Latino student struggles challenge Conn. reformers

WINDHAM, Conn. (AP) - As Connecticut launches an effort to reform its education system, it faces a major challenge in connecting with Hispanic students who represent its largest and fastest-growing minority population.

Latinos have been found to lag behind their white peers in every state district where data are available, and critics say the state has been slow to adapt to its changing demographics.

In Windham, a school district that has struggled with soaring dropout rates and budget problems, Superintendent Ana Ortiz says the system has faced internal and external racism in a town that has become 70 percent Hispanic with a recent influx of Mexican immigrants.

Reform advocates say they are optimistic as Connecticut officials seize on the legislative session beginning next month as an opportunity to winnow the achievement gap.