Education Pays Big Dividends Say Experts

By Editor Ken Harvey

College pays, say educational leaders who participated in this year's LEAP conference.

While 31% of all jobs are available to those with only a high school education, those jobs typically pay $7.35 an hour, or $11,955 a year after taxes - with no health or retirement benefits, says Theresa Kimball, director of Tech Prep and Apprenticeship Programs at Centralia College.

Graduates of 1- to 2-year technical programs beyond high school take home nearly twice as much after taxes -- $23,827, she says, and they typically receive health and retirement benefits, as well. So just two more years of school can make the difference between struggling or living a comfortable lifestyle.

Those with a 4-year college degree take home an average of $30,537 per year, with even better benefits, Ms. Kimball says, and those with a graduate degree can make double that amount, with a physician typically earning $167,880 or more a year.

A little effort can make a major difference, she says. Her husband's wages went from $30,000 a year to $200,000 a year as a medical physicist after he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees - even though his job function essentially never changed.

Ms. Kimball and her five brothers and sisters all went to college, despite being raised by a single mom living in poverty.

Getting through college is not always easy, Ms. Kimball says.

"I was not considered college material," she notes, "but I got there on financial aid, scholarships and hard work."

Sometimes she was juggling as many as four part-time jobs at a time, she says.

While the increased earnings seem to make the value of higher education a no-brainer, far too few Latinos are even getting out of high school, Dr. Frances Contreras told participants during LEAP's closing banquet.

Fifty percent of all Latino students drop out of high school, she says. And while Latina teens represent 10% of the state's female teen population, 26.7% of the teen births in Washington were by Latina mothers.

Meanwhile, although Latinos now represent 12.2% of the public school enrollment, they represent only 3.5% of the public 4-year college population, 4.4% of the private 4-year college population, and 8.6% of the community college population.

And the percentage of Latinos with college degrees has been essentially flat-line since 1975. Thirty years ago, 9% of all 25- to 29-year-old Latinos had achieved a bachelor's degree or higher. In 1995 it was still 9%, and in 2000 it had moved up only slightly to 10%.

That compares to blacks, who progressed from 11% to 18% during those same years, and whites, who progressed from 24% to 34%.

"We have made gains," says Dr. Contreras, "but not nearly enough."

What progress that has been made, Dr. Contreras points out, has been made by Latina females. The percentage of Latino males with a bachelor's degree or higher actually dropped from 8.5% in 1980 to 8.3% in 2000, while the percentage of Latina females with college degrees increased from 7% to 11%.

"Our women are outpacing our men because the men are falling off to violence," representing a rising percentage of those in jail and prison, she says.

Dr. Contreras also notes that the greatest educational progress is made in the first and second generations after Latinos enter U.S. society - not the later generations that by then speak English natively.

These statistics in part answer the question as to why the rate of poverty among Latinos is two to three times higher than among non-Hispanic whites, Dr. Contreras points out.

But while Dr. Contreras uses this "alarming data" to motivate Latinos to try harder and to have the courage needed to succeed, she also condemns government policies for failing to address the problems.

The abolishment of Affirmative Action, she says, "has been devastating," and she calls for its reinstatement. Currently under consideration, State Initiative 5575 would again allow race to be considered in college admissions.

A variety of policies and efforts are needed, she says, to address equity issues in the K-12 public schools, as well. She sees the need, for example, for more Latinos to be hired in the K-12 system to help mentor Latino students.

While Latinos represent 12.2% of the state's K-12 student population, for example, only 2.1% of the teachers are Latinos. Similar disparities exist among other ethnic groups, while whites make up 93.3% of all teachers but only 71.4% of the K-12 student population, she notes.

"The numbers are devastating," Dr. Contreras says. "They are unacceptable."

She says U.S. citizens and decision-makers need to recognize that the poor Latino workers are putting food on America's tables, "and the very least we owe them is an education."

But to Latino youths, Dr. Contreras challenges, "People have died that you might be here. Education is the best investment you can make for yourself and the best gift you can give your children, your parents and your ancestors."

Dr. James Sulton, executive director of the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board, echoed Dr. Contreras' words.

"We want everyone to be able to go to college and to have the tools they need to graduate," he says. "One of the things I fight every day is the notion that college just isn't for everyone.

"Who isn't it for?" he asks. "How do you identify them?"

Dr. Sulton says those who fall into that category are "identified by income, zip codes and race."

"That's not acceptable," he says. "We're about making sure everyone has an opportunity to succeed."

Dr. Sulton recalls President Bush's words that the situation in Iraq was so critical that we just couldn't wait any longer. Dr. Sulton would like to hear him use similar words about education: "Higher education is so important, we can't wait any longer," and then use all available resources to ensure everyone can go to college.

But the HEC director does not feel educational standards should be lowered. Programs like No Child Left Behind and Washington's higher standards, as measured by the WASL test, he says, are "selling like castor oil. Ugh!"

But he says such standards are necessary so those who go to college won't just be "been-tos." He says "been to college" isn't good enough. Students have to "become prepared by taking the hardest classes so they can succeed in college."

But that is not an argument against Affirmative Action, Dr. Sulton says.

"I went to graduate school on Affirmative Action," he says, "and I'm not ashamed. If you're about to have surgery, you shouldn't care how the surgeon got into school but rather how he got out!"

Nevertheless, Dr. Sulton calls on students to take courage.

"This is hard work for all of us," he says. "Counselors have a hard job. Teachers have a hard job. And you students have a hard job. And if any of us fails, we all pay the price."

He tells students to remember when they are feeling discouraged that there were people who came before them who had it a lot harder.