Reported on Oct. 8, 2009.

Like any parent, Diana Cardenas wanted her child to get the best education. So when schools in District 6 weren’t meeting her standards, she took matters into her own hands.

“I wanted my daughter to be excited to go to school,” Cardenas said. Seeking less crowded classrooms and more bilingual programming, Cardenas switched her daughter to District 4 in Spanish Harlem. “Now I am at peace, and as a mother, I feel good.”

At IS 218, the Salome Urena de Henriquez School in Washington Heights, only 33 percent of eighth graders passed the state reading tests in 2008. Photo: Yaffi Spodek

Cardenas’s story may have a happy ending, but according to multiple interviews with parents and educational advocates, her experience is an anomaly. Many immigrants in District 6 feel that their children are not getting a quality education, given the hurdles that come with teaching bilingual students. In Washington Heights, where Spanish-speaking immigrants comprise almost 75 percent of the population, a group of concerned parents is hoping to make a difference by becoming an active voice to campaign for change in the schools.

“District 6 has the worst education in all of New York City,” said Elizabeth Veras, the president of the Parent Association at PS 192. “I am saddened to hear all the complaining.”

The Department of Education did not respond to calls seeking comment.

According to the non-profit advocacy group, the New York Immigration Coalition, there are 140,000 students learning English in New York City public schools. Half of them come from immigrant homes where English is not the primary language for one or both parents. Of the 24,000 students in District 6, a fifth are English language learners, meaning English is their second language.

At PS 173 in District 6, only 54 percent of students passed the fourth grade test last year, compared to 68.9 percent who passed the test citywide. PS 325 had the lowest passing level in the neighborhood, with just 44 percent meeting the grade-level standards.

In District 6 middle schools, levels were even lower for the eighth grade reading tests. At MS 322, only 42 percent passed, compared to 57 percent citywide, while at IS 218, just 33 percent passed.

“There is a crisis situation taking place in these schools,” said Deycy Avitia, Coordinator of Education Advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition. “We are not seeing the same proportion of services provided to immigrants and children of immigrants as other students, and this is reflected in their academic performance.”

This disparity has led District 6 parents to rally for change, hoping to bridge the gap between immigrant children and their classmates.

“The majority of these students have been going to school their whole life, so it is unacceptable that they are reaching the fourth grade already below the reading level,” said Megan Hester, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Educational Justice, a parent-led organization devoted to ending inequities in public schools.

One of the goals of the Coalition for Educational Justice is to provide parents with the information, resources and access they need to be actively involved in their children’s learning experience. In working with immigrant groups of parents, Hester said the parents have learned to ask for more services such as translators within the school system.