Education Top Issue Among Latinos

In 2014, education was among the top issues for Latinos. In the said year, the Hispanics were asked in a survey to choose five topics that they wanted to discuss in the midterm election. Education, along with health care, immigration, employment and conflicts in the Middle East, made it to the list.

49 percent believe that education is extremely important while the other 42 percent think it is very important. Overall, 92 percent of registered Latino voters identified education as something to be discussed in 2014's midterm election.

More Latinos Go To School

According to the report from The Condition of Latinos in Education: 2015 Factbook, the number of Latino students attending school is growing. This also suggests that more Latino workers will be in the working field soon.

According to Excelencia in Education (EIE) who made the said report, the Latino population went up by 9 million since 2004, when they released their first report. From 13 percent of the United States population, this number has grown to 17 percent. Aside from this, the number of students attending elementary and secondary education also increased from 19 percent to 24 percent.

Meanwhile, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that there will be a decline in college admission. However, there will be growth in the minority population. The report estimated a 25 percent and 42 percent increase in African-American and Hispanic students by 2021 respectively. Meanwhile, there will only be a 4 percent increase for white students.

Latinos Value College Education

Latino parents are very supportive of their children's education. According to National Journal Next America Poll, Hispanics have very positive outlooks when it comes to college education compared to whites.

However, although college education among Latinos has improved in the past years, they are still behind compared to other groups. In fact, only a few Latinos proceed to graduate programs. Moreover, most of them attend schools that are identified as Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Also, many Latinos remain unemployed -- only few work in high paying jobs and most settled for low-paying work. In fact, even Latinos with impressive health degrees accept less-skilled and low-paying jobs in their fields of expertise.

Latinos in California

In California, Latinos are the largest ethnic group. In fact, one in two children under 18 years old is a Latino. Thus, it is very important to take Latinos' education to a higher level because the future of the state's economy will surely be influenced by their quality of education.