Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
54977723
label
Hispanic Education [3]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
54977723
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Hispanic Education [3]
citationUrl
collections
Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)
Bethany Little's Subject Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
54977723
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
otherTitles
42-t-7367454-20130371S-011-001-2017
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
a97ec92315a88900
ocrText
Section 6. As part of the development of the Annual Federal Plan, each Executive department and each designated
agency (hereinafter in this section referred to collectively as "agency") shall prepare a plan for, and shall document,
both that agency's effort to increase Hispanic American participation in Federal education programs where Hispanic
Americans currently are under served, and that agency's effort to improve educational outcomes for Hispanic
Americans participating in Federal education programs. This plan shall address, among other relevant issues: (a) the
elimination of unintended regulatory barriers to Hispanic American participation in Federal education programs; (b)
the adequacy of announcements of program opportunities of interest to Hispanic-serving-school districts, institutions
of higher education, and agencies; and c) ways of eliminating educational inequalities antages faced by
Hispanic Americans. It also shall emphasize the facilitation of technical, planning advice to
Hispanic-serving school districts and institutions of higher education. Each agency's provide appropriate
measurable objectives for proposed actions aimed at increasing Hispanic American participation.in Federal
education programs where Hispanic Americans currently are underserved first your each agency's plans
also shall assess that agency's performance on the goals set in the previous Innual plan. These plans shall be
submitted by a date and time to be established by the Secretary.
Section 7. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Secretary of Education
and the Secretary of Labor, to the extent permitted by the law, a program to promote recruitment of
Hispanic students for part-time, summer, and permanent positions Government.
Section 8. I have determined that the Commission shall be established in compliance with the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2). Notw Hastanding may other Executive order, the responsibilities of
the President under the Federal Advisory Committee.Act, as Aniended, shall be performed by the Secretary, in
accordance with the guidelines and procedures esthblished by the Administrator of General Services.
Section 9. Administration (a) Members of the limmission shall serve without compensation, but shall be allowed
travel expenses, including per substance, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in
the Government service (5 (b) The Commission and the Initiative shall obtain funding for their
activities from the Department of Education: c) The Department of Education shall provide such administrative
services for the Commissioners may becomired.
Section 10. Executive is revoked.
###
40
TOTAL P.11
WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS
PHONE: 202-401-7479
FAX: 202-401-8377
E-MAIL: [email protected]
400 MARYLAND AVE, S.W.
WASHINGTON, DC 20202-3601
FAX COVER SHEET
Number of pages (including cover): 31
To:
Bethany DPC Little
Fax Number: ( ) 456 - 5581
From:
Deborah A. Santiago
Deputy Director
Date: 9/5/00
Subject: Next Draft of Commission Report
Part 10F4 = = 1-10
2 of 4 11-30
3of 4 31-40
4 of 4 41-52
PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY COMMISSION
ON EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS
Guillermo Linares (Chair)
Gloria Rodríguez
New York, New York
San Antonio, Texas
Sonia Hernández (Vice-chair)
Waldemar Rojas
Sacramento, California
Dallas, Texas
Erlinda Paiz Archuleta
Isaura Santiago Santaque
Denver, Colorado
New York, New OF
Cecilia Preciado Burclaga
John Phillip Santos
Seaside, California
New York, Wew-York
George Castro
Samuel Vigil
San Jose, California
Las Vegas New Mexico
Darlene Chavira Chávez
Diana Was serman
Tuscon, Arizona
Laugerdale, Florida
David J. Cortíella
Ruben Zacarías
Boston, Massachusetts
Los Angeles, California
Miriam Cruz
White House Initiative on Educational
Washington, D.C.
Excellence for Hispanic Americans Staff
Jullet Villareal García
Sarita E. Brown
Brownsville, Texas
Executive Director
José González
Deborah A. Santiago
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Deputy Director
Cipriano Muñoz
Richard Toscano
San Antonio, Texas
Special Assistant for Interagency Affairs
Harry P. Pachón
Julle Laurel
Claremont, California
Policy Analyst
Eduardo J. Padrón
Deborah M. Montoya
Miami, Florida
Assistant to the Executive Director
Janice Petrovich
Danielle Gonzales
New York. New York
Policy Intern
41
Latinos in Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education, or preschool, encompasses education programs for children up to j years of age, and
may provide related services to meet children's psychological and health needs. Preschool prepares children for a
solid education by teaching learning and socialization skills. Given the importance of these efforts and services,
both the federal government and the states make significant investments in early childhood programs, totaling about
$10 billion annually.
Population
The Hispanic population in the United States is very young. Today, 10% age 5 and make
up over 15% of their age group in the U.S. population. By the year 2030 % of the total
school-age population. The projected increase in the number of in preschool brings with it
critical strengths and challenges to the nation's education system.
CPS
Report,
No.
P25-1130,
1996]
Enrollment
Hispanic children under age 5 are less likely to be enrolled education programs. In 1998,
only 20% of Hispanic 3-year-olds were enrolled in beggrams, compared to 42% of whites and
44% of blacks (Figure 1). Of 4-year-olds, less than 60% Hispanics were enrolled in early childhood
programs, compared to 67% of whites and 73% of-blacks Februal of the Census, CPS Report, No. P20-521, Table-2]
In 1998, differences in the enrollment of 5-yearsolds largely disappeared between Hispanics (90%), whites
(94%) and blacks (95%). However, while the perollment gap closes at kindergarten, Latino children still remain
less prepared for school because of lower rates at the younger ages. [Bureau of the Census, CPS Report, No.
P20-521, Table-2]
In 1998, the early childhopy education-anrollment rate for Hispanics was similar in both urban (48%) and
suburban (42%) locations By companyon, the enrollment rate for blacks was higher in urban areas (55%) than
in suburban areas while therate for whites was much higher in suburban areas (62%) than in urban areas
(19%). [Bureau of the No. P20-521, Table-5]
As parents' educational trainment increases, so does the early childhood enrollment rate of their children.
However, in 1997, fewer Hispanics age 25 and older had completed high school than their black and white
counterparts-55% of Hispanics, 75% of blacks, and 86% of whites had completed high school. [NCES, Digest of
Education Statistics 1998. Table 8]
Income and Enrollment
In 1998, the median family income for Hispanics was about $28,000 while the overall median income was
$39,000. Research shows that families with higher incomes are more likely to enroll their 3- and 4-year-olds in
early childhood education than those with lower incomes. [NCES, The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicator 14] [Bureau
of the Census, CPS Report. No. P60-206, 1998]
While Latino children are overrepresented in families living in poverty, they are underrepresented in Head Start
programs designed to remedy the effect of poverty on educational achievement. In 1998, the child poverty rate
for children under 6 years of age was 36% for Hispanics, 40% for blacks and 15% for whites. In Fiscal Year
1998, Head Start served 822,316 children. Of these, 36% were black, 32% white, 26% Hispanic and 3%
American Indian and Asian. [1999 Head Start Fact Shees, Administration for Children, Youth and Families]
School Readiness
Hispanics are more likely to tell their child a story than read to them. Three-to 5-year-olds may start school
better prepared to learn if they are read to or told a story once a week. In 1996, of 3- to 5-year olds, 80% of
Hispanics were told a story-consistent with blacks (77%) and whites (84%). Hispanic children were less
likely to be read to-65% of Hispanics were read to, compared to about 75% of blacks and nearly 90% of
whites. [NCES, The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicator 34]
42
Approximately 70% of teachers said they felt only moderately, somewhat, or not at all prepared to address the
needs of students with limited English proficiency or from diverse cultural backgrounds. This lack of
preparation has profound implications for the large population of Hispanic students in early childhood today.
[NCES, The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicator 23]
43
Latinos in Elementary Education (K-8)
The elementary school years are a period of significant development for the child in all areas of learning, providing
the foundation for a successful high school experience. Elementary education generally includes kindergarten
through grade eight, referred to in various grade groupings as primary, elementary, and middle school.
Population
Today, Hispanics comprise 15% of the elementary school-age population (5-13).
2025,
Latinos
in
this age group will make up nearly 25% of the elementary school-age population 2). [Bureau of the Census,
CPS Report, No. P25-1130, 1996]
Enrollment
Between 1978 and 1998, the enrollment of Hispanics in public element increased 157% compared to
20% for black students and 10% for white students. [Bureau of the CensusaC Table A-1, 1999]
Urbanicity and Poverty
Latino students now experience more isolation from whites oncentration in high-poverty schools
than any other group of students. In 1998, close to 50% Imparesm public education attended urban
schools. In comparison, just over 50% of blacks and curly THE whites in public schools were enrolled in
urban schools. Further, the nation's 10 largest central districts enrolled close to 25% of Latino
students, 18% of black students and only 2% or white surdents. [Bureau of the Census, CPS Report, P20-521, 1998]
[Resegregation in American Schools, The Civil Harvard University, 1999)
In 1996, about one out of every four students veglived in a central city and who attended public schools was
Hispanic, up from about one 10-findents in 1972. [NCES, The Condition of Education 1999, Indicator 46]
Latino students, on average, attendiscinnols with more than twice as many poor classmates as in those attended
by white students (46%cks. 19%). Invesidition, just OVET one-third of Hispanics (34%) and blacks (37%) under
age 14 lived in po comparented 14% of whites. [Bureau of the Census, CPS Report, P60-206, 1998] [Resegregation in
American Schools, The City/Rights Project, Harvard University, 1999]
Educational Achievement
Overall, Hispanic students consistently perform below the national average in the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP). Disparities begin as early as kindergarten and remain through age 17. By age
nine, Hispanic students lag behind their non-Hispanic peers in reading, mathematics and science proficiency.
[NCES, The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicator 1. 2, 4 - 6]
While not all Hispanic students are limited english proficient (LEP), Hispanics constitute about 75% of all
students enrolled in LEP programs, including bilingual education and English as a Second Language (ESL)
programs. [Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Report, 1988-1994]
Computers have become an essential tool in our society and early exposure to computers can help prepare
students for future success in the workplace. However, Hispanic students are less likely than their white peers to
use a computer at school of at home. In 1997, 68% of Hispanic children used a computer at school, compared
to 70% of blacks and 84% of whites. Further, only 18% of Hispanic students used a computer at home,
compared to 19% of black students and 52% of white students. [NCES, The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicator 18]
Teachers
The number of Hispanic teachers lags far behind the number of Hispanic students. While Hispanic students
comprise about 15% of public school students, only about 4% of public school teachers are Hispanic. [NCES,
Digesi of Education Statistics, 1998, Table 68]
44
Latinos in Secondary Education (9-12)
Secondary education is a critical means of achieving upward mobility and helps individuals negotiate the path to
achievement and economic success. Secondary education, or high school, generally includes grades nine through
twelve.
Population
Hispanic students in secondary education represent 13% of the current school popilition.in grades 9-12. By the
year 2030, Latinos in grades 9-12 will make up 23% of the school population [Bureau of the
Census, CPS Report, No. P25-1130, 1996]
Enrollment
Among 15-17 year olds, 34% of Hispanic students were enrolled Enrollment below grade
level is a significant variable because it is the highest predictor of school rates. [Bureau of the Census, CPS
Report, Number P20-513, Table A-2, 1998)
Educational Achievement
The dropout rate for Hispanics is much higher than for other ethnicsgroups. In 1998, 30% of all Latino 16-
through 24-year-olds were dropouts (1.5 million), more incomple the dropout rate for blacks (14%) and more
than three times the rate for whites (S%). [NCES Propout the United States: 1998]
High Hispanic dropout rates are partly attributable to the relatively greater dropout rates among Hispanic
immigrants. The dropout rate for Hispang to 24-year-olds born outside the United States (44%) was double
the rate for those born in the United State [NCES, Dropout Rates in the United States: 1998]
In 1996, the average National of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores of Hispanic students age 17
were well below those whiteveers in math, reading and science. [NCES, The Condition of Education 1998,
Indicator 16]
Hispanic students credits in computer science, foreign languages and English than other
groups. Despite increa imper-level course selection among Hispanic high school students, Hispanic
students still carn than other groups in history, science and mathematics. [NCES, The Educational
Progress of Hispanic Students, The Condition of Education 1995]
Educational Attainment
The low high school completion rate for Latinos has not changed substantially in several years. High school
completion rates for white and black students in 1998 were 90% and 81%, respectively. However, the high
school completion rate for Hispanics was only 63%. [NCES, Dropout Rates in the United States: 1998]
While Latino parents are increasing their educational attainment rates, these rates are still below those of other
ethnic groups. Higher levels of parental educational attainment are generally associated with positive
educational outcomes and experiences, such as high school completion, for their children. The percentage of
Hispanic parents earning a high school diploma has improved, from 23% in 1972 to 45% in 1997. By
comparison, in 1997, over 90% of white parents had earned a high school diploma. [NCES, The Condition of
Education 1998, Supplemental Table 44-4]
College Preparation
Hispanic students are more often than not tracked into general courses that satisfy only the basic requirements
and not those that provide access to four-year colleges or to rigorous technical schools. More Hispanic students
(50%) are enrolled in general programs of study than either whites (39%) or blacks (40%). Only 35% of Latino
students are enrolled in college preparatory or academic programs, compared to 50% of whites and 43% of
blacks. [NCES, Trends Among High School Seniors, NELS:88. 1972-1992. 1995]
In 1997, Hispanics were at least three times as likely to take a foreign language Advanced Placement (AP)
examination as whites. Hispanic students were also five times as likely as whites to be eligible for college
45
credit from these tests (with a grade 3 or higher). White students were more likely than blacks or Hispanics to
take AP examinations in all other subject areas. [NCES, The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicator 14]
The percentage of Hispanic seniors who planned to continue their education at a four-year college doubled from
24% in 1972, to 50% in 1992 (Figure 3). The percentage who planned to attend a two-year program increased
from 12% to 20%. (NCES, Trends Among High School Seniors, NELS-88. Second Follow-up. 1992]
46
Latinos in Undergraduate Education
Undergraduate education is considered today to be an important path to ensuring a better future in our economy.
Undergraduate education is study beyond secondary school at an institution offering programs terminating in an
associate's or bachelor's degree.
Population
Hispanics currently represent 14.5% (3.6 million) of the total traditional college-as infoliation (18-24 years).
By the year 2025, Hispanics will comprise 22% of that population. [Buresu of the CHECK Report, No. P20-516,
1997)
Enrollment
The representation of Hispanics in higher education continues to Hispanic students represented
almost 10% of the total student enrollment in higher education. [NCES, Staristics, 1998, Table 207]
Between 1976 and 1996, the number of Hispanics enrolled auduate education increased 202%,
compared with only 13% for whites and 44% for blacks oney (1995-96), Hispanic enrollment
increased 5%, the largest one-year increase of any ethers-grap FICES, Digest of Education Statistics. 1998, Table 207]
Hispanic students enroll in college immediatel grandmation from high school at a rate similar to that of
other groups-66%, compared to 68% for whites and about 60% for blacks. However, Hispanic 18-to 24-year
old high school completers enroll in collegence wer rates (36%) than whites (46%) and blacks (40%). [NCES,
The Condition of Education, 1999, Indicators 53
The majority of Hispanic underpraduates are enrolled in two-year institutions (53%). In comparison, the
majority of white and black Bnder are enrolled in four-year institutions (56% and 51%, respectively).
[NCES. IPEDS, 1997 Fall Enrollment]
Latino enrollment reducation is concentrated in a small number of institutions. About 40% of
Hispanic undergraduate enrolled in fewer than 200 institutions of higher education known as
Hispanic-Serving Instructions: (HSIs). HSIs are accredited degree-granting public or private nonprofit
institutions of higher education with at least 25 percent total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent
student enrollment. [NCES, IPEDS, 1997 Fall Enrollment] [Higher Education Amendments of 1965, as amended, 1998]
Latino undergraduate students are concentrated in several key states. Just over 50% of all Hispanics enrolled in
higher education are in two states: California and Texas. Almost 75% of Latinos enrolled in higher education
are in five states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois (Figure 4). [NCES, IPEDS, 1997 Fall Enrollment]
A higher percentage of Hispanic students (45%) are enrolled part time than either white or black students (39%
and 40%, respectively). Hispanics (35%) are also more likely than white or black students (25% and 32%,
respectively) to take more than six years to receive a bachelor's degree. [NCES, IPEDS, 1997 Fall Enrollment] [NCES,
The Condition of Education 1996, Supplemental Table 11-1]
Financial Aid
Hispanic students tend to borrow less to pay for their education. As first-year students, close to 50% of
Hispanics received grants while less than 30% received loans to pay for their education. In comparison, close to
60% of blacks received grants and 42% received loans, and 46% of whites received grants and 31% received
loans. [NCES, Descriptive Summary of 1989-90 Beginning Postsecondary Students, 5 Years Later, Table 15.1, May 1996)
Educational Attainment
Hispanics have increased their undergraduate degree attainment In 1996, Hispanic students camed 7% of all
associate's and 5% of all bachelor's degrees. In total, Hispanics doubled their undergraduate degree attainment
from 1976. [NCES, Digest of Education Statistics, 1998, Table 262]
47
The top three disciplines for bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanic students in 1996 were business, social
sciences and education. The top three disciplines for associate's degrees awarded to Hispanics were liberal arts,
business and the health professions. [NCES, Digest of Education Storistics, 1998, Table 26S]
48
Latinos in Graduate Education
Graduate education provides the opportunity to rise to the professional level of a discipline and to become an expert
in a field of study. A graduate education program generally requires study beyond the bachelor's degree, resulting
in a master's, first-professional or doctoral degree.
Enrollment
While Hispanics have increased their enrollment in graduate education, they are sssepresented than other
groups. In 1996, Hispanics represented 4% of graduate students, while whites represented 73%, and blacks
represented 6%. In 1976, Hispanics represented only 2% of graduate students.
of
Education
Statistics
1998, Table 207]
In the past 20 years, Hispanic women have surpassed Hispanic men in
enrollment.
In
1976,
45%
of
Hispanics enrolled were women compared to 55% of men. In 1996, enrolled in graduate
education were women compared to 40% of men. [NCES, Digest of Educationalistes 1998, Table 207]
Although their enrollment rates are small, Hispanics in are more likely to enroll full time
than either white or black students. Of Hispanics in graduate 42% are enrolled full time, compared
with 37% of whites and 39% of blacks. [NCES, Digest of 1998, Table 208]
In 1995-96, 7% of all first-professionals were Hispanic, black, and 76% were white. Although the
percentage of whites in law programs is higher (75%) other race-ethnic group, Hispanics enroll at a
higher rate (11%) in law programs than any other minority group. [NCES, Graduate and First-Professional Students
Nauonal Posisecondary Education Student Aid
Financial Aid
Hispanics studying for maste recementiess grant aid and work more than either white or black
students.
In
1995-96, Hispanic students received grants, compared to over 30% of both white
and black students. In tandem, 20 Hispanics received assistantships, compared to 10% for blacks and 9%
for whites. Among fullstrine maste students, Hispanics received even less aid. Only 65% of Hispanic
students received 76% of whites and 90% of blacks. [NCES, Student Financing of Graduate and
First-Professional Education 1998 Table 2.3a]
Hispanic full-time master-yand first-professional degree students receive less aid than any other ethnic group.
The average aid for Hispanic master's degree students is only $8,729, compared to $13,875 for blacks and
$12,566 for whites (Figure 5). For first-professional degree students, the average aid for Hispanics is only
$16,766, compared to $21,440 for blacks, $18,182 for whites, and $18,416 for Asian/Pacific Islanders. [NCES,
Student Financing of Graduate and First-Professional Education 1995-96, May, 1998 Table 2.4]
Of first-professional degree students, a higher percentage of Hispanics borrow or work than either blacks or
whites. In 1995-96, 73% of Hispanics had loans and 6% participated in work-study. In comparison, 70% of
whites had loans and 5% were in work-study, and 71% of blacks had loans and 4% were in work-study. [NCES,
Student Financing of Graduate and First-Professional Education, 1995-96, May, 1998. Table 2.3a]
Educational Attainment
In 1996, Latinos earned about 4% of all master's degrees. The four disciplines in which the most master's
degrees were earned by Hispanics were education, business, public administration and the health professions.
[NCES, Digest of Education Statistics, 1998, Table 268]
Latinos earned 2% of all doctoral degrees in 1996. The four disciplines in which the most doctoral degrees were
earned by Hispanics were education, psychology, biological/life sciences and social sciences/history.
[NCES, Digest of Education Statistics, 1998, Table 268]
Faculty
In 1992, Latinos represented less than 3 percent of full-time instructional faculty and staff in higher education.
[NCES. Instructional Faculty and Staff in Higher Education Institution, Fall 1987 and Fall 1992, 1997]
49
WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS
PUBLICATIONS
1996
Our Nation on the Faultline: Hispanic American Education documents the
exponential demographic growth of Hispanics in America and CUSCADES both the
serious shortcomings of the education system in serving Hispanic Americans and
the resulting education gap. The Report issues a call to state,
and federal policy makers to take deliberate and immediates steps improve the
educational attainment of Hispanics.
1998
Our Nation on the Faultline: Hispanic American-Education
(includes comparison between Commission actionsplan and programs in the
Hispanic Education Action Plan)
1999
HSIs: Serving the Community, Serving the Nation is an information kit that
provides a map of where HSIs aredecated throughout the United States, an
informational video detailing how lists serve their communities and the nation, a
brief booklet summariz information provided, and a White House Initiative
brochure.
What Works for-Latino Youth (first edition): Presents a compendium of programs
that work for This directory offers contact information and program
descriptions to facilitate networking and information sharing. It is intended to be a
tool for foundations businesses, policymakers, community-based organizations,
schools, universities, and other interested individuals and communities actively
engaged in addressing the strengths and needs of Latino youth.
FY1998 Annual Performance Report on Implementing Executive Order 12900
highlights the federal government's progress in meeting the growing education and
employment needs of the Latino community. Twenty-seven agency profiles provide
information on education programs, outreach to Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs),
strategies to recruit Latinos for federal employment and future investments for
improving and expanding education and employment opportunities for Latinos. A
federal point of contact is also provided to answer questions pertaining to specific
programs and activities.
2000
Latinos in Education provides a snapshot of information about Latinos in our
nation's education system from early childhood through graduate and professional
education.
Testing Hispanic Students in the United States: Technical and Policy Issues
report and Executive Summary seeks to bring attention to the growing crisis of
50
Hispanic students in public education to the nation's leaders, and provides guidance
to the nation and the States on taking the necessary steps to rectify the conditions
that allow Hispanic students to be wrongly measured and unaccounted for in their
own schools.
Educational Standards, Assessment, and Accountability: A New Civil Rights
Frontier summarizes the White House Initiative's 1999 four passeries of policy
seminars on assessment practices and the impact on Latino learners. The seminars
focused on such issues as the role of educators in developin grapprapriate testing
practices for all students, including Latinos; the issue offanguage inditesting; and
how state and local policy makers are currently implementing appropriate
assessment practices to meet the needs of the Hispanic tudents served in their
systems.
What Works for Latino Youth (second edition.presents a compendium of
programs that work for Latino youth. This offers contact information
program descriptions, and evidence of effectiveness to facilitate networking and
information sharing. it is intended toable a toolHot foundations, businesses,
policymakers, community-based organizations, schools, universities, and other
interested individuals and committes actively engaged in addressing the strengths
and needs of Latino youth
Latinos in Higher Education and Beyond (w/ETS)
FY1999/2000 Annual. Performance Report on Implementing Executive Order
12900 highlights the ederal government's progress in meeting the growing
education and employment needs of the Latino community. Twenty-six agency
profiles provide information on education programs, outreach to Hispanic Serving
Institutions (HSIs), strategies to recruit Latinos for federal employment and future
investments for improving and expanding education and employment opportunities
for Latinos. A federal point of contact is also provided to answer questions
pertaining to specific programs and activities.
Excelencia para todos: Excellence for All - The Progress of Hispanic Americans
in Education and the Challenges of a New Century-A speech by Secretary of
Education Richard W. Riley on March March 14, 2000, at Bell Multicultural High
School in Washington, DC. Secretary Riley discussed the importance of education
the nation's Latino community and outlined five challenges to build on the progress
that has been made to improve the educational attainment of Latinos.
Excelencia en Educacion: The Role of Parents in the Education of Their
Children Parental Involvement Tool Kit provides community-based organizations,
schools, and advocacy organizations a step-by-step guide to stage a community
conference to help Latino parents understand how to guide their children to success
in school. The guide provides a directory of education resources coming the federal
government and numerous national organizations and tips sheets for Latino parents
51
that summarize the various ways they can become more actively involved in the
education of their children.
Creating the Will: Hlspanics Achieving Educational Excellence describes
current efforts and proposed actions to address Latino educational achievement
from pre-K through graduate and professional education. Recommendations will
speak to how parents, government, community-based organizations. schools, and
businesses can work together to expand quality education programs and services to
the Latino community. The report also includes the next
Administration.
52
TOTAL P.13
By the year 2025, 25 percent of school-age children in the United States will be Hispanic. In
the nation's largest states-California, Texas, Florida, and New York-Hispanics already
have reached that level. Addressing the educational needs of the fastest growing community
in the United States-the Hispanic community-is vital to our national interest.
Ensuring that Hispanics achieve educational excellence produces benefits for all Americans.
Both Republican and Democratic Administrations demonstrated their understanding of this
fact by signing executive orders focused on improving educational excellence for Hispanics
(President Bush did so in 1990, and President Clinton did so in 1994). With each executive
order, a Presidential Advisory Commission was established, supported by a White House
Initiative staff housed in the U.S. Department of Education and reporting to the White House,
the Secretary of Education, and the nation.
In 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12900 and appointed the current
Commission. During our tenure as Commissioners, our nation has recognized that to keep
America strong, we must provide all children-including Hispanic children-with a high-
quality education. To do so, the Clinton Administration has crafted a significant federal
leadership role that extends beyond contributing federal dollars. This Administration-and
we, as the President's Advisory Commission-have worked to engage the general public
about this need by highlighting what is required to close the educational achievement gap
for Hispanic youths.
In fulfilling our responsibility as a Commission, we produced our first report, Our Nation on
the Faultline: Hispanic American Education. Released in 1996, the report presented data,
research findings, and a wealth of information collected in town hall meetings held across
the country. The report documented the exponential demographic growth of Hispanics in
America and described both the serious shortcomings of the education system in serving
Hispanic Americans and the resulting educational achievement gap. The Commission
issued a call to action urging local, state, and federal policy makers to take deliberate and
immediate steps to improve the educational attainment of Hispanics and thereby pull this
country back from a dangerous educational faultline.
This report is not the last word on what concerns Hispanic Americans. On the contrary, this
report is just the beginning. -Our Nation on the Faultline: Hispanic American Education, President's Advisory
Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, 1996
Four years have passed since we released our initial report, and still, the concerted national
action necessary to close this educational achievement gap has not occurred. While small-
scale local and national efforts have been made, Hispanic educational achievement will
continue to lag behind that of other groups unless local, state, and national leaders fully
commit themselves to the task.
During the past four years, people across the country-parents, students, educators,
community activists, elected officials, business leaders, foundation officers, and federal
government representatives-have responded with action and have asked how else they
can take responsibility. In our own response, the Commission has chosen to go beyond the
multi-faceted recommendations presented in our first report and to lay out a more strategic
plan of action. To this end, the President's Commission on Educational Excellence for
Hispanic Americans challenges the nation to meet the following goal:
Raise the educational performance of all Hispanic students to the same level of
achievement as other students in America by the year 2010.
What will it take for people to respond to this critical national goal? Recognition of the
problem; proven actions that will close the achievement gap; replication on a larger scale of
effective practices and solutions; high expectations; targeted technical assistance; and a
determination that Hispanic children deserve the very best this country has to offer; all these
will be required. It will take unprecedented political will to make it happen.
But how do we create the will-individual and public-to address the needs of this growing
population in the United States? The Commission has struggled with this question, and in
our effort to motivate federal and national partners, we have sought to model the practices
we believe must proliferate across the country. We know the Hispanic community's assets
as well as its needs in education, and we know what works to improve Hispanic students'
educational achievement. We are convinced that emphasizing academic achievement and
focusing on the dramatic results achieved by students, families, schools, and communities
that have high expectations for all Hispanic students are key to reaching the goal.
We can create the will by searching out and connecting people who believe in attaining this
goal; by bringing attention to Hispanic success; by supporting and expanding those efforts;
by reinforcing people's commitment by acknowledging their work; by balancing our attention
on unmet needs as well as success; and by refusing to accept failure. The goal must be
met. We have been privileged during these past seven years to meet people who do this
every day. Their numbers are growing.
In this report, the Commission offers a strategic plan that addresses early childhood through
graduate education. This report is offered to those who stand ready and willing to act. It is
intended to challenge the reticent to act now. It will take the collective commitment and
concentrated action of every sector to raise the educational achievement of all Hispanic
students to the same level of excellence as other students in America by 2010.
Accepting this challenge begins by recognizing the many talents Hispanic students bring to
the classroom. Parents, students, teachers, school administrators, elected officials,
community activists, business leaders, foundation officials, and government representatives
all must be active leaders in meeting this goal. With the collaboration of these partners, we
will demand accountability by the educational system and the students it serves. We will
provide safe and well-built schools with access to technology; academically strong teachers
who believe in the future of all their students; classwork that provides students with the
reading, math, and science skills that prepare them for higher education or the workforce;
and information on accessing and affording higher education. Finally, we will set aggressive
education goals for all Hispanic students in this country.
We challenge the public and private leadership of this nation to partner with others to bring
sharp focus to and support for the education of Hispanic youths. The future of American
democratic, social, cultural, and economic prosperity relies on the development of the full
human potential of its people-including Hispanics. We cannot-we must not-tolerate
inaction. Our country demands it, and our children deserve it.
Guillermo Linares
Sonia Hernandez
Chair
Vice-chair
CREATNGTHEWLL:HISPANCSACHEVNGEDUCATONALEXCELENCE
The choices and decisions we make about Hispanic education in the U.S. today are
choices we make about the future of the United States itself. President William J. Clinton,
White House Strategy Session on Improving Hispanic Student Achievement, 15 June 2000
Introduction
The Hispanic experience is multinational, multicultural, and multiracial. Some Hispanic
families have been here since before the United States was a nation, and many others
arrive here daily. These key characteristics embody one of the greatest cultural and
historical legacies on this continent. The faces of Hispanic singers and movie stars are
becoming more prominent, politicians are using Spanish sound bites in their campaigns and
are actively courting the Hispanic vote, and the Hispanic community-as well as its
economic power-is growing.
Despite the long history of Hispanics in this country, too few decision makers have sufficient
knowledge (if any) of the educational condition of Hispanics. Too often, discussion focuses
on bilingual education, the unacceptably high dropout rate, or the impact of immigrant
students. While these issues are important, they do not capture the whole dynamic.
Hispanics have made significant gains in education over the last twenty years, but as a
group, they continue to lag behind their non-Hispanic peers in terms of educational
achievement. The Commission's work over the last seven years to inform; to highlight
effective practices by others making a difference; to foster partnerships among those
currently working in these areas; to motivate action; and to serve as an example for those
committed to getting involved has made this clear. Since 1997, the Commission and its
White House Initiative staff have accomplished the following:
Created a national conference series, Excelencia en Educación: The Role of Parents in
the Education of their Children, hosted in six cities across the country, including San
Antonio, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, DC. At each
site, local community-based organizations, school districts, elected officials, and national
corporations and federal agencies worked in partnership to provide Hispanic parents
critical information about their children's educational well-being. Each conference
reflected the community's strengths and needs, offered resources to support a high-
quality education, and facilitated partnerships to sustain improved educational
opportunities.
Developed policy seminars on specific education issues to inform legislators, staff, policy
makers, and others about the condition and context of Hispanics in education. Seminar
topics included the Hispanic dropout crisis, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), the
benefits of a multilingual workforce, early childhood education, graduate education, K-16
biliteracy education strategies and partnerships, and educational standards,
assessment, and accountability.
Produced publications, such as Our Nation on the Fault Line: Hispanic American
Education; What Works for Latino Youth (first and second editions); fact sheets on the
Condition of Latinos in Education; Testing Hispanic Students in the United States:
Technical and Policy Issues; an annual list and summary data of Hispanic-Serving
Institutions (HSIs); HSIs: Serving the Community, Serving the Nation information kit;
Education Standards, Assessment and Accountability: A New Civil Rights Frontier issue
brief; Latinos in Higher Education and Beyond issue brief; and Federal Agency Reports
for FY1998 and 1999 (see Appendix B). All of these publications are on a web site for
public access.
Advised the Administration throughout the Commission's tenure, most notably by
encouraging the Administration to react to California's Proposition 227 (which drastically
curtailed bilingual programs); working with the President's staff on the design and
implementation of the Hispanic Education Action Plan; collaborating with the First Lady's
staff to create a White House Convening on 7Hispanic Youth; guiding Secretary of
Education Richard Riley on "Excelencia Para Todos: Excellence for All-The Progress
of Education for Hispanics in the United States and the Challenges of a New Century;"
and working with the President's staff on the White House Strategy Session on
Improving Hispanic Student Achievement.
Worked with 26 federal agencies to increase their awareness of the assets and needs of
Hispanics throughout the nation; to improve their outreach and programmatic activities;
and to develop a reporting system to evaluate their activities and efforts to improve their
education and employment efforts on behalf of the Hispanic community.
Facilitated partnerships and activities with corporations, foundations, elected officials,
and organizations, including Univision, Procter and Gamble, AT&T, State Farm, Time
Warner, the Kellogg Foundation, Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, New
America Alliance, National Hispanic Corporate Council, the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, and organizational members of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, to
support and expand their efforts to improve educational opportunities for Hispanics.
Served as a resource to individual members of Congress, as well as to the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee on
Hispanic Affairs, and the Republican Steering Committee on Hispanic Affairs.
Traveled throughout the country and addressed educational issues, always with a focus
on Hispanics, in an effort to educate and engage more people-as individuals and as
communities-to take action to raise the educational achievement of Hispanics.
This body of work has convinced the Commission that closing the educational achievement
gap for Hispanic students and providing excelencia para todos-excellence for all, as
Secretary Riley advocated in March 2000-are attainable goals if we choose as a nation to
meet them. The intensity of activities, the number of people, and the varieties of sectors that
have engaged for the purpose of improving Hispanic educational achievement are growing.
This report is offered to support them and the army of advocates and educators who will
need to step forward to complete the work by 2010.
Eradicating the current educational achievement gap between Hispanics and other groups
is a profound challenge. Given the rapid changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the
U.S. population, immediate action is required to find constructive paths to accelerate and
improve the educational achievement of Hispanics today to ensure and strengthen the
nation's human capital for the future. It will take coordinated and compelling effort by every
sector to raise the educational achievement of all Hispanic students to the same level of
excellence as other students in America by 2010.
This report begins by providing data on the current condition of Hispanics' education, from
early childhood through graduate and professional education, and then offers strategies for
parents, schools, communities, the private sector, and government to improve Hispanic
educational achievement.
The Commission used the following five tenets in designing the strategic plan to raise
Hispanic educational achievement:
(1) All sectors-public and private-have a vested interest and responsibility to improve
the education of Hispanic youths.
(2) Achieving educational success requires acknowledging the educational assets as
well as the educational needs of Hispanic students.
(3) There must be a sense of urgency to resolve the educational achievement gap for
Hispanics. Small, incremental improvements will not be enough. The population growth
and educational achievement gap of Hispanics in education will outpace small
improvements.
(4) The nation must adopt a coordinated and intentional agenda for action to raise the
educational achievement of Hispanics to the level of other groups.
(5) The actions that will secure educational achievement by Hispanic students will
strengthen the educational achievement of all students.
Overview: The condition of Hispanics in education
Today, Hispanics represent one of the youngest population groups in the United States:
One-third of Hispanics are younger than 18 years of age, and they represent approximately
15 percent of the K-12 population. By the year 2015, Hispanics will be the largest minority in
the United States (13 percent of the population); it is expected that by 2050, Hispanics will
represent approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population. California, Texas, Florida, and
Puerto Rico serve the highest concentrations of Hispanic students, and in some school
districts, Hispanics already are the majority. In other states, such as Georgia, North
Carolina, and Tennessee, the Hispanic population is increasingly rapidly.
While the Hispanic population continues to grow, its educational attainment continues to lag
behind that of the rest of the nation. The differences in educational preparation between
Hispanics and non-Hispanics become evident before kindergarten and continue through
high school and college. Hispanics' high school completion rate has not changed
substantially in the past several years (62 percent), and their high school dropout rate
remains unacceptably high (30 percent).
In some academic areas, Hispanic students are doing well. For example, they have earned
more credits in computer science, foreign languages, and English than any other group. In
addition, Hispanic student enrollment in college preparatory and academic programs has
increased.
In postsecondary education, Hispanics enrollment and completion have increased
substantially over the last twenty years. However, while there is more parity between
enrollment and population representation (Hispanics make up almost 15 percent of the
traditional college-age population and account for 11 percent of postsecondary education
enrollment), Hispanic students take longer, on average, to graduate and do not have parity
in college completion. Moreover, Hispanic college students tend to be concentrated in
several key states (California, Texas, Florida, and New York) and at a small number of
institutions identified as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Hispanics doubled their
representation in graduate education, from 2 percent in 1976 to 4 percent in 1996, and
represent approximately 8 percent of first-year professional students.
The educational achievement gap between Hispanic students and their peers is the result of
multiple factors. Among them are low expectations by school personnel; ill-prepared
teachers and administrators; limited coordination among schools, parents, and communities
on behalf of students; low parental involvement; negative self-image; peer group pressure;
poverty; tracking into non-academic classes; under-representation in early childhood
education programs; isolation in "resource poor" schools; and cultural and linguistic bias.
Further, the assets a child brings into the classroom, such as language, are not universally
valued; the active participation and inclusion of parents in the education of their children is
not facilitated; and educational assessments too often are used to make disciplinary or high-
stakes decisions that negatively impact the student. These factors continue throughout the
educational pipeline, from early childhood through graduate and professional education, and
result in an educational attainment gap that is unacceptable to the Hispanic community and
the rest of the nation. Four important sources highlighting these factors are the report
commissioned by the Department of Education, No More Excuses: The Final Report of the
Hispanic Dropout Project (1995; Commissioners Santiago and Muñoz contributed to the
report); Latino High School Graduation: Defying the Odds (1996; H. D. Romo); Lessons
from High-Performing Hispanic Schools (1999; P. Reyes, J.D. Scribner, A.P. Scribner); and
Testing Hispanic Students in the U.S.: Technical and Policy Issues. More detailed statistics
on the educational condition of Hispanics are provided in Appendix A.
At a time when Hispanics are the fastest growing community, the nation is also facing a
worsening teacher shortage; increased demands for accountability along with experimental
approaches of education reform; imbalances in education funding; and an urgent need to
develop human resources and capital. Against this backdrop, we recognize that our greatest
asset is human capital. As students must strive to improve their educational achievement, so
parents, educators, business leaders, elected officials, and government representatives can
help supply the factors necessary for Hispanics to achieve educational excellence.
What can each sector do to help Hispanic students and raise their overall educational
achievement to the level of other groups?
Fostering high Hispanic student educational achievement throughout the entire educational
pipeline requires the following elements:
A curriculum framed by high standards and aligned with adequate resources and staff to
ensure that all Hispanic children can meet those standards.
Teachers with the skills, sensitivity, and experience to teach linguistically and culturally
diverse students and engaged in continuous professional development.
Use of the assets students bring to the classroom, such as language, culture, and family
traditions, to improve their overall education.
Hispanic parents engaged as active partners and fulfilling their pivotal role in the
educational success of their children.
High expectations and a culture of success for all students that encourages high
educational aspirations and achievement.
Financial resources and support services to access and complete postsecondary
education.
Everyone-every person and every organization-can play a role in ensuring a good-quality
education for all students. To close the educational achievement gap for Hispanics, will
require broad national commitment and active engagement. What can those interested do to
improve the educational achievement of Hispanic students? They can support efforts to
achieve these elements. For example, schools can offer a good-quality learning
environment; provide teachers prepared to offer a strong educational experience based on
the premise that all children can learn; and actively engage parents to participate in the
educational experience. A curriculum can be adopted that challenges all students to reach
their highest potential and that builds upon the assets a child brings into the classroom. As
children's first teachers and role models, parents can become better informed and can be
included in discussions about their children's educational assets and needs so they can play
an active role in their entire education. Community leaders can advocate on behalf of all
children-including Hispanics-and provide the support to the education system that is
necessary to ensure a high-quality education. The private sector can facilitate the
educational experience by providing partnerships with school systems and education
organizations and by targeting investments to the community.
There is no single solution for resolving inequities and gaps in educational achievement.
Just as the educational achievement gap is a result of many factors, so too is the solution.
This report highlights some of the strategies parents, schools, community-based
organizations, the private sector, and government can adopt to help raise the educational
achievement of Hispanic students to the level of other groups in the nation.
The following section presents a brief synopsis of the educational condition of Hispanics at
points along the education continuum-from early childhood education to graduate
education and lifelong learning-as well as specific strategies that have been shown to have
positive effects on Hispanic educational achievement.
Early Childhood Education
We now know that it is absolutely imperative that we put a new, powerful and sustained focus on
the early years-birth to five-before children even enter first grade. Richard Riley, Secretary,
U.S. Department of Education
The picture today
In 1998, 10 percent of Hispanics in the United States were less than 5 years old. Early
childhood programs prepare children for elementary education by teaching learning and
socialization skills; they may provide related services to meet children's psychological and
health needs. Hispanic children under age 5 are less likely to be enrolled in early childhood
education programs than non-Hispanic children. Only 20 percent of Hispanic 3-year-olds
were enrolled in early childhood programs, compared to 42 percent of whites and 44
percent of blacks. The first three years of life are critical to establishing the foundation for
learning and for future physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.
While the enrollment gap closes at kindergarten (age 5), Hispanic children are less
prepared than their peers for elementary school largely because of their lower enrollment
rates in early childhood programs, such as Head Start. Although Hispanic children are
overrepresented in families living in poverty, they are underrepresented in Head Start
programs. In 1998, the Hispanic child poverty rate for children under 6 years of age was 36
percent. Yet in that same year, only 26 percent of children served by Head Start were
Hispanic. This affects their educational experience throughout the K-12 system.
Why are Hispanics less likely to be enrolled in early childhood education? It may be that
programs do not exist in their area, or they may not be aware of the programs or the
services they provide. Perhaps they cannot afford the cost (direct or indirect) of the
services, or perhaps they prefer to keep their young children at home.
Where we need to be
Given the expected demographic increase of Hispanics in this country, it is important that
we increase outreach to and the participation of Hispanics in effective early childhood
education programs. Given the effect of early childhood education on the future educational
attainment of Hispanic youths, the need to increase Hispanic participation in such programs
is keen.
The goal: By 2010, at least double the number of Hispanic children in early childhood
education programs (from 20-40 percent).
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has taken strategic steps, as in grant
announcements, to reach out to the Hispanic community to increase its awareness of and
participation in early childhood education programs. Already, the agency has seen a slight
increase in Hispanic participation in Head Start (from 26 percent in 1998 to 28 percent in
1999 (Montoya, 2000). While this participation is still less than what it should be, it is an
example of the effort necessary to improve the preparation of Hispanic children for a high-
quality education.
What can interested parties do to increase Hispanic participation in early childhood
education?
Parents can:
Become partners with school personnel and community organizations as early as
possible in the educational process.
Recognize that they are their child's first teachers and enhance that role by singing to
them, telling them stories, asking them open-ended questions, and, most critically,
reading to them every day, either in English or in Spanish, or both.
Provide a safe, enriching, and stimulating environment for their children.
Use school and community resources to learn about services and to ensure that their
children are benefiting from services offered.
Schools can:
Create their own or partner with early childhood programs in the community serving
Hispanic children to better prepare them to learn the skills they will need to be ready for
elementary education.
Extend the school day and school year, provide comprehensive, community-based
parent education and family support programs and serve as a gathering place where
parents can share common experiences.
Include Hispanic parents in teacher training programs so they, too, can learn skills to
help their children at home.
The Parents as First Teachers program was developed in partnership with the Chicago Public
Schools and El Valor (IL), an organization dedicated to enriching children and strengthening
families by providing early childhood education and therapy while helping parents become
involved. The program trains selected parents in El Valor's Head Start Program to work with
families that have children between 3 and 5 years of age. Through this home visiting model, El
Valor parent-tutor mentors provide educational enrichment for children and support parents in their
role as teachers of their children. This early investment in Hispanic youths by the public school
system has resulted in the improved academic preparation of students. The school has seen more
active involvement by parents in their children's elementary education and an increase in their
willingness to ask questions and to participate in school activities.
Community-based organizations can:
Provide more extensive and targeted outreach to the Hispanic community in an effort to
expand awareness of and encourage participation in early childhood education
programs.
Encourage service providers to offer bilingual services to facilitate the participation of
Hispanic parents whose first language is not English.
More closely link the home experience with the educational experience by adding
center-based parenting education classes and home visits to the early childhood
program.
Provide comprehensive community-based family support and parent education
programs for Hispanic parents and their children, beginning at birth.
AVANCE Parent Child Education Program (San Antonio, TX) provides a comprehensive, community-based
nine-month intensive parent education program serving low-income Hispanic families with children less than
3 years of age. Parents attend weekly parenting classes in child growth and development, toy making, field
trips, and holiday celebrations and are made aware of community services, such as health, nutrition, mental
health, literacy, and job training. Child care and transportation are provided. Other services include monthly
home visits to observe or videotape parent-child interactions.
Compared with a control group, mothers in AVANCE's program provided a more organized, stimulating, and
responsive home environment; provided more developmentally appropriate toys; interacted more positively
with their children; initiated more social interactions with their children; used more consistent praise; spent
more time teaching their children; spoke more with their children; used more developmentally appropriate
speech with their children; and were more encouraging of their children's verbalizations. The results suggest
that as they enter school, children of AVANCE participants will be better prepared to succeed. Ongoing
evaluation efforts focus both on maintaining the quality of the model's implementation and on continuing to
assess the program's impact. A follow-up study of AVANCE graduates revealed that 94 percent of the children
graduated from high school, and 43 percent were attending college; 60 percent of the parents returned to
school. AVANCE has 80 comprehensive family centers located in schools, churches, and housing projects
throughout Texas.
The private sector can:
Provide on-site childcare in the work environment to support active parenting.
Offer access to information about parenting and provide pre-tax childcare funds as
employee benefits to encourage Hispanic employees to enroll their children in early
childhood programs.
Support comprehensive family centers located in or near a school.
Serve as board members of community-based organizations that support families and
young children.
Government can:
Promote and expand the availability of family literacy and early childhood programs for
Hispanic parents and children from birth to age seven, such as Early Start, Head Start,
and EvenStart programs in Hispanic communities.
Fund research, support practical applications, and promote dissemination of effective
practices and proven early childhood community-based models serving the Hispanic
community.
Establish one-stop family centers in Hispanic communities that provide bilingual
information about government-supported (e.g., the Education Department, Health and
Human Services, the Department of Labor, and Housing and Urban Development) early
childhood development and family programs.
HUD, HHS, and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
will work together to provide English and Spanish language materials and educational forums to
parents of young children through HUD's Neighborhood Networks and other community-based
programs. Parents will receive information on early brain development research, parenting tips,
how to access child care subsidies and tax credits, how to choose a child care center, what Head
Start has to offer, and other family supports. Beginning in summer 2000, this effort will be piloted in
six Latino communities across the country.
Elementary and Secondary Education (K-12)
The picture today
The elementary school years are a period of significant development and provide the
foundation for a successful middle and high school experience. Today, Hispanics account
for 15 percent of the elementary school-age population (children between the ages of 5 and
13); by the year 2025, Hispanics will account for nearly 25 percent of the elementary
school-age population.
Hispanic students represent 13 percent of the current school population in grades 9
through 12; by the year 2030, Hispanics will make up almost 25 percent of the population.
This projected increase will challenge the nation's education systems, particularly given
Hispanic students' traditionally high dropout rate and limited academic preparation for
college.
8
We must "Level the whole playing field, not just one end of it." - Priming the
Pump: Strategies for Increasing the Achievement of Underrepresented Minority Undergraduates, p.87.
Compared to twenty years ago, Hispanic students have improved their overall academic
preparation, though they still perform less well than their peers of other races/ethnicities.
Despite increases in the number of upper-level courses Hispanic high school students take,
they still earn fewer credits in history, science, and mathematics than other groups. In other
areas of achievement, Hispanic students generally are not performing at the level of their
peers. For example, in 1996, the average scores of Hispanic students age 17 on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were well below those of their white
peers in math, reading, and sciences. 13 Hispanic students consistently perform below the
national average on the NAEP. By age nine, Hispanic students lag behind their non-
Hispanic peers in reading, mathematics, and science proficiency. This lag continues
throughout K-12 education.
Why is the elementary academic preparation of Hispanic students not improving? Low
participation rates in early childhood education limit the school readiness of the Hispanic
population. Several additional conditions adversely affect the condition of Hispanics in
elementary education. These include inadequate teacher preparation, isolation in
"resource-poor" schools, limited parental involvement, lack of alignment between standards
and curriculum, and instruction that is unresponsive to language differences.
Teacher Quality: The current teaching workforce is neither prepared to educate nor
representative of school-age children today. Approximately 70 percent of teachers
surveyed said they felt moderately or not at all prepared to address the needs of students
with limited English proficiency or from diverse cultural backgrounds. This may be, in part,
because some teachers and administrators have lower expectations of Hispanic students.
Further, while Hispanic students make up approximately 15 percent of public school
students, only about 4 percent of public school teachers are Hispanic. The combined lack
of preparation and lack of Hispanic representation has profound implications for Hispanic
students. Studies have confirmed that one of the main factors determining students' [tr]
educational success is the commitment and quality of their teachers. The majority of
teachers today with Hispanic students in their classes are-or reportedly are-unprepared
to address the educational assets and needs of Hispanic students. Linking this to the lack
of diversity among teachers educating these students means that the educational success
of Hispanic students will remain in peril.
Resource-poor schools: Hispanic students now are more isolated from non-Hispanics and
are more concentrated in high-poverty schools than any other group of students. In 1998,
close to 50 percent of Hispanics in public education attended inadequately funded urban
schools. In comparison, just over 50 percent of blacks and only 18 percent of whites in
public education were enrolled in such schools. Further, the nation's 10 largest central city
school districts collectively enrolled close to 25 percent of all Hispanic students, 18 percent
of black students, and only 2 percent of white students. Being concentrated in poor schools
with larger class sizes makes it even less likely that critical masses of Hispanic students will
receive a good-quality education.
Parent Involvement: Because they are their children's first teachers and primary advocates,
parents play a pivotal role in their children's education. Parents want what is best for their
children, and Hispanic parents are no exception. In fact, many Hispanic immigrants come
to this country because of the opportunity to gain a better life for themselves and their
families. We reject the assertion that Hispanic parents do not value education. Hispanics
value family and education and make decisions on the basis of their very limited information
about and experience with the education system. Thus, what we encounter at the family
level is an information gap, not a value gap.
Academic preparation: A rigorous high school curriculum is a better predictor than test
scores or high school grades of college completion. 9 Yet because of the low expectations
of school personnel (teachers, counselors, principals), Hispanic students more often than
not are tracked into general courses that satisfy only the basic requirements rather than
those that provide access to four-year colleges or rigorous technical schools. More
Hispanic students (50 percent) than whites or African Americans (approximately 40 percent
each) are enrolled in general programs of study. Further, only 35 percent of Hispanic
students, compared to 50 percent of white students and 43 percent of African Americans,
are enrolled in college preparatory or academic programs.¹⁰ In fact, many Hispanic
students attend schools that do not offer the courses required by a rigorous curriculum or
the opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses. More than one-third (34
percent) of 15- to 17-year-old Hispanic students were enrolled below grade level in 1996.
Enrollment below grade level is the strongest predictor of school dropout rates; it also
seriously limits students' academic achievement.
The dropout rate for Hispanics is much higher than for other ethnic groups. In 1998, 30
percent (1.5 million) of all Hispanic 16- through 24-year-olds were dropouts, more than
double the rate for blacks (14 percent) and more than three times the rate for whites (8
percent). Hispanics' dropout and high school completion rates have not changed
substantially over the last ten years. High school completion rates for white and African
American students in 1998 were 90 percent and 81 percent, respectively but only 63
percent for Hispanics. [Note: Convert to endnote? [NCES, Dropout Rates in the United
States: 1998]]
Nevertheless, Hispanic students continue to have high college aspirations. The percentage
of high school seniors who were Hispanic and planned to continue their education at a four-
year college more than doubled between 1972 and 1992, from 24 percent to 50 percent;
during the same period, the percentage planning to enroll in a two-year program increased
from 12 percent to 20 percent. The percentage of white high school seniors planning to
enroll in a two-year program remained unchanged (12 percent) from 1972 to 1992 14
Language: Even though all Hispanic students are not Limited English Proficient (LEP) or
English Language Learners (ELL), they do represent approximately 75 percent of all
students enrolled in LEP programs, including bilingual education and English as a Second
Language (ESL) programs. In addition, approximately 30 percent of students served by
Title I, the largest federal program for elementary education, are LEP. Rather than
perceiving this as an educational deficit to redress, we must see it as an opportunity to
incorporate language in the educational achievement of Hispanic students. In fact,
Secretary of Education Richard Riley argued that the nation should strive to improve our
educational system so that every child can speak two languages. If a child enters the
system already speaking Spanish, why not cultivate it as well as English?
We don't stop walking when we learn to swim. As swimming is just another way to
be mobile, we shouldn't stop speaking Spanish when we learn English. - Julio Valella,
Director of the Office of Strategic Programs Educational and Productivity Solutions at Texas Instruments del on
language as an asset for the benefits of a bi-literate workforce policy seminar]
One way to build upon the language asset a student brings to the classroom is to promote
bi-literacy through dual-immersion programs. Biliteracy is a powerful workforce tool not only
in the U.S. business environment, but also in the global economy. It is not just for minorities
or Hispanics, but for all Americans. Everyone can benefit from being able to communicate
in more than one language.
In a competitive global economy, employees fully proficient in English and Spanish have
distinct advantages over those who speak only English. This underscores the importance of
collaboration between the business and education communities in preparing students to
participate in this "new" global workforce. There are many ways in which the education
system is aligning itself with the needs of the business sector, and vice versa, to achieve
the goal of a biliterate workforce. Biliteracy programs have been instituted across the
country and at all stages of the educational continuum, from elementary and secondary
school programs and curricula to workforce development efforts of national corporations.
Standards and Assessment: To improve educational success, we must hold all students-
including Hispanic students-to high standards. However, translating standards into
curricula and teaching strategies is a major challenge that becomes even more difficult
when applied to English language learners. In too many cases, state education leaders
have compromised the educational future of Hispanic students by making high-stakes
decisions, such as retention or student promotion, in their zeal to implement high standards
supported by systems of accountability. Rather than using tests to limit students' academic
achievement, we must use tests to appropriately assess learning strengths; test results
should be used to guide the support, resources, and education we provide Hispanic
students in our effort to help them attain high academic standards.
Where we need to be:
By 2010, increase the percentage of Hispanic third graders reading at grade level and of
Hispanic 8th graders completing algebra to more than 70 percent.
What can each sector do to improve educational achievement for Hispanic students in
elementary and secondary education?
Parents can:
Become actively engaged in their children's education by reading with their children,
helping them with their homework, communicating regularly with teachers, becoming
better informed about the school's educational requirements, volunteering at the school,
and participating in school-sponsored activities.
Foster high expectations and educational success by promoting high school completion
and college aspirations.
Foster children's acquisition of their native language and of another language through
family activities and educational experiences.
Become informed about the academic programs offered to their children (i.e., college
preparation or vocational) and the implications of test use on their children's academic
future.
Understand their roles, rights, and responsibilities as parents within their school system,
become more knowledgeable about school governance, and consider serving on the
school board.
Schools can:
Improve teacher and staff communication with Hispanic parents and provide information
on their students' educational progress and the school's programs and curriculum, as
well as encourage parents to be involved in school activities.
Provide teachers with continuous professional development so they can develop the
skills they need to work with the strengths and needs of Hispanic youths; master the
content knowledge necessary to make education interesting and challenging; and
combat low expectations of Hispanic students.
Support a curriculum that encourages dual-language acquisition with appropriate
funding and qualified staff.
Hold the school, administrators, and teachers, as well as Hispanic students,
accountable for providing the leadership and resources required for high standards
learning and ensure that a college preparatory curriculum available for all students.
Create clear, measurable, and rigorous school accountability provisions accompanied
by strategies adequate to build capacity, measure academic preparation, and provide
support for Hispanic students.
J. Sterling Morton High School, CICERO, IL - HIGH SCHOOL ATTENDANCE INITIATIVE
Morton High School's Hispanic dropout rate has consistently ranged from 10 to 12 percent over the
last ten years. In accordance with the findings and recommendations of No More Excuses: The
Final Report of the Hispanic Dropout Project, 1998, school officials decided the low attendance rate
should be the first area addressed as part of an effort to decrease the high Hispanic dropout rate.
The school created an Attendance Initiative for the purpose of improving student attendance,
reducing the dropout rate, and improving the graduation rate. School representatives called
parents regarding all absences and sent mailers to parents; teachers and school administrators
intervened to monitor students. In the first 30 months, average daily attendance improved to 90.5
percent; the number of students with 3 months' perfect attendance increased from 259 to 600; and
the dropout rate decreased from 10.8 percent to 5.3 percent.
River Glen, San Jose Unified School District, CA - Dual Immersion Program
[insert info]
Morningside Elementary School, Brownsville, TX
Morningside Elementary School is a small school in a low-income section of Brownsville, Texas,
one of the poorest regions in the nation. Nevertheless, school officials had high expectations and
acted on the conviction that all children can learn. One teacher began instructing kindergartners
through fifth graders in chess. School officials had high expectations of students, believed they
could succeed, actively involved teachers and parents, and made a way for them to work together.
Students got up early to practice and gave up their weekends to play in chess tournaments. They
did so with support from their teachers, parents, and principals-and that made all the difference.
In 1999, this small school's team placed second in the national chess championships. In an area
where school resources are extremely limited and where English is for many a second language,
students competed successfully against peers with many more resources and educational
opportunities and succeeded at one of the most challenging and intellectual games.
Community-based organizations can:
Partner with education institutions to encourage increased outreach to and
communication with Hispanic parents and the Hispanic community.
Provide after-school and summer educational opportunities for Hispanic students.
Form mentoring and tutoring programs to guide and support Hispanic students and
share information with them to facilitate their education and raise their expectations.
Develop community-sponsored scholarships as well as ceremonies and recognition
programs to reward Hispanic students' achievements.
The Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program
The Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, created by the Intercultural Development Research
Association (IDRA), is an internationally recognized dropout prevention program in schools across
the United States and Puerto Rico. Since its inception in San Antonio in 1984, this cross-age
tutoring program has kept more than 5,500 students who were at risk of dropping out in school.
According to the Valued Youth creed, all students are valuable, none is expendable. This
philosophy gives strength to the program's instructional strategies (classes for student tutors,
tutoring sessions, field trips, role modeling, and student recognition) and to its support strategies
(curriculum, coordination, staff enrichment, parent involvement, and program evaluation). The key
to the program's success is in valuing students who are considered at risk of dropping out of school
and sustaining their efforts with effective, coordinated strategies. For more than 15 years, and
The Coca-Cola Foundation have worked together in a unique partnership that is makinga
valuable difference in the lives of more than 74,500 children, families, and educators. The Coca-
Cola Valued Youth Program has maintained less than a 2 percent dropout rate for its tutors since
1986, compared to double-digit dropout rates nationwide. The program was approved by the U.S.
Department of Education's Program Effectiveness Panel for inclusion in the National Diffusion
Network.
Academia del Pueblo/Hispanic Pre-College Project -St. Paul, Minnesota
Academia del Pueblo/Hispanic Pre-College Project is a community-based youth enrichment
program created to increase retention among Hispanic students in the first through fifth grades and
to direct students toward a future where college is possible. The program uses such teaching
methods as a language experience approach, workstations, and small group and hands-on
activities. The project feeds into the Project Success program, which provides students in sixth
through eighth grades with career and cultural awareness, academic enrichment activities,
homework assistance, personal development, motivation, and skills to succeed in school. The
Hispanic Pre-College Project also has a parent component Parents as Partners. This educational
program recognizes that parents are their children's first teachers and is designed to provide
training assistance and support to Hispanic parents. Through bilingual monthly workshops, the
program concentrates on teaching effective parenting skills and reinforcement techniques that will
help parents strengthen their role as active partners in their children's education by creating a
home environment that supports learning. Childcare and transportation are available.
The private sector can:
Foster career-specific mentoring programs between schools, businesses, and civic
organizations in the community that reinforce the value of a high-quality education.
Partner with schools and local community-based organizations to create biliterate
educational programs for all students.
Provide Hispanic employees with flexible work schedules to facilitate their participation
in school events.
Guarantee college scholarships for academically successful Hispanic students.
Government can:
Financially support Hispanic college students considering the teaching profession and
those teaching in geographic areas of need and institute student loan forgiveness for
teachers who choose to work in low-income communities or areas serving high
concentrations of Hispanic students.
Use the "bully pulpit" to highlight the value of and need for a multilingual workforce and
the educational benefits of viewing fluency in a "foreign" language as an asset, rather
than a deficit, in a child's education.
Support programs nationally that increase Hispanic students' awareness of the many
educational and career opportunities available and expand outreach efforts to ensure
that federal programs aid the Hispanic population.
Department of Energy (DoE)
DoE's Idaho Hispanic Youth Symposium is an annual event designed to encourage Hispanic teens
to seek brighter futures for themselves and their families by staying in school. Using a bilingual
format, the Symposium has three primary goals: mentoring, dropout prevention, and dual language
and cultural understanding. The Symposium brings together Hispanic high school students from
throughout Idaho to listen to motivational speakers and to participate in interactive workshops to
enhance self-esteem, leadership and problem-solving skills, as well as science and engineering
career awareness. The students compete in speech, talent, athletics, and interactive skill contests
for awards and scholarships.
The Symposium grew out of a 1988 brainstorming session on ways to curb the alarming 60+
percent high school dropout rate for Hispanic teens in Idaho. In 1990, approximately 100 students
attended, and a single $1,000 scholarship was awarded. Since then, nearly 2,800 students from
throughout Idaho have attended. Each April, more than 300 students convene in SunValle, where
scholarships and prizes totaling more than $900,000 are awarded.
National Air and Space Administration (NASA)
Proyecto Access is an eight-week summer mathematics-based academic enrichment program for
middle and high school students interested in pursuing science and engineering careers as
practitioners or teachers. The program seeks to develop students' skills in the areas of abstract
reasoning and problem-solving skills essential for success in science and engineering as well as
technological fields. The program is conducted on the campuses of eight Hispanic-Serving
Institutions located in the following cities: Bronx, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado;
Jersey City, New Jersey; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; and
Tucson, Arizona. NASA provides $1 million in funding for this program.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
The "Abuela" project will make it possible for Motheread, Inc., to develop a new curriculum using
Latino children's literature for dissemination to 275 literacy instructors in the agency's national
network (which encompasses community college teachers, Title 1 elementary schools, state and
local family service agencies, and childcare centers). Motheread, Inc., a national leader in family
literacy education, specializes in working with parents and children.
Postsecondary Education
Steer them toward learning about science, and we will find the environmentalists, biologists, and
meteorologists who will help our planet. Coax them toward economics and we will get the minds
that will write the prescriptions for prosperity in this hemisphere and around the world. Believe in
these young people and give them a chance to learn and to grow, and they'll contribute on the
world stage. Carolyn Curiel, Ambassador to Belize, in Hispanics and the Future of the Americas, 13 June [del 13,] 2000.
The Picture Today
Increasing numbers of Hispanic students are pursuing postsecondary education. Yet too
often, Hispanics' successes in higher education are diminished by their alarmingly high
school dropout rate. The rate is indeed unacceptable, but we must not forget that many
Hispanic students complete high school only to face further challenges in higher education.
Hispanics currently make up 14.5 percent (3.6 million) of the total traditional college-age
population (students between 18 and 24 years of age). By the year 2025, Hispanics will
make up 22 percent of the total traditional college-age population. 3 Even as the population
of Hispanics continues to increase, the representation of Hispanics in higher education
increases. Hispanics' enrollment in postsecondary education increased by nearly 50
percent in just six years-from approximately 782,000 in 1990 to 1.3 million in 1996. Today,
of the 14.5 million students in higher education, more than 9 percent are Hispanic.
However, while Hispanic college enrollment and degree attainment are increasing, they are
not equivalent to Hispanics' representation in the population.
Because of their location in the community, low cost, and flexibility, community colleges
enroll approximately half of Hispanic students in higher education. However, inadequate
articulation policies between two- and four-year institutions of higher education have the
effect of limiting the educational attainment of many Hispanic college students.
A recent ETS study, Crossing the Great Divide, shows that by the year 2015, one million
more Hispanics will be academically prepared to attend college. In 2006, Hispanic
undergraduates will outnumber African American undergraduates for the first time; Hispanic
undergraduates will be the nation's largest college-going minority, accounting for
approximately 1 in 6 undergraduates on campus. Institutions in California, Texas, Florida,
New York, and Arizona will will enroll 1.4 million more students over the next 20 years.
Hispanics will account for almost half of this growth. However, even if all the Hispanic
students who are ready to go to college do so, the gap between Hispanic access to college
and all other American youths' access will actually grow because the proportion of
Hispanics in the 18- to 24-year-old population will increase even more rapidly than the
proportion of Hispanic youth who are academically prepared to go to college.
Why is the educational attainment gap in higher education not closing? It is primarily
because most Hispanic college students are first-generation, low-income students. In
addition, many are less academically well prepared than their non-Hispanic peers.
Just over 50 percent of all Hispanics enrolled in higher education are in two states:
California and Texas. Almost 75 percent of Hispanics enrolled in higher education are in
just five states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. 6 This enrollment pattern is
even more telling when changes in three of these five states' affirmative action admission
policies are considered. In California, Texas, and Florida, the public university systems of
education have eliminated the use of race/ethnicity as a factor in admissions decisions;
instead, each has adopted "percentage plans" in an attempt to maintain a level of diversity
on campus.
Where we need to be
Hispanic students should graduate from postsecondary education at a proportion equal to
their representation in the college-age population.
What can each sector do to help Hispanic students raise their educational
achievement?
Parents can:
Introduce the idea of college education early on and reinforce it throughout their
children's K-12 education.
Become informed about available financial support and take the time necessary to
complete financial aid applications.
Show interest in their children's college experience by visiting campus and talking about
their children's classes.
Reinforce the climate of success by asking children what they will do when they
graduate.
Schools can:
Provide information about the importance of college, the need for students to take the
right courses to prepare for college, and the need to perform well academically to
parents of Hispanic middle school students, and organize seminars for Hispanic parents
on paying for college and how to fill out college application and financial aid forms.
End tracking and require that all students take college-preparatory courses- including
the "gatekeeper" courses of algebra and geometry-and encourage all Hispanic
students to take the SAT/ACT. Start a folder of teacher recommendations for each
student beginning in the ninth grade.
Improve and align curricula with educational expectations to improve the quality of
education a student receives and facilitate their pursuit of higher education.
Coordinate school-to-career opportunities for Hispanic students with local colleges,
community organizations, and employers.
Colleges and universities can:
Sponsor trips to campus for Hispanic students in elementary and middle school to
increase their interest in higher education.
Train Hispanic freshmen in study skills and academic procedures.
Expand college admissions recruitment into high schools with large Hispanic student
enrollments.
Provide college admissions materials in Spanish and offer Spanish translations of their
website.
Communicate more with Hispanic parents and facilitate links between students and
their families to discuss college requirements.
Analyze why Hispanic students drop out of college, and develop institution-specific
solutions to redress these problems.
Use distance learning to allow Hispanic students to study from home and/or the
workplace.
Improve articulation between two- and four-year institutions of higher education to
facilitate the further education of Hispanic students enrolled at community colleges.
Evaluate existing support services and redesign them to adequately support the needs
of Hispanic students.
PUENTE PROJECT, University of California
This project increases the number of Hispanic students attending four-year colleges, earning
degrees, and returning to the community as leaders. The main components of the program involve
counseling, mentoring, and English language skills. Students begin in the ninth and tenth grades
with activities involving school guidance counselors and mentors. All students participate in the
program's statewide writing portfolio assessment as well. In 1998, Puente students attended four-
year colleges at almost twice the rate of comparable non-Puente students (43 VS. 24 percent). An
additional 41 percent of Puente students attended California community colleges. Puente students
took the SAT at a higher rate than non-Puente students (68 VS. 54 percent) and took theACT at
almost three times the rate (32 VS. 13 percent) of non-Puente students.
Community-based organizations can:
Become better advocates to ensure that Hispanics have access to a good-quality higher
education.
Facilitate mentorships, internships, and fellowship opportunities for Hispanic students.
Organize local SAT/ACT preparation courses for Hispanic students.
Form support networks and "Adopt a College Student" programs for Hispanic college
students away from home.
Organize annual recognition events for Hispanic students who complete each year of
college.
Provide after-school programs to encourage and academically prepare Hispanic
students to attend college.
College is Possible
The American Council on Education's College is Possible campaign focuses on addressing
families' concerns about the cost of college and the process of finding ways to pay for a college
education. The campaign is in Spanish and English and involves corporations, associations, and
colleges/universities as partners. The Coalition of America's Colleges and Universities has
developed resources including websites, information on books, and brochures recommended by
admissions and financial aid professionals to help parents and students who are looking for
answers. Parents and students may access much of the same informationby contacting the U.S.
Department of Education.
Government can:
Significantly increase the level of financial aid (i.e. grants, scholarships) to help Hispanic
students access and attain a higher education.
Disseminate and promote wider use of proven strategies and develop better strategies
for helping Hispanic students achieve at high academic levels.
Encourage communities, school districts, and local institutions of higher education to
develop strong, collaborative K-16 educational strategies to improve Hispanic
achievement throughout the educational pipeline.
U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA)
In FY2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will establish a scholarship program to increase
the number of students entering and graduating from two- and four-year Hispanic-Serving
Institutions (HSIs) and encourage students to pursue careers in the U.S. food and agriculture
sector. Scholarships will cover educational expenses for students earning degrees ranging
from an associate of arts through a doctorate. Following graduation, scholarship recipients
must work at USDA for one year for each year of financial assistance received. The program,
which will be called the National Hispanic Serving Institutions Scholars Program, will serve up
to 30 students during its first year of funding.
The U.S. Department of Energy
The Department of Energy (DOE) developed the Institute of Bio Technology, Environmental
Science and Computing for Community Colleges (www.orau.gov/doeccp). Sponsored by DOE
and the American Association of Community Colleges, the program is designed to provide
educational training and research experience at five DOE national laboratories for highly
motivated and traditionally underrepresented students in science, mathematics, and other
technical fields. Each DOE laboratory offers an eight-week summer institute for students who
are mentored by world-renowned scientists. The Institute provides transportation, housing, and
a weekly stipend. The laboratory internship is a critical step in aiding the retention of students
committed to earning a baccalaureate, master's, and/or doctoral degree. Students are provided
access to state-of-the-art technology and equipment.
The private sector can:
Work with local colleges-and local Hispanic-serving institutions, in particular (where
they exist)-to establish cooperative career-based programs, research, and internship
opportunities.
Create scholarships, fellowships, and partnerships to help Hispanic students access,
and attain a higher education.
Encourage Hispanic employees to complete postsecondary education and lifelong
learning, and support them as they do SO.
Actively recruit Hispanic college students for both regular and summer positions.
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the largest Hispanic scholarship-granting organization
in the nation. HSF recognizes and rewards outstanding Hispanic American students in higher
education throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Founded in 1975, HSF has awarded
more than 40,000 scholarships totaling more than $48 million. These students represent every
segment of the Hispanic community, attend hundreds of institutions of higher learning, including
the most prestigious, and come from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. HSF Scholars have
achieved success in many fields and often are visible role models in their communities.
Successful candidates are chosen on the basis of academic achievement, personal strengths,
leadership and financial need. Basic program requirements are that the students have
completed 15 credits of college work, have a minimum 2.7 GPA, and be enrolled full time at an
accredited college in the United States or Puerto Rico. Scholarships are available based on
donor restrictions, which may include fields of study, and specific geographical areas. HSF's
mission is to double the rate of college retention rate by supporting current college students and
providing incentive for Latino high school graduates and community college associates to go to
four-year institutions.
In July 1999, HSF was awarded a $50 million grant from the Lily Endowment Inc., the single
largest amount given to promote Hispanics in higher education and the largest amount ever
pledged to a Hispanic organization in the U.S. Two months later, in September 1999, the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that HSF was one of three organizations included in
the newly formed Gates Millennium Scholars Program, a 20-year plan to provide financial
assistance to high-achieving minority students in need of financial aid. Begun in September
2000, the program also includes the United Negro College Fund and the American Indian
College Fund and offers financial assistance to 1,000 new students each year with an annual
investment of $50 million.
Graduate and Professional Education
The Picture Today
Now, more than ever, graduate education is critical for achieving economic success and
positions of leadership. While Hispanics have doubled their percentage enrollment in
graduate education in the last 20 years, they remain less well represented than other
groups. In 1996, Hispanics represented 4 percent of graduate students, whereas whites
represented 73 percent and African Americans 6 percent. These numbers are even more
troubling when one looks at particular fields such as engineering, mathematics, and
computer and physical science, where Hispanic participation in graduate education is not
representative of the population. Beyond enrollment, completion is also important. In 1996,
Hispanics earned approximately 4 percent of all master's degrees and 2 percent of all
doctoral degrees.
The most disturbing consequence of low Hispanic participation in graduate education is
that relatively few Hispanics qualify to occupy faculty and administrative positions in the
nation's colleges and universities. Participation in graduate education has other
implications beyond professional study. Graduate education is also the pipeline for higher
education faculty. In 1992, Hispanics represented less than 3 percent of full-time
instructional faculty and staff in higher education. While there are indications that the
percentage has increased slightly since 1992, it had not changed substantially by 1998.
Too few Hispanics are attaining graduate degrees and entering their fields of study as
academic faculty. This has serious implications given that faculty and staff are influential
mentors and role models and that they can enrich the educational experience of all
students. The lack of Hispanic representation is even more severe than the
underrepresentation at K-12 levels and must be redressed.
Why are so few Hispanics in graduate education? Among the primary reasons are the
relatively low levels of baccalaureate achievement, inadequate financial support, relatively
low levels of mentoring and counseling by their college instructors, and other academic
staff, and the continuing low expectations of Hispanics attaining graduate education.
Where we need to be
In the next 10 years, Hispanics should represent 8 percent of those earning master's
degrees and 6 percent of those earning doctoral degrees.
What can each sector do to help Hispanic students raise their educational
achievement?
Parents can:
Learn about the benefits of graduate and professional education and encourage their
children to continue their education at an early age to rewarding careers that typically
require graduate education, such as university teaching, scientific research, business,
law, and medicine.
Support children pursuing graduate education and recognize that graduate and
professional education can be lengthy and expensive.
Colleges and universities can:
Work to increase the number of Hispanics completing undergraduate education who
aspire to graduate education and with high academic achievement.
Develop strong academic support programs for Hispanic undergraduates that also
encourage graduate enrollment to ensure the best opportunity for academic success.
Develop combined baccalaureate and master's degree programs and encourage
interested advanced Hispanic undergraduates to take graduate courses.
Conduct targeted outreach to Hispanic students to increase the number of applicants to
graduate programs.
Target institutional support (financial and student services) to Hispanic students to help
retain them in graduate education.
Foster a diverse campus climate that promotes educational equity and success for all
students.
Develop a faculty development program that targets Hispanics and hire Hispanic faculty
and academic staff and facilitate their interest in serving as mentors and role models.
Adopt innovative instructional strategies, such as distance learning and on-line
instruction, to make graduate education more accessible.
Community-based organizations can:
Sponsor leadership training for Hispanic graduate students.
Include graduate and professional education in their organizational agendas.
Seek out and develop partnerships with graduate students and their professors for
fellowships and to participate in community activities.
The private sector can:
Establish fellowships and internships for graduate students.
Encourage Hispanic employees to obtain graduate degrees and support them in doing
so by providing financial assistance.
Work with institutions to help facilitate the transition from education to work and inform
institutions of the workforce demands they need to meet in order to be competitive.
Fund endowed positions in graduate programs dedicated to minority faculty.
Government can:
Fund graduate fellowships for Hispanic students and programs that have a proven track
record of increasing minority participation in graduate education.
Increase outreach and information dissemination efforts in Hispanic communities to
highlight the increased value of graduate degrees.
Facilitate research opportunities for Hispanic students in federal agencies or in
government supported and collaborative programs.
Publicize the availability of government jobs for graduates with advanced degrees.
Smithsonian Institution - The Center for Latino Initiatives (www.si.edu/latino) sponsors the Inter-
University Program Latino Graduate Training Seminar Interpreting Latino Cultures: Research
and Museums. Hispanic graduate students attend the seminar to explore issues of
representation and interpretation of cultural materials and traditions in museums the seminar is
followed by five 10-week fellowships and one 10-week internship. Fourteen Hispanic students
participated in the program in 1999.
The Latino Studies Fellowship Program offers awards to Latino pre-doctoral students and
postdoctoral or senior scholars to pursue research related to Latino history, art, and culture
using Smithsonian resources as well as through extended field work. Through this program, 11
fellowships have been awarded to outstanding students and scholars.
The Office of Fellowships and Grants (www.si.edu/research+study) provides opportunities
through the Minority Internship Program for undergraduate and beginning graduate students to
participate in a variety of ongoing research and museum-related activities under the
supervision of Smithsonian Institution staff. Hispanics receive approximately 33 percent of the
awards made each year. In FY1999, the Smithsonian Office of Education's Center for Museum
Studies sponsored 544 interns, of whom 9.7 percent were Hispanic.
CREATING THE WILL: HISPANICS ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Raise the educational achievement of all Hispanic students to the same level of
excellence as other students in America by the year 2010.
Meeting the educational needs of Hispanic Americans is good for this country. Not only
does it strengthen the analytical and intellectual skills of the fastest-growing segment of
American society, but it also fortifies our country's most precious resource: its human
capital. So why do we hesitate?
In this time of enormous prosperity and sustained tranquility, why do we shirk our
responsibility to make real the promise of a high-quality education for all our young people?
Why do we hesitate to invest in our Hispanic young people by deploying proven strategies
where they are needed and securing the resources this country has to offer?
The President's Advisory Commission believes it is a question of will, political will.
This report offers strategies for each sector to implement, but creating the will to act
requires a commitment to not accept failure and to strive for success. Creating the will to
achieve educational excellence begins with the belief that our young people are precious
and deserve a high-quality education. There is sufficient empirical evidence on successful
educational interventions to help Hispanic students succeed-from early childhood through
graduate and professional education-to assert the goal of raising Hispanic educational
achievement to the level of other groups in this nation.
In response to this foundational belief, the Commission has sought to motivate the will to
raise Hispanic educational achievement by modeling the practices we believe must
proliferate across the country. As a Commission created to address educational excellence,
we have the good fortune of being able to emphasize academic achievement and focus on
the dramatic results achieved by students, families, schools, communities, and
organizations that have high expectations of all Hispanic students.
To reach the goal of educational achievement requires a strategic plan of action and
multiple alliances to harness the collective political will of those who commit to work
together for change. Parents, educators, community activists, elected officials, business
leaders, and government representatives must raise the nation's awareness of the
strengths and talents of the Hispanic community; acknowledge the community's
educational needs; and refuse to accept anything less than success in attaining the goal.
We all want an excellent education for all of our children, but rarely do the key sectors work
together to make that common goal a reality. In the course of our work, we found that
many federal agencies wanted to reach the Hispanic community but did not know how;
schools wanted to reach Hispanic parents but did not know how; parents wanted to get
involved in their children's education but did not know how; elected officials wanted to
contribute to Hispanic students' [tr] educational success but did not know how; and
corporations wanted to more directly impact the Hispanic community but did not know how.
Many of these partners did not know how to put their interests or ideas into action. Many
were unaware of the variety of educational services and resources available. Generally,
we [tr] found good will in wanting to reach out to the Hispanic community but a sizable
information gap regarding opportunities to work together.
In modeling the behavior necessary to create the will, the President's Advisory Commission
used its convening authority to bring together many interested parties. In the national
conference series Excelencia en Educación: The Role of Parents in the Education of their
Children, parents, educators, community advocates, business leaders, elected officials, and
government representatives worked together to discuss a common goal: educational
excellence for Hispanic students. While each partner provided different services and varied
resources, they used this conference as a means to work together to achieve their common
goal. As a result,
federal agencies learned how to more effectively and directly reach out to the Hispanic
community, and their responsibility to be held accountable to this community was
reinforced;
parents received information, were put in contact with resources, and were
empowered to speak with those who contribute to their children's education,
schools received support from other local and federal entities to improve their outreach
to Hispanic parents and participated in an activity that connected them with the Hispanic
community and advocates;
community-based organizations were linked more directly to schools and federal
agencies to improve service to the Hispanic community; and corporations were able to
see "first hand" effective programs in their communities and learned how to more
effectively reach out to the Hispanic community.
We must challenge all members of our society-parents, students, educators, elected
officials, community activists, business and foundation leaders, and government
representatives-to build upon these and many other efforts and to continue the work
necessary to raise the educational achievement level of Hispanics to that of other groups in
this nation.
EPILOGUE
This report is the response of the President's Advisory Commission and the White House
Initiative to the charge issued in President Clinton's Executive Order 12900. The Executive
Order asked that we assess the condition of Hispanics by examining:
the educational attainment of Hispanics from pre-K through graduate and professional
school;
state, private sector, and community involvement in education;
the extent to which federal activities in education complement existing efforts to
increase education opportunities for Hispanics; and
federal recruitment strategies for and employment of Hispanics.
To fulfill this responsibility, the Commission designed methodologies and worked with a
variety of partners. The Commission's staff also established an Inter-Departmental Council
representing each federal agency to foster increased awareness and engagement by
agency staff. To increase accountability, staff compiled an annual publication of federal
agency performance reports including information about each agency's progress in
improving the educational and employment opportunities of Hispanic Americans.
The experience of the last seven years has brought the Commission to the point of
publication of this report. We believe the next Administration must take up the challenge
and continue to serve as a catalyst in the effort to involve all sectors in raising Hispanic
educational achievement.
APPENDICES
A. Latinos in Education fact [insert space] sheets
B. Bibliography
C. Annotated White House Initiative publication list
D. List of Commissioners and WHI staff
Federal agencies: The Commission and its staff worked with 26 federal agencies to
inform and increase federal agency accountability to fulfill the mandate of the Executive
Order. Federal agencies can move slowly to address emerging populations or changing
patterns of need. We encountered tremendous support from some agency staff and real
reluctance from others for increasing agency accountability and reaching out to the
growing Hispanic community.
One way to educate federal agencies about the educational condition of Hispanics and to
provide an opportunity for them to effectively reach out to the Hispanic community was to
partner with them in sponsoring the national conference series Excelencia en Educación.
These activities created an opportunity for agency officials to reach out to large Hispanic
communities and facilitated direct interaction to inspire new strategies for outreach.
The federal government must continue to make progress in supporting the Hispanic
community, and agencies must challenge themselves and demonstrate their commitment
to address the education and employment needs of all citizens, including Hispanics. Every
federal agency must make the education and employment of the Hispanic community a
top priority. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services designed an
agency-wide Hispanic Action Agenda led by its top officials. Federal agencies must
coordinate programmatic outreach to the Hispanic community and determine how to
institutionalize outreach for long-term change and the inclusion of Hispanics in federal
programs. Federal agencies also must [tr] ensure that career employees who are familiar
with the Hispanic community are included in policy and budget development, management,
and outcomes evaluation of agency programs.
America is in transition in many ways. As Hispanic students quickly become the majority in
school districts across the nation, critical masses of them are educationally, scientifically,
and technologically unprepared. If the nation does not create the political will to address this
situation, Hispanics will not attain the material rewards that issue from competent
performance or the chance to participate fully in our democratic society. The implications
for the nation as a whole, as well as for the position our nation holds as the leader in an
increasing globalized world, are serious.
SEP-11-2000 14:55
WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE
202 401 8377 P.01/34
WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS
PHONE: 202-401-7479
FAX: 202-401-8377
E-MAIL: [email protected]
400 MARYLAND AVE, S.W.
WASHINGTON, DC 20202-3601
FAX COVER SHEET
Number of pages (including cover): 40
To: Bethany DPC Little
Fax Number: ( ) 456-5543
5581
From:
Deborah A. Santiago
Deputy Director
Date: 9/11/00
Subject: Commission report
MEMORANDUM TO MARIA ECHAVESTE
FROM:
Bethany Little
DATE:
August 31, 2000
RE:
President's Advisory Commission Report Creating the Political Will
Attached is a copy of the Advisory Commission's report, with many of the potentially
problematic language highlighted. Most of the concerns highlighted involve negativity,
and represent issues that Deborah and I could probably resolve if an understanding is
reached that we are to attempt to change the tone of the report. More importantly, the
following substantive points probably require your attention:
There is little to no language acknowledging the President or Vice President's
leadership on this issue, the steps they have taken over the past eight years to support
Hispanic education, or the progress that has been made in some areas. Adding this
language will mitigate many of the negativity concerns highlighted in the document,
but it might also be helpful to insert a section or sections outlining some of the
Administration's accomplishments.
The section on language (within the section on K-12 education) completely ignores
the role of English in academic success and the responsibility of our schools to ensure
English acquisition.
There is no acknowledgment, anywhere in the document, of the goals set by the
President. This might be acceptable if the document contained no reference to any
sort of goals, but since the report sets its own goal to "Raise the educational
performance of all Hispanic students to the same level of achievement of other
students in America by the year 2010," it seems odd to ignore the President's goals.
If they wish to retain their own goal, it might help to at least acknowledge that the
President set goals, and that the goals he set also advance the goal they have set.
There are significant problems with many of the "Ten things the next Administration
must do," starting with liberal use of the word "must". Of special concern are
numbers:
1 -- must make this a national priority and deploy sufficient resources,
2 -- leadership requires commitment to a strategic plan grounded in solid research
and best practices,
3 -- must succeed in increasing the representation of Hispanics in federal
employment, in both career and political appointments,
7 -- must strengthen the Commission's role to facilitate public and private
partnerships), and
8 -- must provide an adequate number of White House Initiative staff.
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISFDAre.coeleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.htmi
ISSUES
Gore
NEWS I SPEECHES I TOWN HALL I EN ESPAÑOL
2000
Lieberman
HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS OCCASION BY
Advanced
RELEASING DETAILED COMPARISON OF
EDUCATION PLANS
GET TO KNOW US
STAY
EMBARGOED FOR 4:00 AM ET RELEASE:
Sign
August 31, 2000
Camp
NASHVILLE - The Gore campaign today joined in celebrating George
Meet the Gores and the Liebermans
W. Bush's 100th photo-op at a school by releasing a detailed
Email A
AI and Tipper, Joe and Hadassah
comparison of AI Gore and Bush's education plans.
Cho
"After visiting one hundred schools you would think Governor Bush
State:
TAKE ACTION
would have learned a thing or two about what they really need," said
Douglas Hattaway, Gore-Lieberman national spokesman. "They need
Your participation is critical to
qualified new teachers, smaller class sizes, and preschool for all. What
our campaign. Choose a way
they don't need is one hundred political photo-ops and a voucher plan
to Take Action below:
that drains money away from our public schools."
WATC
Your State
Below is a text version of the comparison. To have the formatted file
emailed or faxed, members of the media need contact the
Vid
Pick your state
Gore-Lieberman press office at 615-340-3251:
Portland
Voter Outreach
Albuque
A LIFELONG EDUCATION PLAN FOR AMERICA'S FAMILIES
Albuque
Pick Your Group
GORE VS. BUSH: Education
Quincy,
GoreNet
At this moment of unprecedented prosperity, America faces important
Auc
A Network of Young Americans
choices: do we continue to make meaningful investments in our families
Portland
Send this page
and our future, or do we revert to failed policies that benefit a select few
Help spread the word
but do nothing to help working families build a better future for
Pho
themselves. In no area are the differences more clear than in
Join the Gore I-Team
approaches to educating all Americans for the 21st Century.
Photo G
Build your support webpage
Instant MessageNet
George W. Bush has boasted about "renewing the promise of America's
Nas
public schools." But once his rhetoric is peeled away, the reality is that
Live
Add your handle now
Bush's plan offers little hope for working families. Bush has no plan to
Get Involved
make preschool available for all children or to expand Head Start. Bush
Become a volunteer
offers no new ideas to reduce sizes or to hire new teachers, and he
doesn't invest one penny to help rebuild crumbling schools or turn
MORE
Register to Vote
around failing schools. So what is Bush offering? Not much, aside from
You can't votelifyou don't
Just
rhetoric and photo-ops. Bush's education plan is built around a voucher
Hey
Join the Fight!
plan that would drain precious resources and funds from the neediest
Make a-donation to Gore 2000
local schools. If Bush cares so much about education, why does he do
For
so little? Perhaps because his $1.6 trillion tax plan won't allow him to do
Fami
MyElection
more.
Gor
Update your online preferences
Cam
AI Gore believes America's families deserve better. AI Gore understands
that education is fundamental to getting ahead in today's rapidly
Can
changing economy. That's why Gore supports a bold lifetime education
BUSH DEBATE DUCK
Gore
initiative for children and adults of all ages. He will revolutionize public
How.long)has George W. Bush
education and invest $115 billion over ten years to make education
avoided debating AI Gore?
high-quality, comprehensive and lifelong.
Your priva-
170d.14h 42ml Is
algore
privacy po
Education Life Cycle
Paid for by Gore/Lieberman, Inc.
601 Mainstream Drive
Nashville, TN 37228
615-340-2000
GORE VS. BUSH: Pre-School
TTY (For the hearing-impaired)
GORE: Make high quality pre-school universally available and help
615-340-3260
Contact us on the web:
recruit and train high-quality early childhood educators.
[email protected]
BUSH: NO plan to expand access to pre-school.
Contributions to Gore/Lieberman
GELAC are not tax deductible for
federal income tax purposes.
GORE VS. BUSH: Head Start
GORE: Continue to expand Head Start and Early Head Start to serve at
least one million children.
BUSH: NO real plan to expand Head Start but empty rhetoric about
reforming the program.
1 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISwWaore.com..eleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.html
GORE VS. BUSH: K-12: Teacher Accountability
GORE: Ensure a qualified teacher in every classroom by 2004,
implement tough teacher testing and improve or remove low-performing
teachers.
BUSH: NO plan to test all new teachers and NO plan to remove
low-performing teachers.
GORE VS. BUSH: K-12: Low-Performing Schools
GORE: Help states and school districts turn around failing schools using
community involvement and new, capable leadership.
BUSH: Abandons low performing schools with a VOUCHER PLAN that
drains needed resources and traps low-income children in failed
schools.
GORE VS. BUSH: K-12: Modernizing Schools
GORE: Rebuild and modernize crumbling schools, create new, smaller
schools, and connect every classroom and library to the Internet.
BUSH: Derides efforts to fix crumbling schools as "bricks and mortar"
and offers NO plan to support general school construction.
GORE VS. BUSH: K-12: Lowering Class Size
GORE: Finish hiring 100,000 well-qualified teachers and recruit one
million qualified new teachers to reduce class sizes across America.
BUSH: "Obliterates" the Administration's effort to hire 100,000 new
teachers.
GORE VS. BUSH: College & Lifelong Learning
GORE: Make college tuition tax deductible with a College Opportunity
Tax Cut and help families save tax-free for lifelong learning.
BUSH: NO plan to make most college tuition tax deductible. Expands
Pell Grants primarily for the first year of college.
GORE VS. BUSH: Worker Training
GORE: Increase worker training opportunities and use tax credits to
encourage employers to modernize America's workforce.
BUSH: Limited effort to help America's workers obtain the skills they
need to succeed in the new economy.
An Education Plan for the 21st Century
GORE SUPPORTS PROVEN STRATEGIES so EVERY CHILD CAN
REACH HIGH EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS
Al Gore will fight to implement proven strategies to help every child
reach the high standards needed to succeed in today's information
economy. Gore will fight for revolutionary improvements in public
schools with increased accountability for schools and teachers, and high
expectations for every child. But standards alone are not enough. Truly
revolutionary change requires investments to make education
high-quality, comprehensive and lifelong - making preschool universally
available, reducing class size, rebuilding and modernizing schools,
developing after-school initiatives, making college tuition tax deductible,
and expanding access to higher education and worker training.
GORE OFFERS A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN; BUSH LEAVES OUT KEY
AREAS
Gore has offered a comprehensive plan to revolutionize public education
to meet the needs of the information age. Compared to Gore's plan,
Bush's education proposals - which are sharply limited by his tax plan -
are inadequate.
Gore offers $115 billion to support his comprehensive education plan
while Bush offers rhetoric. The Los Angeles Times reported, "Compared
to Gore, who proposes spending $115 billion of the federal budget
surplus on education over 10 years, Bush's education proposals total
$13.4 billion over five years." The New York Times added that Bush's
2 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000:, HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISOOFD5re.com.eleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.hml
proposals were dwarfed by the $115 billion that Mr. Gore would
spend for new education initiatives over 10 years " Given the critical
need to revolutionize public education for the information age, Bush's
inability to fiscally support meaningful reform contrasts with Gore's more
comprehensive approach. [Los Angeles Times, 3/31/00; New York
Times, 3/29/00]
Gore, as Vice President, already has implemented several Bush
proposals. On issues ranging from reforming Head Start, promoting
standards and testing, and initiatives to promote early literacy, AI Gore
and the Administration have already implemented many of Bush's
"proposals." [White House Press Release, 10/27/98; The Special
Educator, 10/23/98; 1996 America Reads Proposal, www.ed.gov;
Associated Press, 10/5/94]
Bush plan is characterized by holes and leaves millions of Americans
behind. Despite his rhetoric on education, George Bush offers no plan to
provide universal pre-school for America's children, no serious plan to
recruit the number of needed new teachers or significantly reduce class
size, no plan to help local communities modernize their crumbling
schools or turn around failed schools, and no plan to expand Head Start.
[www.georgewbush.com]
PRE-SCHOOL & HEAD START
HIGH-QUALITY PRE-SCHOOL INCREASES CHILDERN'S ABILITY TO
LEARN
Studies show that investment in early education pays tremendous
benefits in terms of higher reading and achievement levels, higher
graduation rates and greater success in the workplace. Disadvantaged
children who attend pre-school benefit the most - they repeat fewer
grades and learn at a higher level. [The Toronto Star, 4/21/99]
GORE VS. BUSH: PRE-SCHOOL
GORE: MAKES HIGH QUALITY PRE-SCHOOL AVAILABLE TO ALL
Make high-quality, voluntary preschool available. Gore has proposed a
$50 billion plan to provide universal access to high-quality preschool -
ensuring that no 4-year-old would go without preschool because of
family income.
Cover all 4-year olds and an increasing number of 3 year olds. After a
state has made preschool universally available for every 4 year old, the
federal funds could be devoted to children aged 3 and younger, or to
create year-round programs.
Allow state flexibility to meet local education needs. States could use
funds to create and support public preschool programs in a variety of
community-based settings - - including public schools, community
centers, child care providers, and Head Start centers, among others.
States would identify appropriate curricula, set high educational, safety,
and quality standards, and hold providers accountable for meeting those
standards.
Support early childhood educators. Gore will create a Preschool Quality
Fund to help recruit, train, and certify high-quality early childhood
educators.
BUSH: NO PLAN TO EXPAND ACCESS TO PRE-SCHOOL
Bush's plan fails to expand access to pre-school. Bush's education
proposals do not include new funding to improve access to pre-school.
[www.georgewbush.com]
GORE VS. BUSH: HEAD START
GORE: WILL EXPAND HEAD START SIGNIFICANTLY
Continue to expand Head Start. Gore will work to make sure Head Start
serves at least one million children. Gore supports the Administration's
proposal to invest an additional $1 billion in Head Start this year the
largest single funding increase ever proposed for the program - to
provide Head Start and Early Head Start (for children aged 0-3) to
3 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000:. HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED
approximately 950,000 children in 2001.
Gore would build on a record of expanding Head Start. Since 1993, AI
Gore and the Administration have increased funding for Head Start by
90 percent, and nearly 900,000 children are in Head Start today. [White
House Release, 11/18/99; www.whitehouse.gov]
BUSH: HEAD START PLAN LARGELY ACCOMPLISHED
Bush's Head Start proposal would emphasize school readiness and
accountability - as Gore and the Administration have already done.
Bush has proposed ensuring accountability for Head Start and offering
up contracts to competitive bidding. He would prioritize changing the
focus of the program to teaching children to read and be ready for
school. [www.georgewbush.com]
Gore and the Administration already refocused Head Start on school
readiness. In 1998, Gore and the Administration enacted bipartisan
legislation to focus Head Start on school readiness and family literacy.
[White House Press Release, 10/27/98; The Special Educator, 10/23/98;
S. 2206, 6/23/98]
Increased accountability for Head Start already in place. Head Start has
been subject to standards for years. In 1996, the DHHS closed down
100 Head Start centers that did not meet standards. In 1998, Gore and
the Administration approved a measure that further improved the quality
and accountability of the Head Start program, with new performance
standards and requirements on teacher training. [White House Press
Release, 10/27/98; The Special Educator, 10/23/98; S. 2206, 6/23/98]
Bush would move Head Start to the Department of Education. Bush has
proposed that Head Start be moved from the Department of Health and
Human Services to the Department of Education.
[www.georgewbush.com]
Bush's proposed move is largely symbolic and does not expand or
refocus the program. Bush does not offer any resources to expand Head
Start. [www.georgewbush.com]
Revolutionizing Public Schools
STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
High standards - for schools, teachers and students - are critical to
improve performance. High expectations for all students are necessary
to improve student performance and prepare children for gainful
employment in the new economy, and countries that are successful at
educating children hold these students to high standards. [Phi Delta
Kappan, 5/1/00]
Successful education reform includes high standards AND investments
in schools. States that have been the most successful on national
measures of student performance (e.g. North Carolina and Connecticut)
have established high standards for all students and have made the
investments needed to help students, teachers, and schools reach high
standards. [New York Times, 1/6/95; Kansas City Star, 2/11/98]
GORE VS. BUSH ON STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
GORE: WILL RAISE STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR
SCHOOLS, STUDENTS, AND TEACHERS.
Gore plan has strict consequences for failure and strong incentives for
success. Gore's plan would use nationally recognized measures to hold
states and school districts accountable for improving student
performance by converting significant federal education programs into
achievement-based funds. States failing to meet their targets for
improving student performance and closing the achievement gap
between disadvantaged students and their peers - based on reading
and math NAEP scores in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades - would lose some
federal administrative funds under formula programs including Title I.
Gore's plan would provide bonuses to states that demonstrate
significant progress in boosting overall student achievement and closing
4 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000:, HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS
the achievement gap, and it would provide financial rewards to teachers
in schools having the most success improving education for
disadvantaged children.
Gore would identify and help turn around failing low-performing schools.
Gore will require states and school districts to identify failing schools
and put in place an aggressive plan to turn those schools around.
Performance report cards for all schools. Schools would be required to
issue performance report cards - detailing student performance, teacher
qualifications, and other quality indicators - to help parents hold schools
accountable.
Gore would demand more from all students. Gore's plan would
encourage states to adopt voluntary national tests in 4th grade reading,
8th grade math, and at high school graduation. The plan includes
funding to strengthen efforts to keep kids in school and close the gap
between disadvantaged students and their peers. These initiatives build
on legislation proposed by the Administration ensuring that states
institute high standards for all students and measure progress toward
these standards.
Incentive program to reduce dropout rates. Under Gore's plan, states
would develop aggressive strategies to reduce dropout rates, and
incentive bonuses would be provided to schools or school districts that
successfully lower dropout rates.
Gore would require tough teacher accountability and would improve or
remove low-performing teachers. Gore's plan will hold teachers to high
professional standards - requiring rigorous testing for all new teachers,
periodic peer reviews of licensed teachers and faster, fair ways to
identify, improve and, where necessary, remove failing teachers.
Ensure a qualified teacher in every classroom by 2004. Gore would
require that as a prerequisite for receiving federal funding under Title I,
states must guarantee that 100 percent of their teachers are certified by
2004. States would also have to test all new teachers and ensure all
teachers have a demonstrated competence in the subject they teach.
BUSH: ACCOUNTABILITY PROPOSALS ESTABLISH STANDARDS
WITHOUT HELPING SCHOOLS ACHIEVE THEM.
Bush would require standardized state tests - many of which are
already required. Bush would establish state accountability systems in
which students are tested every year in grades 3-8 in reading and math.
States would choose their own test, and the Federal government would
pay half of the cost. Bush would provide Federal funding for states to
participate in an annual sample exam in reading and math. Bush would
establish a $500 million incentive fund to reward states for improving
student performance, create a reward fund for schools showing the
greatest student improvement, and require states to publish
school-by-school report cards with annual test results.
[www.georgewbush.com]
Gore and the Administration have already implemented tough standards
and accountability. Gore and the Administration enacted the Improving
America's Schools Act of 1994 which required that states implement
challenging standards for students in order to receive Title I funding. In
1999, they followed up on these standards by proposing landmark
accountability requirements and assistance for failing schools.
[Associated Press, 10/5/94; Washington Post, 10/5/94; White House
Press Release, 2/3/99]
Observers agree that Bush's accountability proposals have already
been enacted. Following a Bush speech on accountability, Morton
Kondracke noted, "According to a Department of Education analysis of
Bush's speech, almost every standards and accountability proposal in it
already is either in federal law or part of Clinton's agenda." [Roll Call,
9/9/99]
Bush's plan fails to test and remove low performing teachers. Bush's
teacher training and recruitment plan lacks any real effort to demand
more from teachers and assure quality teaching. His plan fails to test all
new teachers and to identify and remove low-performing teachers. [Bush
Teachers Proposal, 3/30/00; www.georgewbush.com]
5 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000; HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS COMPARISOOFyDAOwre.com.eleaes/pr_083100_none_none_1.htmi
TURNING AROUND LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS
Vouchers Can Trap Students in a School System Without Sufficient
Resources. Voucher plans often threaten to leave many children behind
in failing schools. According to Education Week, "Critics suspect that
vouchers would produce a large underclass of students??including
many of those with special education requirements??trapped in a
system without enough resources to meet their needs." In 1998-99,
Milwaukee voucher system spent $29 million to give vouchers to 6,000
students, and resulted in a net loss of $22 million from the Milwaukee
public schools. That same year, the Cleveland voucher program cost
more than $10 million, which came out of state funds earmarked for
disadvantaged public school students. [Education Week, School Choice,
www.edweek.org/context/topics, Tax Funding for Private School
Alternatives," Institute for Wisconsin's Future, 1998; "School Vouchers:
The Emerging Track Record," NEA and AFT, 4/99; "The Cleveland
Scholarship and Tutoring Program," State of Ohio, 1/99]
Experience with Vouchers in Milwaukee Illustrate the Problems of a
Voucher Plan. The Milwaukee voucher program - despite requirements
against discrimination against disabled students - were not required or
accountable for providing certain services that public schools often
provided. In Milwaukee, 15% of public school students have special
education needs and participating schools were not required to offer
special education services. [Amendments to Wisconsin Voucher
Legislation, 1998, "School Vouchers: The Emerging Track Record," NEA
and AFT, 4/99, www.aft.org]
GORE VS. BUSH: TURNING AROUND FAILING SCHOOLS
GORE: WOULD HOLD LOW PERFORMING SCHOOLS
ACCOUNTABLE AND HELP THEM SUCCEED
Gore would require states and school districts to improve low performing
schools. A new $500 million Accountability Fund would provide extra
support to turn around failing schools. To qualify for funding, school
districts would need standards-based turn-around plans. Turn-around
plans would promote community involvement and strong leadership -
including a new, qualified principal and experienced teachers.
Support students in failing schools. Gore would provide expanded
after-school opportunities, including tutoring, for every child in a failing
school or the ability to transfer to a better performing public school.
Gore would hold low-performing schools accountable and invest in their
success. Schools that fail to turn-around within 2 years would be closed
down and reopened under a new principal and new teachers. Principals
would be offered incentives of up to $20,000, outstanding teachers
would be offered incentives of up to $10,000, and the team would be
given the decision-making authority to manage budgets and hire staff.
The school could also be reopened as a charter school.
BUSH: DOES NOT HELP LOW PERFORMAING SCHOOLS; WOULD
DRAIN FUNDS THROUGH A VOUCHER PLAN THAT TRAPS
DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
Bush's proposal would not hold low-performing schools accountable or
invest in their success. Under the Bush proposal, during the three years
before a failing school loses its Title I funding, Bush would offer no
additional assistance to the school. Unlike the Gore proposal, Bush's
plan would not shut down or reform any consistently failing school;
instead, he would take away Title I funding from the school (through a
voucher system) and trap remaining children in failed schools. When
asked what would happen to a student trapped in a failing school, Bush
offered no solution and said, "Hopefully the school will change."
[www.georgewbush.com; ABC, This Week, 7/17/00]
Bush would provide a small voucher for some students in failing
schools. Bush would implement a school choice program by giving
parents of Title I children in failing schools Title I funding directly. These
funds - about $1,500 for some students in failing schools - could be
used to transfer to another public school or on private school tuition.
[Bush education proposal, www.georgewbush.com]
Bush voucher does not offer real choice. The Washington Post noted
6 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISDFyEDSAWAlore.com.eleasespr_083100_none_none_1.html
that not all students in failing schools would receive a Bush voucher and
even students that do would have to pay private school tuition that is
"generally greater than the voucher amount." Boston Globe columnist
Derrick Jackson asserted, "We will know Bush is sincere when he
comes up with something more than a public relations ploy. Perhaps
that $1,500 might go a long way somewhere in rural Texas, but it only
buys you and few weeks at some private prep schools in New England."
And the President of New York's Board of Education observed, "What
private school in New York City charges [only] $1,500 a year? It's
nice rhetoric." [Washington Post, 12/19/99; Boston Globe, 9/10/99; New
York Post, 9/3/99]
Bush does not hold private schools accountable and fails to ensure
accountability for taxpayer funds. The New York Times observed, "Bush
did not address several critical questions raised by his proposals. He did
not, for example, say how the performance of the private agencies
would be tested, how the contracts would be let or what would happen
to the schools that lost Federal funding. He also did not say how the
Government would make sure that the money passed on to families was
spent properly." [New York Times, 9/3/99]
MODERNIZING SCHOOLS
School Buildings Are Decaying. In 1998, the American Society of Civil
Engineers said that school buildings represent the nation's most
pressing infrastructure need. [White House Release, 1/29/99]
Smaller Schools Provide a Better Education For Children. Not only do
smaller schools offer students more personal attention, research shows
that small schools can offer a strong core curriculum and a level of
academically advanced courses comparable to large schools. Small
schools also have better attendance records, lower dropout rates and
fewer discipline problems. [San Antonio Express-News, 9/30/98;
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 7/14/99]
GORE VS. BUSH: MODERNIZING SCHOOLS
GORE: WILL HELP COMMUNITIES MODERNIZE CRUMBLING
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Rebuild and modernize existing schools. AI Gore will implement the
Administration's school construction initiative to provide federal tax
credits and other financial incentives to help states and local school
districts build and renovate more than 6,000 public schools across the
country.
Expand access to information technology. Gore will finish connecting
every classroom and library to the internet. He will promote a national
effort to ensure that every child is computer literate by the 8th grade and
he will deploy AmeriCorps national service members to teach and
promote the Internet in schools, libraries and technology centers in
disadvantaged communities. Gore's plan will ensure that the high quality
educational software is available to every school.
BUSH: HAS NO PLAN TO HELP LOCAL COMMUNITIES MODERNIZE
THEIR SCHOOLS
Bush derides school construction as "bricks and mortar." Although Bush
supports military and Indian school construction, he does not prioritize
school construction for the general public. In fact, Bush derided Gore's
school construction proposal as a "bricks and mortar" approach that
overlooks the needs of students and teachers. "I like the contrast, Mr.
Vice President," Bush said. "You can talk about bricks and mortar."
[Post and Courier, 3/12/00; Deseret News, 3/10/00]
Bush believes the federal government should not help with school
construction. Bush said that states, not the federal government, should
be responsible for "bricks and mortar" - his term for school construction.
[AP Online, 3/24/00; Washington Times, 3/25/00]
LOWERING CLASS SIZES AND RECRUITING WELL-QUALIFIED
7 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000; HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS
TEACHERS****
High-quality teachers, and lower class sizes, are critical for effective
student learning. North Carolina and Connecticut pioneered efforts to
boost teacher quality and reduce class size - through higher pay and
higher teacher standards. These two states were rated in a national
education study published by Education Week as top states in improving
teacher quality, and were among the 10 states that made statistically
significant progress on reading scores according to the independent
National Assessment of Educational Progress. [The Advocate, 1/13/00;
New York Times, 1/6/95; Kansas City Star, 2/11/98; Pittsburgh Post
Gazette, 5/28/00]
GORE VS. BUSH: LOWERING CLASS SIZES
GORE: WILL CREATE SMALLER CLASSES, AND SMALLER
SCHOOLS TO ENHANCE LEARNING
Finish hiring 100,000 new teachers. Gore has fought for and won
funding to begin hiring 100,000 qualified new teachers to reduce class
sizes across America. The Administration won $1.2 billion for 30,000
well-prepared teachers in 1999, and $1.3 billion in 2000. As President,
Gore will challenge Congress to finish the job by hiring all 100,000 new
teachers. [Newsday, 3/5/99; Office of the Vice President Release,
3/3/99; www.whitehouse.gov]
Focus on creating smaller schools and schools-within-schools to provide
students with the attention they need. Competitive grants would be
provided to schools or school districts that have a strategy to build new,
small - less than 600 students - high schools. These grants would
encourage the innovative ways to break up existing schools including
autonomous schools-within-schools, career academies, and charter
schools.
BUSH: WOULD REVERSE SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO REDUCE
CLASS SIZE
Bush Would "Obliterate" Clinton-Gore Initiative to hire 100,000 new
teachers. According to the Washington Post, "Bush's [federal teacher's]
plan would also obliterate President Clinton's initiative - which Gore has
adopted in his campaign - to hire 100,000 teachers to reduce class
sizes in the earliest grades." In 1999, Bush said he opposed President
Clinton's efforts to offer funds to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce
class size. Instead, Bush sided with congressional Republicans, who
wanted less than the $1.4 billion Clinton requested and would not
specify the funding be spent on hiring new teachers. The Republican
plan would have failed to guarantee funding for the 29,000 teachers that
had already been hired under the program and offered no funding to hire
additional teachers this year. [Washington Post, 3/31/00; Dallas Morning
News, 11/11/99; White House Fact Sheet, 11/8/99]
GORE VS. BUSH: RECRUITING WELL-QUALIFIED TEACHERS
GORE: WILL INVEST $16 BILLION TO HELP SCHOOLS RECRUIT
AND HIRE ONE MILLION QUALIFIED NEW TEACHERS AND
IMPROVE TEACHER QUALITY
Recruit one million talented new teachers. Gore's plan would invest $8
billion over ten years in a new 21st Century Teacher Corps to
aggressively recruit new teachers, provide up to $10,000 in college aid
for 560,000 young people who commit to teach in high need schools
after college, and offer up to $10,000 in signing bonuses for 140,000
professionals who switch careers to teach. The program will offer some
loan forgiveness for 300,000 students that agree to teach in high-need
schools in shortage subject areas like math and science.
Gore would require all new teachers to pass rigorous tests.
Boost teacher pay in exchange for raising teacher standards. Gore's
plan would invest an additional $8 billion over ten years to provide
salary increases to teachers in disadvantaged communities where
school districts, businesses, and teachers unions adopt aggressive
plans to boost teacher quality and raise teacher standards. All qualified
teachers in these districts would receive salary increases of up to
$5,000, and salary increases of up to $10,000 would be provided to
outstanding master teachers reaching an advanced professional
standard.
8 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARSFDAre.com..eleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.hml
Base tenure on performance, not just seniority. In districts participating
in Gore's higher standards/higher pay initiative, decisions to grant
teachers tenure would be based on a thorough evaluation of each
teacher's performance, including but not limited to an analysis of the
academic progress of a teacher's students.
Invest in high-quality professional development. Gore would call for a
major investment in sustained, high-quality professional development to
make sure that teachers are qualified and up-to-date in key skills -
including the effective use of technology. States and school districts will
be allowed to use certain federal funds to promote teacher development
and mentoring for new teachers.
BUSH: FAILS TO MAKE ADEQUATE INVESTMENTS IN TEACHER
QUALITY
Bush teacher plan expands one small program - a program Gore and
the Administration have enacted and are expanding. The Bush plan
would increase funding for the "Troops to Teachers" program from $2.4
million to $30 million. [Bush Campaign Release, 3/30/00,
www.georgewbush.com]
Gore and the Administration already expanded Troops to Teachers.
Troops to Teachers was enacted by the Administration in 1994, and
Gore has supported the Administration's FY 2001 proposal to increase
the program's funding to $25 million. [1994 ESEA Reauthorization,
FY2001 Clinton/Gore Budget]
Bush does not require testing for all new teachers. Bush has no plan to
ensure that every new teacher pass rigorous testing.
[www.georgewbush.com]
Bush provides funding for teacher training and protects teachers from
frivolous lawsuits - but fails adequately recruit or compensate teachers.
Bush would provide $400 million in new funding - less than half of
Gore's proposal - for teacher training while expecting states to maintain
high professional standards for teachers in return. Bush would support
teachers with a Teacher Protection Act to protect them from frivolous
lawsuits when they enforce classroom rules and by providing tax
incentives for teachers who spend their own money on classroom
supplies. Bush expands loan forgiveness to $17,500 for math and
science majors who commit to teach in high-need schools for five years.
[FY 2001 Budget Proposal, Bush Campaign Release, 3/30/00,
www.georgewbush.com]
Bush does not support federal efforts to improve teacher pay. When
asked about keeping teacher salaries competitive in order to get quality
teachers, Bush said, "Right, I agree. I just caution you not to expect the
federal government to be paying teachers more money. First of all, it's
just budgetarily impossible. Secondly, it flies in the face of the
philosophy that I believe." [AP Online, 3/24/00; Washington Times,
3/25/00]
HIGH QUALITY AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS CAN HELP
MILLIONS OF CHILDREN LEARN AND STAY SAFE*
Unsupervised school children face risks of alcohol, drugs, and crime. At
least 5 million children are left at home after school unsupervised each
week. Experts agree that school-age children who are unsupervised
after school are far more likely to use alcohol, drugs and tobacco;
commit crimes; receive poor grades; and drop out of school than those
who are involved in supervised, constructive, after-school activities.
[Gannett News Service, 3/29/00]
Hours immediately after-school are key to reaching at-risk youth. A
recent Justice Department report stated that young people are at the
greatest risk to be victims of violence during the after-school hours of 3
to 7 p.m., suggesting more must be done to help working families
balance the competing demands of work and family by providing a safe
place for young people. [www.whitehouse.gov; Department of Justice]
GORE VS. BUSH: ACCESS TO HIGH QUALITY AFTER-SCHOOL
PROGRAMS
9 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000; HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISOFDAOwWAbre.coeleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.htm
GORE: WILL HELP 10 MILLION ADDITIONAL CHILDREN ACCESS
HIGH-QUALITY AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Keep public schools open longer and offer high quality after school
programs to 5 million children. Gore would dramatically increase funding
for 21st Century Learning Centers - innovative after-school program
that enables communities to provide extra help to students through
after-school and summer school programs. Gore would require that
states develop standards for these after-school programs, and he would
provide federal support for after-school help for every student in a failing
school. The program requires schools to work with parents and
community-based organizations in developing after-school programs.
Provide an after-school tax credit for working families. Gore is proposing
a new, refundable After-School Tax Credit (ASTC) to build upon the
existing Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) - which is
non-refundable and limited to children under the age of 13 - and help up
to five million children access after-school programs. The ASTC would
provide a tax credit of up to 50 percent (depending on income) of the
cost of after-school programs for children age 16 and under.
Help schools offer high-quality after-school programs and distance
learning. Gore's plan would require states to establish one system of
clear facility standards for school buildings during the school day and
after school, and Gore would provide funds to school districts to make
minor repairs and modifications of school space to enable appropriate
use of school buildings after school hours. Gore would establish an
After-School Quality Fund to recruit and train qualified after-school staff,
and he would provide funding to help support existing mentoring
programs such as the YMCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and existing
special reading or arts programs. In areas where technology and foreign
language training resources are difficult to find, Gore's plan would help
students access such training through distance learning via the Internet.
BUSH: OFFERS A MUCH LESS SIGNIFICANT EXPANSION OF
AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Bush focuses after-school programs on literacy while most of his literacy
proposals have already been enacted under AI Gore and the
Administration. Bush proposes intervention funds to help children learn
how to read through programs such as tutoring, after-school programs,
and summer school. These funds would be focused on promoting
literacy. [Bush Reading First Release, 3/28/00]
Bush does not offer a comprehensive proposal to improve access to
after-school programs. Bush's support for after-school programs are part
of his literacy initiative and would not help millions of mainstream
American children that could benefit from constructive after-school
educational opportunities. [www.georgewbush.com]
Bush "literacy initiative" has already been enacted by the Administration.
Gore and the Administration have already made significant investments
in the Reading Excellence Act to help kids learn how to read well by the
end of the third grade. The program includes $260 million in competitive
grants to states that develop literacy programs which may include
tutoring, after-school and summer-school initiatives. [1996 America
Reads Proposal; www.ed.gov]
Bush Promotes Religious and Private Organizations With His Modest
After-School Proposals. Bush will restructure the 21st Century Program
to contract out to competitive bidders and provide certificates for
low-income parents to help access after-school programs - including
programs at religious institutions. [Bush Education Proposal]
Charter Schools & Public School Choice
CHARTER SCHOOLS HAVE HELPED THOUSANDS OF
CHILDREN OBTAIN A GOOD EDUCATION
The number of publicly accountable charter schools has increased from
one when Gore and the Administration took office to approximately
1,700 today. Charter schools, which are publicly accountable for how
well they educate children, have more flexibility than traditional public
10 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISFDAwre.co.eleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.html
schools. Charter schools have provided working families with real
educational choices. [Department of Education / White House Release,
5/4/00; www.uscharterschools.org]
GORE VS. BUSH: CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL
CHOICE
GORE: SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDS CHARTER SCHOOLS AND
PROMOTES PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE
Triple the number of charter schools by 2005. Gore and the
Administration have overseen the rise in charter schools, from just one
to more than 1,700, and Gore's plan will triple the number of publicly
accountable charter schools by 2005. Gore's plan would build on the
Administration's charter school fund to provide planning and start-up
grants, help high-performing charter schools share their successes with
other charter schools, and help charter schools establish clear
performance benchmarks for success.
Gore would promote public school choice for working families. Gore's
plan includes a competitive grant program to help 100 of the
lowest-performing school districts in America adopt comprehensive
standards-based reforms, convert every public school into a school of
choice and allow all parents to choose the right public school for their
child.
BUSH: DOES NOT OFFER WORKING FAMILIES REAL PUBLIC
SCHOOL CHOICE
Bush would establish a fund to promote charter schools. Bush would
establish a Charter School Homestead Fund to offer $3 billion of loan
guarantees to help establish or improve 2,000 charter schools
nationwide in two years - a smaller increase than under Gore's plan.
[www.georgewbush.com]
Bush has no plan to promote public school choice and would drain
resources from public schools through vouchers. While his plan will
provide partial tuition subsidies for private and public schools to some
parents in some schools, Bush offers no plan to promote universal
public schools choice. www.georgewbush.com; Washington Post,
12/19/99; Boston Globe, 9/10/99]
Higher Education & Lifelong Learning
SUPPORT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IS MORE NECESSARY
THAN EVER BEFORE.
College tuition costs are rapidly rising. College tuitions costs are
currently rising faster than the general rate of inflation, and these costs
represent a major barrier to access to higher education. The National
Commission on the Cost of Higher Education has reported that tuition
has increased approximately 50 percent during the past decade and will
continue to rise at a rate greater than inflation in the coming decade.
[San Diego Union Tribune, 2/10/00]
GORE VS. BUSH: HIGHER EDUCATION & LIFELONG LEARNING
GORE: OFFERS TAX CREDITS TO MAKE COLLEGE & LIFELONG
LEARNING MORE AFFORDABLE
College Opportunity Tax Cut to make most college tuition tax-deductible.
Gore supports a College Opportunity Tax Cut to provide a choice
between a tax deduction or a 28 percent tax credit on up to $10,000 in
tuition in order to make college, graduate school, and post secondary
job-training more affordable.
New 401(j) accounts to save tax-free for higher education. Gore has
proposed new 401(j) accounts to allow individuals and their employers
to put money away to save for job training, education and lifelong
learning for themselves or their family - and to let those savings grow
tax-free.
A National Tuition Savings plan to allow tax-free and inflation-free
savings for college. Gore would create a National Tuition Savings plan
to allow families to expand access to inflation-free and tax-free state
college savings plans. The program would link together existing
11 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED COMPARISOOFEDSAAbre.com.eleases/pr_083100_none_none_1.htm
statewide college savings and prepaid tuition plans, expand access to
these plans, and use incentives to encourage states that do not have
the programs to create them.
BUSH: HAS NO PLAN TO MAKE MOST COLLEGE TUITION TAX
DEDUCTIBLE
Expands Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to $5000 - but does so to
promote private, not public, schools. Bush would expand ESAs to allow
parents to increase their annual contributions from $500 to $5000 per
student, per year. Bush would allow tax-free withdrawal for education
expenses from kindergarten to college. [www.georgewbush.com]
Bush's ESAs are not specifically targeted for higher education. Bush's
ESA expansion could be used by families who already send their
children to private schools. The program is not specifically targeted for
higher education or lifelong learning. Bush fails to offer a major initiative
to make rapidly rising college tuition affordable for all Americans.
[www.georgewbush.com]
Expand Pell Grants - primarily for the first year of college. Bush would
expand the maximum Pell Grant for first-year students to $5,100 and
would allow a $1000 increase in Pell Grants for few, very-low income.
[Bush Release, 8/30/00]
Gore and the Administration Significantly Expanded Pell Grants between
1993 and 2000. In 1993, the maximum Pell Grant award was $2300,
and the Administration worked to increase the maximum Pell Grant
award to $3300 in 2000 - a 43% increase. In 1997, the Administration
secured a historic increase in the Pell Grant program so that these
grants now help nearly 4 million low- and moderate-income students
attend college. Gore will continue to expand Pell Grants, and he is
asking for an increase in the maximum grant for fiscal year 2001. [Title
IV: Federal Pell Grant Program 1998-9 End of Year Report; FY 2001
Budget Summary]
WORKER TRAINING, NOW MORE THAN EVER, CAN HELP
AMERICANS PARTICIPATE IN THE NEW ECONOMY.
More American workers need access to skills training and lifelong
learning. The new economy has created many, high-paying new jobs
that are often not available to working American families because they
lack the skills required. In fact, nearly 70 percent of technology
companies now cite a lack of skilled information technology workers as
a barrier to growth. Higher education and training programs can help
Americans obtain these jobs and contribute to the new economy.
[Northern Colorado Business Report, 3/10/00]
GORE VS. BUSH: WORKER TRAINING
GORE: WOULD ENCOURAGE EMPLOYERS TO PROVIDE
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Matching grants to promote worker training. Gore has proposed
competitive matching grants for communities who develop a plan to
partner with local workforce boards, industry, and labor groups to
implement worker-training programs. These grants also would help
create Regional Skill Alliances to develop meaningful, accredited
learning opportunities for workers to meet the skills needed in their
communities.
Expand support for dislocated worker re-training. Gore would provide
matching challenge grants to states that provide a training allowance to
all unemployed workers in approved job re-training programs. This
would allow the Federal government to support states that choose to
give unemployed workers an additional 13 weeks of training allowance
benefits if it is necessary to complete their training.
Provide a tax credit of up to $6,000 for employers to train workers. To
make it easier for working Americans to succeed in the new economy,
Gore would offer employers up to a $6,000 tax credit per employee for
worker training in information technology and other technology skills.
The credits would be limited to programs accredited by a local workforce
12 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED
board and would be targeted to frontline workers.
BUSH: HAS NOT OFFERED A REAL PLAN TO PROMOTE WORKER
TRAINING AND LIFELONG LEARNING
Bush's Worker Training Programs Are Aimed at Promoting Fatherhood.
Bush would provide competitive grants to community and faith-based
organizations to promote fatherhood and he would help unemployed or
low-income fathers access job training and career education. [Bush
Fatherhood Proposal]
Gore has long supported responsible fatherhood, but he understands
worker training and lifelong learning are critical for all Americans to
succeed in the new economy. Therefore, Gore is offering a more
comprehensive approach.
Gore Education and Lifelong Learning Budget
GORE-LIEBERMAN INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION AND LIFELONG
LEARNING ($billions)
Investing in Education and Lifelong Learning 2001-10
Universal Pre-school 50.0
Higher Standards and Greater Investments in Our Schools
Failing Schools 2.5
Smaller Schools and Classes 12.0
Special Education 20.0
Higher Standards / Higher Pay 8.0
1 Million Teachers 8.0
Keeping Kids in School 4.0
After School 8.0
Charter Schools 1.8
Technology to Improve Education 1.0
Total, Universal Pre-School, Higher Standards & Investments: 115.3
Tax Proposals
College Opportunity Tax Cut 36.0
401(j) 3.0
Tuition Savings 2.0
Training 0.6
School Construction 8.0
After-school Tax Credit 5.3
Total, Tax Proposals 54.9
Lifelong Learning, non-tax proposals
Coordinated Training For Dislocated Workers 0.6
Expanded Training For Dislocated Workers 1.5
Reserve for Additional Education and Learning Proposals 4.8
Total, Lifelong Learning, non-tax proposals: 6.9
Issues News I Speeches I Town Hall En Español
13 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM
Gore 2000: HAPPY 100th: GORE MARKS ILED
Site Search I Get Involved I Register to Vote I Contribute I Gore iTeam
Copyright © 2000 I Home page I Technical Help I Update My Profile
Credits I Privacy Policy
14 of 14
9/1/2000 12:41 PM