Honoring Latine/x Heritage Month with Policy Action
By Melina Kiper
As we close out National Latine/x Heritage Month, we recognize that Latine/x heritage is American heritage.
The history of America is deeply and complexly related to its many peoples and their cultures; the vast richness and diversity of Latine/x cultures and legacies are deeply intertwined and embedded in the fabric of this country.
As a nation of immigrants, we boast about the strength we draw from our immigrant roots, and yet we often fail to acknowledge that many people who trace a similar immigrant story — including many in the Latine/x community — are often relegated to society’s margins. According to America Forward Coalition member Latinos for Education, while Latine/x students make up 25% of all school-age children in the United States — and will become a third of the U.S. population by 2050 — only 8% of teachers are Latine/x, 4% of leaders on education boards are Latine/x, and, sadly, only 2% of leaders on executive teams in education organizations are Latine/x.
While the Latine/x community is vastly underrepresented in positions of education leadership — where they could represent and advocate for their communities — they are overrepresented among those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to recent data, members of the Latine/x community are 1.9 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than their non-Hispanic, white counterparts, and they are 2.8 times more likely to be hospitalized and 2.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 — the virus is now responsible for 1 of every 5 deaths among Latine/x community.
That disproportionate impact is reflected in education, as well. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Education, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated disparities in access and opportunities for students of color in public schools. Despite the strides the community made in the past few decades, the pandemic eroded educational gains among the Latine/x community — deepening education gaps and leading to drops in college enrollment.
President Joe Biden once said, “don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” So, as the President and Congress continue to negotiate the terms of the Build Back Better Act, they must include measures that will provide critical relief to the Latine/x community — to help address systemic inequities and the disparate impact of the pandemic. These policies include, but are not limited to:
- strengthening our child care system and securing universal pre-K for three- and four-year-olds;
- providing strong supports for postsecondary students by funding two years of tuition-free community college;
- increasing the value of Pell Grants;
- investing in minority serving institutions;
- supporting our nation’s teachers and school leaders through targeted investments in educator preparation programs;
- increasing investments and addressing critical fixes to spur equity through national service;
- bolstering and improve critical job training programs, including funds for apprenticeship programs and YouthBuild; and,
- expanding our most effective child nutrition programs.
And even though they were unable to include it in the Build Back Better Act, we are hopeful our policymakers will be able to provide a pathway to permanent legal status for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries.
As we continue to navigate through this pandemic and beyond, we cannot ignore the pressing needs of Latine/x students, workers, and families. We need to honor the contributions and sacrifices of the Latine/x communities with real, substantive policy change, and make sure their narrative is no longer written only in society’s margins.
Melina Kiper is the Advocacy Manager at America Forward.
The Alliance for Resource Equity curated this set of resources that advocates, practitioners, and policymakers can use to advance education equity for and with Latine/x students:
Resource: “Are your instructional materials and teaching practices working for your English Learner students?” (from English Learners Success Forum)
Resource: “Hispanic Heritage Month: Lessons for the Classroom” (from The Library of Congress, National Archives, and others on the history and contributions of Latino Americans)
Blog Post: “Let’s Not Forget About English Learners: Targeting Resources from the American Rescue Plan for Their Needs” (from UnidosUS, the Next 100, and The Education Trust)
Briefs: “Investing ESSER Funds Equitably,” including supporting Latino students (from Education Resource Strategies)
Letter: “Tech Inequity Has Exacerbated Pandemic-Driven Unfinished Learning for Students From Low-Income Backgrounds and Students of Color in Massachusetts,” a letter to Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to identify and address urgent tech inequities (from the Open Opportunity — Massachusetts coalition)