Hispanics and Education - Hispanic Achievement
Nowhere has the impact of the rapid growth of America’s Hispanic population been more apparent than in our elementary and high schools. The number of Hispanic K-12 students increased by almost 6 percent between 1993 and 2003, with Hispanics now accounting for 19 percent of public school students. Blacks make up 17.2 percent of the population while Whites posted a decrease, from 66 percent to 58 percent.
A report from The National Council of La Raza called “Hispanic Education in the United States” provides a more detailed account of how Hispanics compared to their peers in all levels of education.
The jump in the number of Hispanic K-12 students was most significant in the Western United States, where they rose from 15 percent in 1972 to 39 percent in 2003, surpassing Whites in the process. More than half of all immigrant youth are Hispanic (58 percent), with a larger portion in upper grades than lower grades.
Compared to other groups, dropout rates among Hispanics remains high and educational achievement relatively low. Barriers such as English language acquisition, immigration, insufficient financial aid and inadequate access to educational resources can explain the gaps between Hispanics and other students, say La Raza researchers.
The first issue to address is that of poverty. Roughly 49 percent of Hispanic and 48 percent of Black 4th-graders attend the public schools with the highest levels of poverty. Only 5 percent of White and 16 percent of Asian students are enrolled in similar schools. There are large state funding gaps between low- and high-poverty districts as well, especially in states with large minority populations, including California, Illinois and New York.
In 2004, Hispanics represented approximately 17 percent of all public high school students but graduated at a rate below the national average. Almost three-fourths of all Whites completed high school, compared to 53.2 percent of Hispanic students and only 50.2 percent of Blacks.
