White House Details Next Step in Improving Academic Achievement of Latinos
Yesterday more than a dozen new members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics were announced at the White House and later sworn-in at an official ceremony with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the Smithsonian Institution Castle. These historic events mark the next step in improving the academic achievement of Latino students and the lives of all Hispanics nationwide according to the White House.
Hispanic success in education and the labor market is important to America’s economy. At more than 54 million strong – including nearly 4 million in Puerto Rico—Hispanics are both the largest and fastest-growing minority group, yet they have the lowest education attainment levels of any group in the country. In addition, Hispanics are the largest minority group in the public education system, with more than 1 in 5 students in our elementary, middle and high schools; however, it this group that has the lowest education attainment levels overall, according to the report recently released by our office.
This two-day inaugural meeting brings together a group of well-respected individuals from the education,
Athlete Scores Touchdown with Latino Children During Awareness Day for Improved Latino Mental Health
In a recent visit to Boston, New England Patriot tight-end, Aaron Hernandez, participated in two events to raise awareness of the need for more mental health providers to care for the Latino population and a unique program to train such professionals—Lucero Latino Mental Health Program at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP).
Hernandez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, has taken up the cause because of his own childhood in an underserved community in Bristol, Connecticut and because of the growing crisis in Latino mental health nationwide. Nearly one in eight people in the United States are Latino, but only approximately two percent of psychologists are linguistically and culturally capable of caring for them.
As one of the few Latinos in the National Football League and with a great rookie campaign this year, Hernandez has a unique platform from which to speak to fans and the public. At age 20, he caught 45 passes for 563 yards
