Education
There is no issue more central to American competitiveness than the quality of our education system. Latino students compose more of every sector of America’s schools with each passing year, underscoring the main reason that we must pay attention to the needs of Latino students: To remain the world’s economic leader in the next century, America’s schools must prepare every child for the economic opportunities of the future.
As legislators, NHCSL members work daily to direct our states’ resources and policies to meet this obligation. Yet there is so much work to be done at every level. The federal government, the states and school-based leaders must continue to evolve. We must work to build and implement effective strategies, and ensure that teachers are prepared to teach every student to their highest potential and have the support in place to secure success. We must also work to make more families fully engaged in the process.
The Education, Task Force covers all issues related to education such as school funding, teacher pay, educational quality, school discipline reform, standardized testing, school choice (including school vouchers, charter schools, magnet schools, virtual schools, and homeschooling), tax credits and other benefits for education, educational savings accounts, bilingual schools, Spanish language classes or schools, book purchasing for public schools, mandated curricula, pre-school (including universal pre-school), Head Start, access to higher education, hiring of Latinos in higher education, promotion of STEM education, college-prep, scholarships, financial aid, internships, improving graduation rates, and closing achievement gaps.
