Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas
An October 2006 survey revealed that 34 of Latinos considered themselves conservatives a number similar to the white population. In that same survey Latinos were 54 pro-life more conservative than the population at large and 59 strongly support traditional marriage.
When given choices and asked What do you think is the best strategy to begin to growing the economy again? 56 said Cut taxes.
If you ask me Hispanics sound a lot like current day Republicans.
State Representative Raul Torres who continues on with the 3rd of a 3-part analysis here.
This week we continue with our 3rd installment of our series. I want to begin by saying those survey numbers can be found in Leslie Sanchezs book Los Republicanos. Now to point number two. Most Latinos consider education as the number one issue confronting their families. Yet the policies of the Democratic leadership over the past 40 years have failed the Latino community. Today Latino families face three major problems in education. According to an article that appeared in the New York Times on August 5 2011 titled The Decade of Lost Children the author says this about the state of education A majority of children in all racial groups and 79 percent or more of black and Hispanic children in public schools cannot read or do math at grade level in the fourth 8th or 12th grades. This issue is very prevalent in Texas where many of our Hispanic K-12 students are stuck in a system that does not teach them the basic skills such as reading and math that they need to succeed academically. According to the Excelencia in Education organization 48 of all student in Texas K-12 in 2010 were Hispanic students. These two factors added together represent a very troubling situation for Latino parents and educators throughout Texas.
The second problem is the minority dropout rate in Texas.
According to an article written in the San Antonio Express News on June 23 2010 the author states Some tag the Texas high school dropout rate as high as 33 percent with speculation that the rate may be higher than 50 percent for Hispanic students.
In another report issued by The Intercultural Development Research Association in 2010 the data showed that Hispanic students are about two times more likely to leave school without graduating with a diploma than White students.
The story is sobering. Nearly 50 of the K-12 Latino students drop out of high school for one reason or another. This is very troubling to the families and to the state of Texas. Once again Hispanics are left behind the pack.
Finally in a report put out by the American Legislative Exchange Council titled Unacceptable Outcomes: A Call To Action we learn of a 3rd major problem.
According that the report the students who do graduate from high school do so unprepared to handle the most basic college work such as reading and math. Instead students are forced to take remedial courses. This results in close to 50 of those who enter college never graduate with any type of degree or certificate plus they are forced to add thousands of dollars to their education cost with nothing to show for it at the end.
To prove this all we have to do is look at the graduation rates for Texas. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2008 American Community Survey 33 of Texas adults (ages 25-64) obtained at least an associates degree compared to a national average of 38.
Yet sadly only 16 of Hispanics in the same age group earned an associate degree or higher.
This is truly a deep concern for the Hispanic community and for the future prosperity of the state of Texas. This is one topic the Republican Party can use to reach out to Hispanics all over America and especially in Texas.
The final reason why Republican and Hispanics need each other is because both groups are so much alike in their values and beliefs.
When you see a Hispanic what you are seeing is a Republican on the inside. Yet the immigration issue will be the one issue that the Democrats will use to divide both groups and the truly sad part of this is that the Republicans have allowed this to happen for the past 40 years.
Nevertheless both the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Texas despite their best efforts have failed in most cases over the years to properly communicate a positive message that gives Hispanics hope they are welcomed into the party. Rather the Democrat Party has won the message battles and today seems to have the upper hand in influencing millions of Latinos all over America.
How much longer will the Republican Party allow the Democrats to continue to win the messaging war?
Why do Republicans continue to conduct their Hispanic outreach efforts the same old way its been done for 40 
years and then expect a different outcome? Albert Einstein had a word for this type of behavior. He called it insanity.
To read the 3rd or all installments of our series click HERE.
Until next week lets talk and Lets Move Texas Forward!
Representative Raul Torres serves House District 33 and was sworn into the Texas House of Representatives on January 11 2011. He is a member of the Appropriations Committee & the House Committee on Insurance.
