First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton Hosts White House Convening on Hispanic Children and Youth

HHS News Release

Today at the White House, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is hosting a convening to examine the many challenges and opportunities facing Hispanic young people, particularly in the areas of early childhood development, educational attainment, and adolescence. Mrs. Clinton will spotlight progress that has been made in these areas, announce new public and private efforts, and issue a call to action to all sectors of society to meet the challenges that still remain.

Facing the Challenges Before Us. The Hispanic population is among the fastest growing segments of American society and it is also one of the youngest - with one out of every three Hispanics 15 years old or younger. By the year 2000, the number of Hispanics aged 24 or younger is expected to reach 15 million (or 15 percent) of a total youth population of 98 million. This Administration has worked hard to ensure that all of our young people have access to the tools they need to reach their potential, and has developed and promoted programs that specifically reach out to Hispanic students. However, significant challenges still exist -- too many Hispanic children are still being left behind. While progress has been made, dropout rates are too high, health insurance rates are too low, and poverty rates far exceed the national average.

Fighting for Essential Investments in Education. Raising the educational achievement of Hispanic Americans is a top priority of this Administration. Responding to the findings from the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, the Administration proposed and won nearly $500 million in funding increases for programs in the Hispanic Education Agenda in the FY 1999 budget. For the second year in a row, the President has proposed increased funds - over $650 million for FY 2000 - for Department of Education programs that are part of the Administration's Hispanic Education Agenda, including:

*$320 million to strengthen basic educational skills and raise academic standards;

*$35 million to train more bilingual/ESL teachers and improve instruction to help students learn English and master their basic academic subjects;

*$30 million to prepare disadvantaged youth for success in college;

*$44 million to improve education programs for migrant youth and adults;

*$190 million in new investments to help adults learn English and become literate.

According to Administration estimates of the long-term impact of the Republican tax and budget plans, funding for programs in the President's Hispanic Education Agenda could be cut by over $6 billion in the tenth year alone of the Republican tax plan. This estimate assumes defense funding at the President's requested level and pay down of the debt by as much as Republicans promise.

Increasing Federal Efforts to Address the Needs of Hispanic Children. Mrs. Clinton is unveiling new Administration efforts to address the challenges of Hispanic children and youth:

Serving Hispanic Children and Families Better Through Head Start. Hispanic enrollment has increased by 70,000 during the Clinton Administration, with the program now reaching approximately 220,000 Hispanic children. Despite these increases, Hispanic children remain under-represented, comprising 23.3 percent of Head Start enrollment (excluding Puerto Rico) compared to 29.8 percent of all low income, pre-school children in the nation. The Head Start program is furthering its longstanding commitment to meeting the needs of Hispanics and other under-served populations through a variety of steps to ensure access and culturally appropriate services, including:

*increasing by 50% the number of points awarded to expansion grant applicants who emphasize outreach to under-served populations, such as seasonal farm workers, recent immigrant families and non-English speaking groups;

*boosting the number of grant application reviewers that have expertise in serving language minority children;

*working with and monitoring programs to ensure full utilization of community assessments to better target outreach, recruitment and enrollment of under-served populations; and

*providing specialized technical assistance to ten communities where changing local demographics have resulted in significant under-served populations.

Implementing the Hispanic Education Action Plan. The Department of Education is aggressively implementing the Hispanic Education Action Plan, designed to increase academic performance and participation of Hispanic students in critical programs. Specifically, the Education Department is taking a series of new steps to ensure that schools participating in Title 1--the largest K-12 education program which enrolls over 3 million Hispanic students -- are held accountable for helping Hispanic students meet challenging standards in academic subjects and become proficient in English. These steps include vigilant enforcement of requirements that Hispanic students be included in state assessment programs and that states intervene to turn around low performing schools. The Education Department will also issue new guidance to states and school districts on how to effectively include Hispanic students and meet applicable civil rights requirements in state testing programs, as well as guidance and assistance to schools on effective practices for helping limited English proficient students meet challenging academic standards.

In addition, the Education Department will expand outreach, provide technical assistance, and take additional steps to increase participation of Hispanic students and communities in key programs, such as the 21st Century Learning Centers after-school program and the GEAR-UP program. GEAR-UP enables colleges to form partnerships with high poverty middle schools to help students better prepare for college by providing them with mentors, academic support, and financial aid information.

Building on the Progress of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

Today, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic American is releasing "What Works for Latino Youth" a directory of programs throughout the country that have helped improve the lives of young Hispanics. The White House Initiative will continue to solicit recommendations and produce an updated directory by the end of the year. Additionally, the White House Initiative will organize a national meeting on Latino Educational Excellence in 2000 to follow-up on today's convening and develop new strategies to bolster education from early childhood to graduate school.

Promoting Science and Technology Training for Hispanic Students.

In order to develop a strong and diverse science and technology workforce, the Department of Energy (DOE) today is forming a strategic partnership with the 'Latino Science and Engineering Consortium' that will work to identify, develop, and nurture the next generation of scientists, engineers, technicians and educators in math and science by supporting mentoring programs, technical internships for community college students, research fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students and professional development opportunities in science, math and technology for K - 12 teachers serving Hispanic children.

Ensuring Diversity of Americorps. Sixteen percent of all Americorps members are Hispanic.

To ensure that the program continues to reflect accurately the face of America, Americorps is committing to increase its efforts to recruit Hispanic youth by featuring Latinos in ads, translating recruitment materials into Spanish, and forming partnerships with Hispanic-serving universities and organizations.

Helping to Prepare Hispanic Youth for College.

The Department of Education today is releasing "Como Ayudar A Su Hijo A Aprender Matematicas," a Spanish version of "Helping Your Child Learn Math." This tool for parents is a key part of America Counts, the Department of Education's mathematics initiative dedicated to making the improvement of student achievement in mathematics a national priority. This Spanish guide, which is available free through the Department's toll-free number, 1-800-USA-LEARN, includes sample word problems, math games, and other activities designed to help children in the elementary grades learn math, and to help Hispanic parents become actively involved in their children's learning. In addition, the Department of Education is expanding its "Think College Early" campaign to target the Hispanic community by holding a special session in 2000 to help parents and students learn about what they need to prepare for college.

Encouraging Private Sector Investment in Hispanic Children.

A number of private sector organizations, including corporations, foundations, and media organizations have committed resources to addressing the needs of Hispanic children and youth.

AT&T:

Closing the Technology Gap. Building on its long history of enhancing educational opportunities for Hispanics, AT&T today is committing to work with leading Hispanic-serving organizations over the next 3 to 6 months to build on existing efforts and introduce new programs to fill the technology gap for Latino youth throughout the nation. Some activities will include the development of neighborhood-based technology centers, programs targeted at early awareness and parental involvement to increase Latino representation in the technology field, and support of programs that inform teachers serving Latino students in urban and rural locations on how to use technology in the classroom.
Supporting Hispanic Access to After-school Programs. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, as part of its ongoing partnership with the Department of Education, today is making a commitment of more than a $300,000 commitment to improve Latino participation in after-school programs. This new effort builds on the Foundation's $83 million commitment in 1997 to support after-school activities in coordination with the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program.

Media Organizations.

Today's meeting -- coupled with the efforts of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy -- has stimulated commitments from an impressive array of media leaders concerned about Hispanic youth, their families and their communities. These leaders understand that the media can be a powerful force for raising awareness and showcasing solutions. They have committed to a variety of activities including PSAs, radio programs, talk shows, newspaper supplements and magazine features - all directed to improving the lives of Hispanic youth. The leaders spearheading these activities are: Cristina Saralegui, CEO, Cristina Saralegui Enterprises and Host, "The Cristina Show"; Lisa Quiroz, Publisher, People En Español; Monica Lozano, Associate Publisher, La Opiñion; Joaquin Blaya, Chairman and CEO, Radio Unica; Patricia Fili-Krushel, President, ABC Television Network; Daisy Exposito, President, The Bravo Group; Consuelo Luz, President, Hispanic RadioNetwork; James McNamara, President and CEO, Telemundo Network.

Univision Community Affairs Campaign Aimed at Hispanic Youth. Univision, the network and its affiliated stations, is committing to a multi-year campaign to support high academic achievement in the Hispanic community, from pre-school through college. Univision plans to kick-off this campaign later this month in conjunction with various back-to-school events. The campaign will include: a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign with Univision national on-air talent; local affiliate PSAs and events with Univision local affiliate on-air talent; integration of education information into entertainment and news programming; and a series of national conferences and panels at established conferences.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.