Research Paper

Hector Palapa

Professor Ogden
ENGLISH 1A STACC

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Abstract
In this research paper the author discusses how students who come from low income
families in the city of El Monte dont have enough money to support themselves while struggling
to achieve a college education. The author gives examples of his own experiences with this
plight as well as the causes and effects of poverty in El Monte. As more students drop out of
school in order to work to support themselves or their family advanced jobs that require higher
education will be left vacant and the economy will suffer. With the Welfare System unable to
take firm action on families and individuals who exploit the aid Welfare has offered, the money
goes to waste rather than helping those students in real need of money.

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Research Paper Formal Outline
I.

Introduction
a. Low income students in Southern California from El Monte have difficulty
supporting themselves while struggling to achieve a college education,
b. There has to be improvements in Welfares current system of sending out money

II.

to whoever is so called qualified to receive aid.

Body
a. Students enrolled in public schools in El Monte are dropping out due to lack of
financial support.
b. Undocumented parents get paid very little and have difficulty finding jobs due to
the lack of proof of social security and work permits.
c. Undocumented parents cant find new jobs because fear of deportation due to
random Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at worksites.
d. Expensive housing is causing parents to struggle heavily with the burden of
paying more for rent and house utilities.
e. Men and women leech off the money Welfare sends to them which wastes

III.

millions of dollars.
f. Solution to create separate bank accounts for Welfare applicants.
Conclusion
a. People need to stop watching and start doing something to help those students to
achieve a college education
b. Proper financial support will be the uprising for students achieving a college
education.

Hector Palapa
Professor Ogden
Eng 1A STACC
27 April 2016

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Research Paper
Students drop out of school every single day in order to work. Students from low income
families who live in run down cities such as El Monte in Southern California dont have enough
money to support themselves while struggling to achieve a college education and a ticket out of
the poverty line. With about seventy percent of families in El Monte considered to be low
income, it is hard to imagine how many students and children are affected. Achieving a college
education should be an opportunity available to anyone and not having enough money to aid
them, can instantly crush multiple opportunities. Without children and teens in school striving for
a college education, who else will run this country?
For the majority of the 18 years that I have been alive, I grew up in the city of El Monte.
Almost the entire city is Hispanic except for the small percentage of Asians and an even smaller
percent of Caucasians. Half the city is run by a gang that goes by the name of EMF causing
problems and destruction among ghetto neighborhoods across their part of the city. The streets
are cracked with giant potholes capable of tearing up any tire that tries to pass through them.
Shady liquor stores and dirty fast food restaurants are located at almost every corner with the
occasional drug addict on the streets waiting to pick up a dose of their medicine. All of this was a
part of everyday life in El Monte.
For years I questioned why El Monte was so trashed and dark. It swallowed up those who
had the misfortune of being considered lower working class. Throughout my school years, I had
lost over half of my friends to the city of El Monte. Some dropped out at a very young age to
work while others fell to the temptation of gangs who promised them a sense of belonging and
money. All of them went down a dark path as a result of not having enough money to support
them through their academic career. Unfortunately, other students in my school suffered the same

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fate. These same students were the same ones who received perfect attendance, honor roll,
principals honor roll and the best grades in their class. It is heartbreaking to see so many
intelligent children and teens with a promising future ahead of them drop out of school
El Monte's enrollment rate in public schools is declining and more parents are moving to
further cities or enrolling their children in "better" school districts. Former teacher and current
Rio Hondo Community College Board trustee, David Siegrist, says "I dont blame them our
schools are failing our children" (David Siegrist). Siegrist believes that the schools have failed
their students and are causing them to switch schools or districts. Schools are not providing the
necessary resources to keep students off the streets. The problem here is many teens are dropping
out of school which impacts not only the community but also the nation. Although the
government is trying to further fund education, most of the money goes to other educational
institutions that are not labeled as low income. The United States of America is behind in
education and advanced technology. But why? What is causing so many young intelligent
students to give up, drop out of school and potentially go down the wrong path?
As previously stated, El Monte is a low income city. The society is terrible and filled with
lousy jobs that have extremely little pay. Many families work these back breaking minimum
wage paying jobs and sometimes even get paid below the minimum wage. Several have seek
jobs outside the city. As a result of little pay, parents are forced to work over forty hours and
occasionally fifty hours in order to compensate for the lack of proper pay. So much time and
energy is being put into their work that less is being put into their children. Hispanic immigrants
from other countries have tremendous difficulty finding jobs along with staying employed.
According to LA Times, in 2014 I.C.E (The United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement) have raided almost four thousand worksites. One of those worksites was Vinyl

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Technology Inc. I.C.E put over two hundred and fifty people out of work for not having proper
working documentation due to a ridiculous excuse about a potential threat to homeland security.
Raymundo Lazaro, a supervisor at Vinyl Tech. Inc., says that he will be lucky if he even finds
work cleaning houses after spending years ranking up to Supervisor position with thirty
employees under him. A majority of the laid off workers at Vinyl Tech Inc. live in El Monte and
with immigration on the loose, the workers families take the brunt of the emotional and financial
burdens yet to come. With family members and parents now unemployed, who will support their
children in school trying to achieve a college education?
Unemployment can greatly impact the financial support that students need to make it
through their school years. Welfare exists to lessen the unemployment rate and support people in
need until they find their way into the work force once again along with individuals who have a
disability. What Welfare doesnt know is that there hundreds of people exploiting the money that
Welfare sends to their homes and using it to purchase wants such as a new car, new T.Vs, new
phones and other items of that nature. The government spends about nine hundred billion dollars
on welfare programs alone (Romina Bocia). With such an enormous amount of money being
spent on welfare programs, Americans would like to see that money being used wisely and used
on those who actually need help. Instead, selfish men and women are squandering the aid
Welfare is giving them and undermining opportunities for those struggling families and students.
Along with the immigration raids and Welfare leeching individuals, there is another
factor that contributes greatly to the struggles of students in school. Recently there has been a
high demand for more housing in El Monte and the number of construction sites has increased
throughout the city. House prices have skyrocketed and El Monte neighborhoods are being
gentrified, squeezing out low income families little by little in order to satisfy middle class taste.

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The city is already living in poverty offering low paying jobs and families simply dont have the
money to keep paying the house, rent, bills, etc. Mexican families already struggle with the
house price now and at the rate the prices and rent are rising, it will make it utterly difficult or
impossible for families to keep paying the bills. Finding another cheaper place to live is not the
solution. Other cities who are deeper in the poverty hole are going to have less funds and
resources to help students reach the college education level. Housing in California has been the
most expensive in the country averaging four hundred and forty thousand dollars a house. The
monthly rent has also increased to an average of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars per
month (Legislative Analysts Office). With housing being extremely expensive, it makes sense
why parents struggle to pay bills and raise their children at the same time. For this reason, my
family moved to Baldwin Park due to the ridiculous monthly rent. I wasnt the only one affected
by the increase in housing but my family was one of the lucky ones to have enough money saved
to move into another home.
Johnny was one of my good old friends back in elementary school. Johnny always
wanted to be number one. In sports and in his academics. He always did his homework right
after he arrives home. I would be playing Donkey Kong on his Super Nintendo while he did his
homework but he didnt seem to mind. His parents were hardly home because they worked all
day and sometimes all night. Johnnys mom worked at a sewing factor in El Monte while his dad
worked at a warehouse in Walnut. My mom works at one of those factors and according to her,
the way she gets paid is by piece. Some sewing factors pay their workers by every complete
piece or by stitches and the pay is ridiculously little. I used to work in a warehouse and the labor
is extremely back breaking and strenuous on the human body. The work varies throughout the
warehouse. You can either be filling up big rigs with heavy boxes for hours or you can be

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collecting wooden pallets full of splinters for the second half of the day. Johnnys parents worked
extremely long and hard every single day so it makes sense why they were hardly ever home. His
mother would come home every day at nine in the night, sluggishly cook dinner for Johnny and
his little sister and go to bed. The food that is left over is saved for lunch and sometimes saved
for breakfast the following day. His dad came home at random times depending how long his job
kept him there.
His parents couldnt find new jobs because of their illegal status. They were scared of
being discovered and sent back to Mexico leaving Johnny and his little sister behind.
Unfortunately Johnnys dad was laid off due to an immigration raid. With his moms little pay
and dad unemployed Johnny started to suffer in school. He lost interest in soccer, and began to
fail his classes. There would be some days where Johnny came to school smelling a little funky,
appearing dead and exhausted. Around this time, my family and I moved to Baldwin Park
because the rent here in El Monte was increasing. Johnnys parents didnt have enough money to
pay the water bill and soon after his parents were beginning to behind in payments. One week,
the gas would be shut off, the next would be the electricity and this continued for several months
until Johnny started earning money from selling bikes, scooters, skateboards, toys, chips, and
drugs.
Johnny started to hang out with the wrong crowd and several older kids from the
neighborhood. Most of them were the siblings of EMF gang members. We started hanging out
less and he changed into a completely different person. He was constantly disrupting class and
getting sent to the principals office. His behavior worsened the more he hung out with the older
kids. Johnny got suspended multiple times and was involved in minor fights afterschool. Johnny

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and I were still good homies but we just hung out a lot less. Eventually I found myself hanging
out with his crowd but I was lucky enough to not get sucked into their chaotic lifestyle.
Right when we entered middle school, I hardly heard from Jonny again. He ended up
dropping out in the first semester of seventh grade. Since I took the bus and walked to my aunts
house everyday afterschool, I saw Johnny plenty of times walking the streets with his homies. He
always said wassup G! and went on his way. Johnny continued his drug selling business even
after he was sent to juvie. After middle school ended, he got a job at a warehouse pilling boxes
into big rigs thanks to his homies and started making money the legal way. During my senior
year in high school I applied for a job at a warehouse called Port Logistics thanks to my sisters
connections. The first day, my employer showed me around the warehouse and introduced me to
my supervisor Johnny. I havent seen Johnny in years and it was so strange working under him at
the same warehouse. He told what has happened to him when we lost touch during middle school
and how his parents were deported around that time. Johnny let me know that he wishes his
parents were able to make more money because he believed that was the reason for his downfall
at a very early age. Without any money to feed himself and his little sister he had to earn money
fast for their sakes. Johnny was introduced to the art of selling stolen items and drugs. From then
on, he kept walking down a dark path with no return.
Johnny ended up serving time in jail for a petty crime once he turned eighteen. After a
week of working with Johnny and catching up I ended up quitting because the labor was horrible
and there was little pay. I was getting paid eight dollars an hour while there is people in
McDonalds getting paid ten dollars for flipping patties. After I quit I said my final goodbyes to
Johnny and have not seen him since then.

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Improving Welfares no firm regulation on men and women wasting money seems to be
the fastest way students will get the help they need. Welfare gives out money to those who are
disabled, unemployed and low income. Once with the money in their hands, they will either
benefit from the money or exploit it. People will also stay unmarried, unemployed and fake
being disabled in order to keep receiving money in the mailbox. The government keeps pouring
money into programs like Welfare in order to compensate for the amount of money being spent
from those programs by selfish individuals. I believe that directly depositing the money into a
separate bank account. An account that will be only be used to pay for important items and bills.
In order to keep money being deposited, applicants already in the program will have to send or
bring in a copy of a summary of purchases just like how Bank of America sends purchase
summaries at the end of every month. If applicant is spending too much money on want items,
then the next money deposit will be reduced or suspended for a certain period of time. This way
applicants will think twice about that new BMW at the dealership. The same rules and
regulations that Welfare has already established will still apply. Hopefully this way, more money
will be focused on students going to school and helping them stay above water. With less money
being wasted, more will go to the schools, public libraries, community centers and even the city
to help create a better community for everyone.
Many people believe that it is the school that are causing students to drop out. In some
aspect yes it is true but looking at the big picture there is another reason. The entire world needs
money in order for it to function just like schools do. Without it, schools wont have the
necessary resources for students to stay and learn. Several reasons contribute to the downfall of
students and their community but by standers like myself need to take a stand and do what is

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right for our community. Only then will students in El Monte finally achieve the dream of getting
a college education.

Works Cited
Tyler, John H., and Magnus Lofstrom. Finishing High School: Alternative Pathways And
Dropout Recovery. Future Of Children 19.1 (2009): 77-103. ERIC. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
hooks, bell. Where We Stand: Class Matters. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." The Concept of Discourse Community
(1990): 466-73. Web.

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Davis, Sampson, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt. The Pact: Three Young Men Make a
Promise and Fulfill a Dream. New York: Riverhead, 2002. Print.
Pipher, Mary Bray. Writing to Change the World. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print.
Bryant, Larry C., Glenda Moss, and Anita S. Zijdemans Boudreau. "Understanding Poverty
Through Race Dialogues In Teacher Preparation." Critical Questions In Education 6.1
(2015): 1-15. ERIC. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Comber, Barbara. "Literacy, Poverty And Schooling: What Matters In Young People's
Education?." Literacy 48.3 (2014): 115-123. ERIC. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Welton, Anjale, and Montrischa Williams. "Accountability Strain, College Readiness Drain:
Sociopolitical Tensions Involved In Maintaining A College-Going Culture In A High
"Minority", High Poverty, Texas High School." High School Journal 98.2 (2015): 181204. ERIC. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
"World Socialist Web Site." Low-income Students Six times More Likely to Drop out of High
School -. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

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Hector Palapa
Professor Ogden
Eng 1A STACC
27 April 2016
Annotated Bibliography
Hooks, Bell. Where We Stand: Class Matters. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Bell Hooks believes this nation is becoming more and more class segregated. Class is a subject
no one wants to explore or understand. The rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming
even worse. The poor are being blamed for the holes in the welfare system and left to die in their
ghetto neighborhoods while the greed for more money from the rich is tolerated and accepted.
Growing up bell hooks lived with a working lower class family. She talks about her experiences
being raised without sufficient money but still being able to go to college. During college she
met a whole new world of people who knew nothing and everything about class consciousness.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." The Concept of Discourse
Community (1990): 466-73. Web.
John Swales explains the definition of a discourse community. He explains a discourse
community is a group or organization of people that have one goal or a specific purpose. His
article is broken up into parts that clarify, conceptualize and define what a discourse community
actually is and what it consists of. Along with the definition of a discourse community, Swales
provides an example of one. His example is a a group that he is involved in. It is called Hong
Kong Study Circle or HKSC. This group is basically a group of scholars or intelligent people.

Tyler, John H., and Magnus Lofstrom. Finishing High School: Alternative Pathways And
Dropout Recovery. Future Of Children 19.1 (2009): 77-103. ERIC. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
John H. Tyler discussed the importance of finishing high school for students going through
difficult times. He explains why many students dont finish high school and tend to drop out. It
may be because of family issues, financial problems, external factors or internal factors. Tyler
comes up with a solution or pathway, as he calls it, that will guide students toward a path of
finishing high school and hopefully entering the college education level.
Comber, Barbara. "Literacy, Poverty And Schooling: What Matters In Young People's
Education?." Literacy 48.3 (2014): 115-123. ERIC. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Students from low income families and schools are more likely to drop out than those who came
from a family and schools that are financially stable. Barbara Comber tries to understand what is
important in a young persons education that will keep him or her in school. Comber mostly

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discusses students whom are considered to be minorities and also lower working class or just
lower class. Very intricate article full of data and statistics just to figure out what matters to
young people in school these days.
Welton, Anjale, and Montrischa Williams. "Accountability Strain, College Readiness
Drain: Sociopolitical Tensions Involved In Maintaining A College-Going Culture In A High
"Minority", High Poverty, Texas High School." High School Journal 98.2 (2015): 181-204.
ERIC. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Anjale and Montrischa Williams focus on the college readiness and college going culture in a
specific high school in Texas. By college readiness and going culture, the authors mean that
students need to be thinking about going to college and being ready for the college education
level. Too many students now a days are ready eligible for college but not ready. There is a big
difference that Welton and Williams argue about in this article. Their goal is to maintain a college
readiness and going attitude rather than have a temporary one. The students they use come from
a high minority and high poverty community.
Bryant, Larry C., Glenda Moss, and Anita S. Zijdemans Boudreau. "Understanding
Poverty Through Race Dialogues In Teacher Preparation." Critical Questions In Education
6.1 (2015): 1-15. ERIC. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
The multiple authors in this article want to understand why low income students of color have
such a difficult time being engaged in school as well as communicating with their teachers or
counselors. They have discovered that this miscommunication is linked to the unprepared
educators that are hired at the educational institute. Many schools hire teachers that come from
privileged backgrounds and not enough qualified teachers that can relate to the immense diverse
students in the classroom. Teachers are either unprepared and untrained how to communicate
with students of color or simply dont care.