HispanicBusiness

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 3 - Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) met with President George W. Bush on Monday to discuss concerns in the Hispanic community about education, aid to small businesses and U.S. immigration policy. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus requested the meeting with Bush to present the Caucus' aggressive strategy to increase federal programing for the fastest growing population in America. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is comprised of 18 members who represent an estimated 11 million citizens directly and millions more culturally. Hinojosa presented the CHC's education platform, which advocates for increased funding of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) and the Hispanic Education Action Plan (HEAP). HEAP funds exemplary programs with positive outcomes on improving high school graduation rates and accessing post-secondary education in community colleges and universities. Hispanic-Serving Institution funding is of central importance because it includes federal funding for all universities in the 15th Congressional District of Texas including The University of Texas - Pan American; Texas A & M University - Kingsville; South Texas Community College; and Costal Bend College. "As Hispanic leaders and policy makers, we know the challenges are great. If we are to meet the needs of the fastest-growing minority student population, we need to move forward -- not backward," Hinojosa said. "Hispanic children will account for one out of four school age children in America by 2030. Given this statistic, and the likelihood that many of these students will come from low-income households, our challenge is to reduce the disparities in educational achievement among these children. If innovative and aggressive programs to secure the educational future of Hispanics are not taken immediately, we will only perpetuate the current Hispanic educational crisis." In addressing the President, Hinojosa stated that the increase in educational funding for Hispanic's in America is essential given that Hispanics are a young group with an average age of 25. When compared to the national average of 33 years of age, and the fact that about 40% Hispanics are younger than 18 years of age, Hispanics have become the youngest, least educated, and most likely to be underemployed or unemployed minority. In the platform presented to the President, Hinojosa discussed the need to increase funding to Hispanic-Serving Institutions. "These institutions are designed to recruit and improve the graduation rate of Latino college students," added Hinojosa. These programs include, but are not limited to: * Bilingual education and dual language programs; * Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which authorizes aid to local education agencies for the education of disadvantaged children; * Migrant education which includes crucial services for the 3 to 5 million farm workers and their family members who travel in search of farm work annually; * Programs like GEAR-UP and TRIO which are addressing the drop out problem. * Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), which include the majority of colleges and universities in Texas. Half of all Hispanics students in undergraduate programs are enrolled in the 203 HSIs throughout the country. These colleges and universities are struggling to provide resources to a rapidly growing Hispanic population. * Programs that provide basic education to the parents of Hispanic children. There is a severe lack of funding for these programs. Programs have a waiting list of up to a year, and in South Texas there lack funds to hire enough trained teachers in their field of study. As an example of what is the possible, Hinojosa discussed his 1997 legislative initiative, which increased the funding of Hispanic-Serving Institutions significantly from $10 million to $69 million over the past 4 years. As a result of this discussion at the White House, President Bush has agreed to have his administration and his Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Jr. meet with Hinojosa and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss these concerns in more detail in the coming weeks.