United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Pushes “Return on Investment” Regarding Education Reform for Hispanics at White House Summit

As the only business organization speaking at the White House Summit on Education Reform and Hispanic Education Attainment, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) today presented its assessment of the state of education as it relates to Hispanics, and highlighted its policy recommendations.

Before an audience that included U.S. Department of Education officials and U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral, USHCC President and CEO Augustine Martinez encouraged the crowd of policymakers, education experts, and practitioners to expand educational opportunities for younger Hispanics to better prepare them for the future.

The following are excerpts from his speech:

“The USHCC is a leading national non-profit organization advocating for Hispanic small businesses.

We advocate for the public policy needs of our members, diversity in Corporate America, and greater access to the federal marketplace. As advocates for public policy, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce cares deeply about education.

As Hispanics account for a growing proportion of our population, Hispanic children are becoming increasingly important to the success of our economy. Despite positive legislative initiatives and some improvement in scores and results, data continue to show that Hispanic education attainment levels are not equal to those of their African-American, Asian-American, and Caucasian peers.

To maintain a strong economy and be competitive internationally, it is critical for all our nation’s children, including Hispanic children, to receive the preparation they need today to become our nation’s productive workforce tomorrow.

And, as business owners, we recognize that there is no issue more important for our future economic growth and the workforce competence of the Hispanic community than education. Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority in U.S. public schools. Nearly one in five students from kindergarten to high school is Hispanic, and this number will continue to rise.

This is why we must work to help expand early childhood education programs aimed at Hispanic children. In 2005, fourth-grade Hispanic students scored 27 points below their white counterparts in reading assessments, and eighth-grade Hispanic students scored 27 points below their white counterparts in mathematics …

[President Bush and Secretary Spellings] understand that the reasons for the Hispanic achievement gap are complicated. Immigration status, the low performance of schools in Hispanic communities and language barriers all contribute to this challenge. There are more than 5 million English Language Learners (ELLs) in American public schools, more than 80 percent of them are citizens, and they account for the largest segment of dropouts.

It helps to know that more than three-quarters of these ELLs are
Spanish-speaking Hispanics, and nearly half of Hispanic children in the United States are ELLs. This is one of our principal goals — to help these children catch up, learn English, and in so doing, become integrated into our communities and succeed in life.

In the business world we believe in three magical words — return on investment. Consider the return on investment from helping create new engineers who make the products of tomorrow, which in turn will help our nation compete in the very unforgiving global marketplace we live in today.

The greatest natural resource of America is not found in coal mines or oil fields; it is found in our own classrooms and labor supply … This is why the business community must become engaged to help settle our country’s education crisis, and why the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce answers this call to action …

Nationally, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is releasing a policy white paper shortly outlining our priorities for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law. And, it will also focus on how we can help Hispanic children and English Language Learners become better prepared for college or for entering the workforce. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was an unprecedented federal commitment to education and reaffirmed federal support for low-income schools and districts.

In the first year after it was signed into law, federal funding increased by billions of dollars. NCLB is not perfect and has had a few unintended consequences. And, if Congress allows it, President Bush and Secretary Spellings will be able to reauthorize this law and strengthen it to ensure that every child truly receives a high quality education and is prepared for lifelong success.

Currently under consideration are several proposals that seek to clarify existing law, close loopholes, and ensure that the intent of NCLB is upheld to better support Hispanics and other minorities, poor children, children with disabilities, and English Language Learners.

The USHCC believes that with modifications, NCLB can be strengthened to better train and prepare our workforce. Community and business involvement programs and grants must be engaged and adequately funded respectively to make a difference in the future workforce. Accountability must be universal — and school districts, states, and other entities must account for all of their students using the same standards and mechanisms.

NCLB must be based on the principle that all students should have the opportunity to attain high levels of education. And, we cannot have different expectations for Hispanics or other minority students, poor students, or students with limited English proficiency or disabilities, and English Language Learners.

Intervention must take place if a school is continually low performing.

And, NCLB must continue to provide low-income families with children in these schools the option of moving their children to higher performing schools or placing them in free tutoring programs. These recommendations and more are contained in our policy white paper, because these are the principles which will guarantee the education of our children, a robust economy and the success of our nation.

Furthermore, the USHCC also drafted a bill in collaboration with two other organizations that gives tax credits to businesses that enroll their workers in adult ESL and GED programs.

This legislation was just introduced by Senator Clinton of New York and Representative Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. We were able to convince 32 key business groups and corporations to support us on this effort — including the National Restaurant Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Marriott International, Wal-Mart, among many.

Thank you very much.”

About the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1979, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests of more than 2.5 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States that generate nearly $400 billion annually. It also serves as the umbrella organization for 200 local Hispanic chambers in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia and Uruguay. “

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