This fall, a record 13.1 million Hispanics will enter America’s public education system. They carry a heavy burden on their shoulders.
For decades, our community has lagged behind others in educational attainment. According to Census Bureau data, more than 30 percent of Hispanics lack a high school diploma or its equivalent, compared to 15 percent of blacks and less than 8 percent of whites. And only one in ten Hispanic high school dropouts has taken the General Education Development® test to gain a high-school certification, according to the Pew Research Center. For millions of Hispanics, the opportunity that comes from education—the American Dream—is still out of reach.
{mosads}I learned the importance of a high-school education firsthand. I grew up as a farm worker. My parents, who emigrated from Mexico, continued to migrate from state to state according to the seasons. I worked the grape fields in the Central Valley of California, hoed sugar beets up and down the Nebraskan panhandle, and picked fruits and vegetables in the Yakima Valley of Washington State.
Unsurprisingly, this way of life took a toll on my education. By the time I entered 11th grade, my attendance record looked like a chessboard, with nearly as many days missed as attended. I subsequently dropped out of school to work full time.
My decision—which over a hundred thousand Hispanics still make every year—would likely have had disastrous effects on my life. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for high-school dropouts in 2014 was 9 percent, compared to 6 percent for graduates. Graduates also earned 37 percent more per week. As for high-school dropouts, they are far more likely to use and become dependent on the social safety net, which not only adds additional costs to society, but has an enormous impact on the individual’s view of their own self-worth.
Fortunately, I had an uncle who lent me a hand to get back on track. He encouraged me to take the GED® test, even offering to pay for it. This radically changed my life’s trajectory. Over the next 17 years, I went to college, pursued a career in law enforcement, was elected to city council, took a job with my local congressman, and served in the George W. Bush administration. Today, I run a national non-profit that brings a message of economic freedom to the Hispanic community.
This transformation almost certainly would have been impossible without the equivalent of a high school education. Yet millions of my fellow Hispanics are not so lucky.
We must step up to help both those who are in school and those who have already dropped out. For current and future students, perhaps the most effective is to expand Hispanics’ access to charter schools, which can be achieved through a variety of school-choice programs. This is especially important for English Language Learners, who have a significantly higher chance of dropping out and are disproportionally Hispanic. According to a 2013 Stanford study, such students gain an additional 50 days of reading and 43 days of math in charter schools. More broadly, a 2014 study by Mathematica Policy Research found that, compared to public schools, charter high schools have 7 to 11 percent higher graduation rates.
As for those who have already dropped out, many simply need help studying for and passing the GED® test. My organization, The LIBRE Institute, has partnered with Essential Education to provide qualified adults with a nationally accredited online curriculum, free of charge, as well as a voucher to pay for the GED® itself. Currently, this program is only available in Florida and Texas, but we plan to expand it to other states. Our goal is to dramatically increase Hispanics’ access to a college education—and the economic opportunity that comes with it.
Access to opportunity is precisely what brought many of our families and friends to America in the first place. Thanks to educational gains in recent years, the current generation of Hispanic students is already on its way to achieve things we never dreamed of. Yet too many still fall by the wayside, joining millions of others who over the years found themselves in a similar predicament. They all deserve the opportunity to get back on the path to prosperity.
Garza is chairman of The LIBRE Institute.