BOARDMAN Speaker: Education is key for Hispanic Americans

Median income for Hispanic Americans has been increasing slowly, the speaker said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Educational achievement is the way to advancement for Hispanic Americans who still lag economically, a former Youngstown school administrator said Friday.
"Education is the key to overcoming Hispanic poverty," said Ruben Nazario, vice president of human resources and operations at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pa.
Nazario was here to address the 30th anniversary dinner of Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana -- Youngstown's primary Hispanic social service agency.
Nazario was principal of Wilson and East high schools and Lincoln Junior High School and personnel director for the Youngstown city schools before leaving in 1987 to become executive director of human resources and labor relations with the Dayton Board of Education.
Before moving to Hershey, he was assistant superintendent for human resources with the Colorado Springs School District.
"It is a vibrant community to be sure, and many are carving their niche in the nation's middle class, just as other ethnic immigrants did before us," Nazario said of the Hispanic population.
However, the median family income for Hispanic Americans has been increasing slowly and remains well below whites and only slightly higher than blacks, he said.
"More than one-third of Hispanic children are being raised in poverty and disturbingly large numbers of them are falling by the educational wayside, dropping out of school, and with increasing frequency, dropping into the criminal justice system," he said.
What experts say
"Experts warn that, if America wants to enjoy continued prosperity and maintain a qualified work force, remedial governmental measures are needed to ensure that today's youthful Hispanic population receives the educational tools, including command of the English language necessary to compete successfully in a technology-driven economy."
The largest group of American poor people are not those dependent on government assistance, but the working poor, who can't afford decent housing, nutritious diets, health care or child care, he said, adding that Hispanics are more likely than any other population group to be among the working poor.
"America can ill afford to ignore the problems associated with low educational achievement by large numbers of Hispanics. These are the workers of the future, and we need to make sure that we prepare them for the kinds of jobs that will have high demand,'' Nazario said.
The United States is no longer a society in which people without high school diplomas can expect to get factory jobs, raise families and enjoy prosperity, he said.