Grant To Help Latino Aides Become Teachers

The Ford Foundation has provided the University of Southern California with the first installment of a three year, $1.2-million grant for a project that will help Latino paraprofessionals in Los Angeles-area schools become teachers.

The project's leaders hope to be training 500 paraprofessionals by 1994, and as a result, substantially alleviate a shortage of 2,500 bilingual-education teachers in the district.

Their ultimate objective is "to increase the number of Latinos in the teaching profession by creating a career-ladder track for practicing Latino paraprofessionals," said Michael...