According to US Department of Commerce, 31.9% of Hispanics were attending college in 2010, a mighty upward leap from 23.5% in 2003. But despite higher college enrollment, degree completion remains a problem and Hispanics lag behind other minority groups in America by many educational metrics. A big source of the problem, some argue, is Early Childhood Education (ECE), or a lack thereof.
According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIERR), 24% of children under five years old in the United States are Hispanic; only half of them attend ECE.
"In fourth grade, only 18% [of Hispanic youth] have an advanced reading level, only 24% in math," Steven Barlett, director of the NIERR, told spanish-language newspaper El Pais in a telephone interview.
President Barack Obama has made early childhood education a top priority of his second term, and addressed the matter in his State of the Union Address this February.
"In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children...studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let's do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind," the President declared.
The President, who has proposed expanding early childhood education at a cost of $77 billion over ten years, says the investment will return a youth population more capable of competing internationally. His plan directly targets poverty-struck communities, and creates a cost-share between states and the federal government by providing funding to low and moderate income local school districts and other partner providers.
The proposed expansion of preschool would benefit 1.6 million people under age four who are more than 200% below the poverty level, according to NIEER, including 565,000 hispanic children.
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