How to Solve the Dire Educational and Socioeconomic Status of the Hispanics

Most scholarly papers on education conclude that the academic condition of the Latino population is the most pressing concern in the American school system. Poverty and educational expectations are connected by a dynamic network of socioeconomic factors such as a shortage of social care, a lack of human resources, and ineffective government policies. Furthermore, a polarizing economy with few entry-level job openings does not improve the situation. Poverty rates among Hispanics are twice as high as those among Caucasians, according to empirical evidence from different academics. ​ There is a significant relationship between education and poverty levels. According to​ Ferdman​, the​ ​primary​ ​determinant​ ​of​ ​poverty​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Hispanic​ ​population​ ​is low​ ​education​ ​attainment (3).​ ​Principally,​ ​there​ ​is​ ​a​ ​substantial​ ​link​ ​between​ ​education​ ​levels​ ​or attainment​ ​and​ ​poverty​ ​outcomes.​ With the increasingly demanding job market, special skills and advanced levels of education are required. This is however curtailed by the limited resources to meet student needs. Moreover, language barriers are commonly perceived to be the principal educational challenge. Therefore, the question that all concerned parties need to answer is, what polices and strategies must be considered to address the crisis? In addition to fixing education in paper among Hispanics, the discussion explores other ways in which the education fraternity can fix this problem, once and for all. Hispanics​ ​are​ ​more​ ​probable​ ​to​ ​suffer​ ​higher​ ​rates​ ​of​ ​poverty​ ​than​ ​Caucasians​ ​as​ ​a​ ​result of​ ​their​ ​lower​ ​education​ ​levels,​ ​school​ ​programs​ ​can​ ​effectively​ ​help.

According to Kim, the school system has neglected the relationship between our education system and lifetime earnings. By use of longitudinal research, Kim concludes that median gap between earnings by high school and university graduates significantly varies (Kim 2). Therefore, there is need to expand the higher education standards to fit individuals from all social set ups. Access to pre-school education is one of the most crucial challenges faced by Latinos. Gandara advocates for increased access to preschool education to Latino children. One vital factor that the school system should incorporate is to conceptualize efforts of continuum interventions (Gandara 5). There is need for comprehensive support in matters healthcare and education. Intense neighborhood segregation is a resultant factor of school segregation. Such schools have poor teaching resources and limited resources. Continued net support from the kindergarten level to college level will be important in enhancing increased literacy among Latino students (Gandara 3).

Dual language and two way immersion programs are of particular importance to Hispanic students. Curriculums that promote bilingualism have produced better academic outcomes for both Latinos and other non-English natives. Since the programs will give equal attention, Spanish and English speaking students will mutually benefit (​ ​Becerra 177). In addition, schools should remove the cultural barriers that hamper student development. The ability of learning institutions to incorporate all students irrespective of their cultural background will increase the student performance. Planning of schools by initiating programs that improve reading climate and catering for the disadvantaged communities as well as inputting mechanisms that favors better academic performance is key. Schools’ recognition of students and parents diversities as well as reviewing and accepting these problems eradicates issues of school dropouts among other factors that contribute to low educational levels among the Hispanics.

Community support and volunteer programs play an important role in promoting livable conditions for children and their families. One Monday afternoon while browsing the net, my attention was drawn to Habitat for Humanity’s portal page message: “Everyone deserves a decent place to live and everyone can do something today to make that possible for another family.” I immediately applied for the volunteer program and fortunately, I got a phone call to report the following day. I was perplexed by the high number of Latinos and Blacks visiting the place. Most Whites that I encountered were young volunteers while majority of the Latinos that I met were old and rather impoverished. In fact most of them lamented about the conditions of their families. They were mostly inquiring about help programs for them and their families.

Offering scholarship programs will help families that are struggling to admit their children to schools. To enhance equity in the education system, Rodriguez proposes an increase in the amount of loans offered to students while at the same time reducing the interest rates (1). This will enable Hispanics to carry out their education and help out future generations once they have improved their lives. One notable high school program that promotes these services is known as Puente Project (Rodriguez 2). The idea was established with the aim of providing 2 year intensive college preparatory English and incorporating Latino literature. The results speak for themselves as college-going students have doubled since the program was initiated in California. More programs like Human Habitat Center need to be founded.

To add on, a focus on early childhood education and most importantly, universal pre-school programs is the foundation of success among the Hispanic kids. For this to be enhanced, better start-type programs should be comprehensively and universally provided. Moreover, parental awareness in enhancing pre-academic skills. School programs should comprise of basic needs such as health and nutritional services. Hiring fully credentialed teachers is imperative in facilitating education among students.

Research shows that a positive environment of in-school programs are as effective as it is when students are outside school (Gandara 4). The author notes that among developed nations, the US has the weakest safety net for supporting students and families with low incomes. Therefore there is need to carefully monitor students while they are outside the school surroundings. Moreover, involving the Hispanics parents in their children studies and collaboration with institutions will ensure that academic achievement is attained. Hispanic students have been affected for several decades by low academic success. Parental involvement will not only cater for students’ emotional stability but also the financial support. Keen monitoring of these students by their parents will necessitate decreased discrimination by teachers and fellow students. Effective school attendance, improvement of literacy levels, increased teachers’ confidence and use of parents’ expertise will promote effective learning. Efforts by all stakeholders translate to a reformed educational system that consequently cuts off the poor educational levels among the Hispanics and eventually resulting in improvement of the socioeconomic arena (Gandara 4). Political reform in the Congress should also be an avenue that can change the current education system for the better (Casellas ​and​ ​Bryan 11)

Research shows that students from minority communities take unnecessarily long time to finish high school (Joo ​and​ ​Jeounghee 3). To solve this challenge, dropout prevention and college-going programs are equally important. The education system should focus on immediate issues such as drop-outs. To solve this challenge, learning institutions should have at least one person that is in charge of connecting with students and monitoring their individual and collective progress. More so, Implementing and evaluating interventions among these youth should be sensitively done. Supportive peer groups and financial help programs are essential (Fisher 199). For instance, my internship at the volunteer center made me realize that there is more to education than financial help. Supportive groups were encouraged, especially for parents and students who were seeking educational sponsorships. Also, considering these youth in school enrollment by giving them financial assistance and other forms of support is imperative. Educational​ ​strengthening approaches can be merged with​ ​community programs in order to reduce poverty (Achinstein 2).

Hispanic children whose parents are in constant move are mostly disadvantaged. These children put out the lowest performance rates in classrooms and the highest dropout rates. Therefore, college assistance migrant programs and school attachment offered to Hispanic children of migrant workers should be firmly established. Strategies that encourage settlement of the parents and financial assistance to the children will force the parents to settle to one place (Venegas 12). Support for college freshmen for instance should include tuition grants and provision of basic necessities. Once such support plan is promoted in the Human Habitat Centre. People lacking basic commodities are provided for in the short term.

Community programs are essential in promoting livable conditions for the poor. While working at Habitat for humanity (a non-profit housing organization), I noticed that the number of Latinos who came to inquire about the services of the organization, went straight to the family sections department. Most of them were either asking for financial support or applying for home ownership opportunities. It was incredibly saddening how these individuals had been left in a poor state.

Therefore, School-community partnerships are essential in closing the yawning gaps of under-achievement. Poverty and unlivable housing conditions have been cited as the biggest hindrance to education. In his analysis on poverty compounded, White states that poverty is not just about making little money, but it is about how the society challenge and support one another (White 1). The author elaborates on the vast psychological, financial and cultural challenges faced by Latinos in the US social system. Students face health issues while others lack basic needs or drop out to fend for their families. To solve this challenge, collaboration can be established in the form of magnet schools that appeal to middle class families. To attack the problem of segregation, the school system should make use of political capital to gentrify areas of inner cities (Jacobson 1). As a result, more low income families will live around areas with good schools and at the same get access to health and social services.

Importantly, increasing the income for the adult Hispanics will help eradicate the poor socio economic status as well push for parents to educate their children. Hispanics are almost 10 times likely to receive lower income than the Caucasians. The effect is always a high poverty levels, unavailability of health insurance, low economic development and few educated personnel. Increasing the income rates will prompt parents to take their children to quality schools since they are in position to meet their needs (Lichter 5). The federal and the local governments therefore should offer job opportunities to these categories of persons in as much as most of them do not have high school diploma. Most Latinos do not complete school because their parents do not have any experience of how to prepare for college. For that reason, parents should be enlightened on how to empower their children to continue with school.

While volunteering at the community program, I worked in most of the departments such as the administrative volunteers, family section committee and the apostles build team. The overall goal was to demonstrate faith in action by helping needy individuals. I was particularly challenged by the volunteerism and most especially financial support given to the Latinos who were visiting the center. It was incredible how so little could help so many. The paper proposes more governmental support and communal programmes like Habitat for Humanity. In concurrence, Darder provides a more comprehensive explanation of the relationship between poverty, education and the church (Darder 3). He suggests that the concept of cultural democracy is important in transforming education for Latinos within Catholic schools. The author proposes that educators, scholars and the church leadership need to change its approach by incorporating structural changes of the Catholic schools to incorporate social learning and empowerment programs (Darder 5). A fundamental education system is essential for Latinos to attain quality education (Arciniega 2)

Conclusion

The paper explains how poor education standards among Latinos have contributed to poverty within the community. Given the incredible connection between educational success and socio-economic disadvantage as felt by the Hispanics, it is morally right to seek a solution to this problem. The paper provides several remedies including comprehensive support, government intervention, community integration and collaboration in the form of magnet schools. Literature from other authors propose positive parental involvement, dual language programs, dropout prevention and college-going programs, among others.

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