BOISE, Idaho — With high school graduation and go-on rates for Hispanic students lagging behind state averages, education was a top priority for lawmakers and educators who gathered Thursday for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs Legislative Reception.
"Too many Hispanic children in Idaho are falling behind," said Juan Alvarez, board chairman for ICHA.
"The high school graduation rate for Hispanics is 75%, the graduation rate for all high school students is 80% and the state average is 85%," he said. "The go-on rate for Hispanics in Idaho is below 10%, the statewide average is 45%. That is a huge discrepancy that must be addressed because it has such a lasting impact."
Alvarez said the reasons for the gap are parents not knowing out to navigate our education system, language and cultural barriers, limited access to resources and sometimes a lack of parental involvement and interest.
Idaho Ed News Reporter Sami Edge and Idaho Statesman reporter Nicole Foy, also spoke at the reception about their Latino Listening Project.
They said so far, in their research, they have found that Latino students are more than twice as likely to face poverty as white students are and Idaho Latino students likely won't have teachers with the same cultural backgrounds. They have found, that in the end all parents want the same things, for their children to be successful in school.
The commission, a government agency founded in 1987, hosts a reception every year for legislators, educators, and members of the Latino community to come together to work on issues impacting the Latino community in Idaho.
Alvarez said the commission is working with its partners in education and across the state to work on sustaining an improvement in education among Latino students.
Alvarez also said the commission is focusing on bridging the gap between law enforcement and the Latino community by hosting a law enforcement conference later this year.
Gov. Brad Little gave a welcoming address during the reception, hosted at Zions Bank, noting that education is a priority of his in the legislative session.
"My goal is for everyone in Idaho to have the best possible opportunity to be prosperous," Little said. "And opportunity looks different in different places, but the one common denominator is a good job, a good living, affordable health care and most importantly, education."
Little said he is thankful for the commission's work to give Latinos a voice in government in Idaho.
"The work of this commission is important to have that voice be heard in our policy discussions on education, for our velocity to continue," he said. "We can't do it without (the Hispanic) community."
Sherri Ybarra, state superintendent of public instruction, told the group of several dozen attendees she is proud to be part of Latino culture, "our shared culture." She further explained that she married into a Latino family and now feels a familial obligation to serve Latino students in Idaho.
Ybarra touched on the recently released statics from the Idaho Department of Education showing an increase in the five-year graduation rate for English Language Learners, but a decrease in the four-year graduation rate for Latinos. The Latino four-year graduation rate fell 2 percentage points last year.
Ybarra said she is inspired by her Latino mother-in-law, who struggled to learn English and did not graduate from high school.
"I want you to know how committed to this work I am and that you understand that this is in the back of my mind, because when I go home, my family is going to look at me and ask, 'What did you do today for our raza,'" Ybarra said. ("La raza" translates to "the race" in English, and Spanish-speaking Latinos use the term to say community.)
College of Southern Idaho President Jeff Fox, who followed Ybarra's presentation, discussed CSI becoming Idaho's first Hispanic Serving Institution. They'll receive the official designation in the fall.
The mark of a Hispanic Serving Institution is given when the students at a college or university are 25% Hispanic, but Fox said the mark is more than just achieving a percentage.
"The number is an artifact, the reason for the journey is not the number," Fox said. "The number represents what we have accomplished. It is the development of the relationships in our community and us reaching out to our public schools and reaching out to those men and women who are not going on and getting their families to trust and believe in education as a power for the future. That is the secret."
Fox said CSI's student body is just over 26% Latino. Fox joked that the goal for the next president is to get the student body up to 50% Latino.
"The journey for CSI to become a (Hispanic Serving Institution) was not about striving to achieve a number. The number came as a result of the things we do to make life better," Fox said. "We educate people and in region four, our people are diverse. I am so proud CSI has reached that number because it tells me we are starting to educate the people who are our citizens, the children of our citizens, the future of Idaho."
Rachel Spacek is the Latino Affairs and Canyon County reporter for the Idaho Press. You can reach her at rspacek@idahopress.com. Follow her on twitter @RachelSpacek.
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