You want Latino votes? Improve our children’s education

Latinos are a proud people, rich in cultural diversity, a fascinating history, and shared ideals that define what it is to be American.

With the presidential elections rapidly approaching, candidates will soon be knocking on our doors, courting the votes of one of the fastest-growing voting blocs. Candidates who want to win should take heed that Hispanic voters are not a monolithic group. And if they are under the impression that we only care about one issue, they do not understand our voting bloc in the least.

As Hispanic-Americans, we care about this country just as much any other American; we care about our economy and our national security. Most importantly, we care about education opportunities for our families and children.

In recent years, four out of the five U.S. states with the highest Latino populations have implemented a school choice program: Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Illinois. Texas may soon join this list. Most Republican candidates have expressed support for empowering parents; unfortunately, the silence from the other party, often assumed to own our votes, is increasingly deafening.

Hispanic parents, like all other parents, want to give our children a chance to surpass our achievements. Yet, due to socioeconomic disparities, Latinos and families of color have historically been confined to failing schools. They’ve been suffering in an education system marked by inadequate academic standards, insufficient instructional support, crammed classrooms, and even cultural deficiencies.

For decades, systemic inequities have pushed Hispanic students below the national average rate for high school graduation, with only 21 percent of Latino adults obtaining at least a bachelor’s degree. And according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)  scores, Latino 4th-grade students are almost two years behind in reading at the national level.

I understand this struggle very well. My mother grew up on a farm and was very poor. Her family often struggled to put food on the table. She was sent to work at the tender age of nine, and unfortunately, education was not an option for her.

When I was born, the only thing my mother ever wanted was for me to obtain the education she never received. I grew up seeing firsthand what life would be like if I didn’t have access to education.

After coming to the U.S., alone and after much hard work, I graduated with a master’s degree in Journalism and Media studies. Soon, I will be able to add a Ph.D. to my name. The struggles I was forced to overcome daily in my educational journey inspired me to change education for low-income students like myself.

I worked for the teachers’ union right out of graduate school, only to learn right away that the system was not interested in fixing itself. The teachers union was all about power, not the children or even teachers. So, I joined the fight for school choice shortly after.

I consider myself lucky to continue this fight for choice daily, and I work to ensure that more students have educational opportunities like I did. Only a few first-generation immigrants have reached this level of achievement, with only 6 percent of Hispanics having a master’s degree or a Ph.D.

But our struggles as Latinos are not new, and our community will keep fighting because we have no other choice. The future of this country is intrinsically linked to the success of Hispanic students, as we are the fastest growing segment, making up 19 percent of the population. Politicians who want our votes should know they do not come automatically.

Now is the time to fight back against the hardships we have endured previously, because if we don’t, our children will continue to be subjected to a system clouding their American Dream. It is time for those courting our vote to take a hard look and act for educational freedom for the children who will lead this nation in the near future.

Valeria Gurr serves as a Senior Fellow for the American Federation for Children. She is a passionate advocate for educational choice, particularly for underserved families, and founded la Federación Americana Para los Niños.