Edgar and Holly Martinez double up on education outreach

RETIRED Mariner Edgar Martinez and his wife Holli stand to provide valuable assistance in efforts to encourage more minority students to attend college and steer at least some of them toward a teaching career.

The Martinez Foundation has two goals. First, to get more minority students, particularly Latinos, to choose college by offering scholarships and other help. The second, which is equally important, is to diversify the teachers corps to better reflect students.

Nationwide, minority students make up 43 percent of the public school student body. Of 2.3 million teachers, little more than 10 percent are of color. In Washington state, about 7 percent of teachers are minorities, more than three times as many minorities are students.

This disparity has predictable results. Studies show teachers often fail to connect with minority students. Students feel the disconnect and withdraw mentally, or drop out of school completely. The dropout rate for Latino students is high — about 32 percent for Washington state's class of 2006.

The Martinezes candidly link this problem to their lives. Holli Martinez says she never enjoyed the confidence of her teachers, a feeling that translated into her own lack of self-confidence and eventually to a decision to drop out of college.

Edgar Martinez likens the foundation's outreach to young Latinos and other minority students as the kind of life-changing opportunity he received with baseball.

The couple plans to work with the Masters in Teaching program at the University of Washington and a similar effort at Washington State University. Local school districts can and should play a role by identifying promising minority students and looking for candidates within their staffs, from teacher aides to librarians, who can add diversity to teaching.

No less than a redoubling of creative and strong efforts ought to be tolerated. The Martinezes light the way.