils of poverty. It was written with the work of people in education, healthcare and politics in mind so that they might understand how vital their roles are in leading people out of poverty, and may their work lead to a better tomorrow.

Also, in the hours, days, weeks and months that it took to write this book, I was grateful to have the support of my family and friends along the way.

Gracias y suerte,

Moises

Preface

In my early professional life as an educator, historian and political scientist, I taught in universities in the West from California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado and finally back to New Mexico in the 1980s. The mythical Aztlan was my home.

I decided to return to this Land of Enchantment because I loved it and missed it. I felt about New Mexico the same as I felt about my mother. It was love, and very few negative feelings. As most of us know, mothers can do no wrong. Then, we grow up and, as adults, we start to remember negative traits. For me, this state was a land of poverty. It is so beautiful, so diverse and so unique with Indian dances, mariachis, flamenco and carne adovada. Then it struck me.

Why after more than 400 years are many Hispanics still so poor, cannot read or graduate. If it were not for the public sector, Hispanics would have few jobs in New Mexico.

New Mexico in 2012 reminds me of a favorite Phil Collins song, Another Day in Paradise. Hispanics are like the homeless woman in the song, searching for a day in paradise. New Mexico Hispanics are still searching for that day.

Our history has been a journey; a journal of negative findings. This journal of negative findings made me want to write this book. This term was given to me by Dr. William Smith, the national director of Teacher Corps from Washington, D.C. AT that time in the 1970s, when I met Dr. Smith, I was searching for ways to involve the general community and improve education in Colorado. His advice to me was to educate, implement and assess the system. His assessment of the journal of negative findings was that it is just as important to analyze negative findings as it is to focus on the positive findings, and Hispanics must use all data to make changes necessary for improvement. His words have inspired me, and, ultimately, have prompted me to write this book because Hispanics’ must accept the negative findings in order to move forward. They must find positive actions to replace all the negative data.

In 1973, I moved from the poverty-ridden New Mexico to the beautiful state of Colorado. Pueblo, Colorado was the home of the CF&I steel mill with more than 9,500 workers. At the University of Southern Colorado, now Colorado State in Pueblo, I was to direct a Teacher Corps program for the university and the Pueblo Public School District 60. In New Mexico, even with our many challenges, Hispanics were accepted and recognized. In