Thread: Obama: Educational Opportunities for Hispanics Needs to Grow

As Hispanic population rises, Obama says educational opportunities for them needs to grow.

By Sara Lenz, Deseret News

Published: Tuesday, April 5, 2011 12:55 p.m. MDT

Nearly one in four of all school-aged children in America are Hispanic, according to information released from the White House late last week. This was announced as President Obama made clear that in order for America to progress, more educational opportunities need to be made available to Hispanic children.

"In order to win the future we must win the race to educate our kids," the White House press secretary wrote on the federal government's website late last week. "Restoring the United States to its role as the global leader in education will require that we invest in strengthening and expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic students – from cradle to career."

The White House also revealed other statistics about the Hispanic population including that only 50 percent of Hispanic children graduate high school on-time, that those who finish high school are half as likely as their fellow graduates to prepare for college and that only 13 percent of Hispanics have a bachelor's degree.

A writer for the Miami Herald commented about the new push by the White House and mentioned that when he was speaking with the President last month, the President told him that Americans need to make education the focal point of personal, family and national agendas, like it is in countries like Asia.

"The Hispanic community will be key to meeting the President's goal for the United States to have the best-educated workforce and the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020," the White House press secretary wrote.

Latinos now account for more than half of all students in Texas public schools, Fox News Latino reported last month. Nearly one in three Arizona residents are Hispanic and even places like Alabama, Louisiana and North Carolina have seen a recent rise in their Hispanic population.

Latinos living in America name education as one of their top priorities over immigration issues, according to an NPR interview last week with co-anchor of the nightly news on Univision, a Spanish-language television network.

"Poll after poll shows that the most important issues for Latinos has to do with jobs, of course, and with education," Jorge Ramos told NPR.

He went on to say that the growth in Latinos is "truly a demographic revolution that it's going to - and it's already having enormous impact economically and politically."

But it all comes back to education, reported The Post and Courier. The paper acknowledged that the Hispanic population will have a big impact on American culture, economics and politics but whether or not this will be a positive influence "will depend largely on education," The Post and Courier stated.

President Obama has laid out several initiatives, including promoting early learning opportunities for Hispanics, encouraging the Race to the Top program, preparing Hispanic students for college and careers and improving college affordability and access for Hispanics.

"Our country was built on and continues to thrive on its diversity," President Obama stated in October 2010, "and there is no doubt that the future of the United States is inextricably linked to the future of the Hispanic community."

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"The Hispanic community will be key to meeting the President's goal for the United States to have the best-educated workforce and the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020," the White House press secretary wrote.

The statements above gives me a thought other citizens means less than Hispanics.

Why focus more on Hispanics education than other citizens? All citizens should be treated equally.

All he needs is red long handle underwear, horns, and a pitchfork to complete his wardrobe. He already has the character down pat.