Education is of paramount importance to the integration process of Latino immigrants to their new country.
And the educational demographics are revealing; in large areas of the nation one in every three kindergarten students is a Latino, meanwhile the largest group of new entrants to the entire college and university U.S. system, is the Latino. Consequently, education in America is in a large degree a Latino issue.
As happens every year, when the back to school time comes, Latino families and their kids are getting very excited. Kids are preparing their lunchboxes and backpacks weeks before school opens with their parents’ encouragement. For the Latino families education is of paramount importance since it is the only way for economic and social advancement that their daughters and sons are able to pursue.
As is explained in the main story of our current edition, the investment that both government and families, make in the education of their children illustrates a dual reality: on one hand, explains why traditionally the United States has been the world’s largest generator of innovation and knowledge in the world, and on the other, it helps to understand why recently that leadership has been losing its competitive edge in the global scenario.
Despite the educational advantage of this country, which is still the most prosperous economy in the world, the reasons behind some of the major structural flaws that limit the development of the full potential of its human capital, may be in early childhood education.
For many years, even before the Second World War, was usual that mothers stay home looking after their children, . while the “head of household” (the man) went out to work. With the change of economic model (now almost always both, father and mother, have to work), the country has to provide educational services for its younger citizens.
Despite the exemplary effort of many religious organizations to serve this demand, the lack of public policies regarding preschool options at national level, allowed to the issue to grow to into a major problem that limits the potential of its human capital and thus the future of the whole society.
Of course for the approximately 8 million migrant families living in his country, this challenge is even more relevant. Not only because of their relative lack of resources that does not allow them to build a safety network but also because of the lack of social protection networks that grow over time (neighbors, family, etc.).
The increased presence of Latino students in public and private universities is good news. On the other hand, the high dropout rate of this group indicates a lack of support and retention services for the vast majority of Hispanics at this level.
Of course that progress in the schooling of immigrant communities is to the benefit of the whole society. In a country whose demographic trend will lead inexorably to Latinos becoming one third of its total population in just over three decades; the country’s future is the future of its immigrants.
