Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Community News

POLL FINDS STRONG SUPPORT FOR HIGH SCHOOL REFORM AMONG LATINOS
Washington, DC - A new poll by the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based policy, research, and advocacy organization that works to make every child a graduate, prepared for postsecondary education and success in life, found strong support among Latinos for greater investment in our nation's high schools. Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO, spoke today at a news briefing to release the Alliance's National Poll on High Schools, a comprehensive public opinion survey on high schools, held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

"The Alliance for Excellent Education poll confirms what we know about the Latino community: that education is its highest priority; that it recognizes that our highschools need a significant overhaul but its faith in the public school system is strong; and finally, that members of the community are more than willing to commit to improving education through their hard-earned dollars," stated Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO.

Among the poll's findings:

• Education ranked highest among Latinos of all "concern[s] that worries you the most."
• 47% of Latinos gave the highest grade - an "A" or a "B" - to public high schools nationwide, compared to 36% of African Americans and 23% of Whites.
• 82% of Hispanics believe that it is very or extremely urgent to improve public high schools.
• 83% of Hispanics feel that the President and Congress are not paying enough attention to education.
• Nearly three-quarters of Hispanics were very or extremely willing to pay more in taxes to strengthen both core curricula and resources for students in public schools.


"By confirming that overwhelming support exists for high school reform, the poll makes clear that we cannot ignore or neglect any point in the educational pipeline. To put children on a path to educational success, we must begin with expanding pre-school to all eligible children. To guarantee that success, we must ensure that our public high schools have the means and the resources to provide a quality education that prepares all students for college and beyond."

All Content © 2005 NCLR. All Rights Reserved

Source: Press release from the NCLR

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