Bilingual Education Champion Dies, Work Lives On

NEW YORK—Alice Cardona was a pioneer advocate for bilingual education in New York City. Born in El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem in 1930 to Puerto Rican parents who migrated to the city in 1923, Cardona dedicated her life to improving the lot of immigrants in the city.

She died on Monday of cancer, but her legacy lives on.

In October, an agreement between the state and city education departments marked a milestone on the way to helping struggling immigrant students improve. Over the next three years, the city will open 25 new bilingual programs.

The city will also expedite the certification of qualified English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors, identify struggling English language learner (ELL) students earlier, and better track the progress of ELL students.

Only 12.4 percent of the city’s ELL students were proficient on last year’s grade three to eight English Language Arts exams, compared to 43.9 percent among all students.

Nevertheless, the position of immigrant students has already improved greatly since Cardona began her work in the 1970s. From 2003 to 2006, the June graduation rate for ELL students in New York City jumped from 25.1 percent to 41.5 percent.

Cardona advocated passionately for bilingual education and immigrant women rights in several positions she held throughout her life.

During the 1970s, she worked as a counselor and director of counseling programs for youth and parents at ASPIRA. During Gov. Mario Cuomo’s administration, 1983-1995, Cardona served as the assistant director of the New York State Division for Women. After her retirement in 1995, she became the director of the Puerto Rican Association for Community Affairs (PRACA).

She founded more than a dozen community groups and was a member of many others. She received several awards for her work, including being the first Latina to win the Susan B. Anthony Prize, which she earned with her book, “Puerto Rican Women Achievers in New York City.”

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito expressed her deep regret at the passing of this accomplished lady, “[It was] very sad to hear. Alicia was a mentor to me y una hija de El Barrio,” tweeted Mark-Viverito upon learning of her passing. The phrase translates as “daughter of Spanish Harlem.”