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The requirement for temporary or seasonal migrant labor in agriculture,
fishing, and forestry industries has been and continues to be an essential element to
Washington State's economy.
The children of migrant families have long been of increasing concern
to our nation. However, prior to the 1960s not much real progress was made toward meeting
the needs of this section of our population. For many years, the children of migrant
workers were shamefully neglected. Schools often made little effort to enroll these
"temporary" residents. Usually, classes were already filled with local children.
Bringing large numbers of strangers into the classrooms for so short a period, it was
often argued, would disturb the routine and set back the programs for local resident
children. Other factors also came into play as concerned people attempting to enroll
migrant children were many times thwarted by the migrant parents who wished to have their
children near either working with them or taking care of younger children.
The concern for the education of migrant children arose in almost every
state in the Union as year-round migration continued to impact the local communities that
were affected by the agriculture and fishing industries. Before 1962, various private and
church groups made some small local efforts and were putting pressure on Congress and
state legislatures to recognize the plight of migrating children.
In 1962, Washington State, through the efforts of the Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction, raised private funds for the first compensatory
education project for migrant children in the Grandview School District. Clarence McClure,
Grandview School District superintendent, held the state's first summer school for migrant
children. Other projects followed. Sumner and Moses Lake School Districts also provided
summer projects in 1964 with funds raised from private sources by the Washington Citizens
for Migrant Affairs.
Day care programs for migrant infants were also being implemented with
the aim of releasing older children from baby-sitting responsibilities which interferred
with school attendance. Through the pursuits of the Washington Citizens for Migrant
Affairs, local schools, and the Office of Economic Opportunity, funds were used to finance
various day care and school programs.
1966 to Today
In 1966, following the creation of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) Title I Program, Congress established Title I Part C, Education of
Migratory Children, which specifically focused on providing migrant children the
opportunity and resources for a formal and equal education. Recognizing that the migrant
child was not the sole responsibility of one district, one community, or one state,
federal funds were allocated to states with the assurance that each state or their local
operating agencies would identify and address the special educational needs of migratory
children and ensure that migratory children have an opportunity to meet the same
challenging State content standards and challenging State student performance standards
that all children are expected to meet.
The program has since provided a variety of experiences for migrant
youngsters, their parents, and their instructors. The goals of the program are to raise
each child academically, physically, and socially to a level of opportunity for life at
least equal to that of all other children in the United States and include compensatory
programs for migrant children who attend school either part time or full time. They are
designed to compensate for academic, health, social, and/or physical deficiencies caused
by migratory work patterns and cultural and linguistic differences of the families.
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