Health/Education

Stories about health issues, education, and the politics of both.

American snapshot: Downey

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

Veladoras at Fresh & Easy? In Downey, yes.

Seeing these the other day made me do a slight double take, as Fresh & Easy’s stock tends to be uniformly predictable from store to store – the same few brands, the same pricey pre-made salads, the same packaged organic apples.

But the fact that the candles were on display at the grocery chain’s store in Downey, a suburb whose largely middle-class Latino population has more than doubled in the past two decades, made perfect sense. It’s yet another small example of an evolving Southern California, a place where organic fruit and veladoras coexist under the same roof.

FILED UNDER: Economy, Health/Education, American snapshot, Fresh & Easy, Veladoras

November 15, 2011 | 3:43 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

How will first- and second-generation young adults fare in college and beyond?

Photo by CSU Stanislaus Photo/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Youths and young adults between 16 and 26 from immigrant families now represent one in four people in the United States in this age group – up from one in five only 15 years ago, according to a new report. As they move through secondary and postsecondary education then on to the workplace, replacing older workers, how will they fare?

The Migration Policy Institute report takes a close look at what it terms “youth of immigrant origin,” profiling foreign-born and U.S.-born young people between the ages of 16 and 26. The report notes, among other things, that between 2007 and 2010, a tipping point occurred in which the number of first-generation immigrants was eclipsed by that of the U.S.-born second generation. In 2010, there were 4.8 million first-generation immigrant youths ages 16 to 26 in the U.S., 2.8 million of whom arrived before they were 16.

By contrast, there were 6.5 million second-generation youths in 2010. What this means as these these U.S.-born children of immigrants overtake the foreign-born group: “A rising share of immigrant-origin youth will be fully eligible for college admission, financial aid, and employment,” the report reads. It’s a lengthy report, but here are a few of the highlights:

If second and higher generations are taken into account, the number of bilingual young people 16 to 26 comes to 7.1 million, more than twice the number of youth with limited English proficiency.

Among Latinos, the second generation’s rate of high school attendance, college enrollment, and degree earning is significantly higher than that of the first generation. Latinas, in particular are enrolling in college at rates equal to those of third-generation white women. However, both female and male Latino students’ rate of degree completion still lags behind that of whites; for example, 18 percent fewer Latinas completed an associate’s degree or higher by 25 or 26 than their white peers.

Non-Latino first-and second-generation immigrant youths fare better in college than Latinos, an outcome that is driven largely by Asian American youths. More than 53 percent of non-Latino youths of immigrant origin had an associate’s degree or higher by age 25 or 26, compared with 45 percent of third-generation whites. But the report notes a wide gap in outcomes among different Asian American groups, with children of Chinese and Indian immigrants from affluent, two-parent families at the top of the educational attainment list.

The most vulnerable group among those studied is young Latinos who came to the United States at 16 or older, whose roadblocks to educational and economic attainment include a lack of legal status for many (and no eligibility for relief under the proposed Dream Act), poor English skills, and often an interrupted education in their native countries that is difficult to recover from.

The report points out that how first-generation youths fare in their education and the workplace will vary greatly depending on immigration status, including for those foreign-born who arrived as young children and remain undocumented. While there is proposed legislation to grant those who arrived before age 16 conditional legal status if they go to college or join the military, many continue to graduate from high school and college with no clear path to legal status.

The entire report can be downloaded here.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Dream Act, Migration Policy Institute

September 2, 2011 | 3:29 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Part 2 of California Dream Act heads to governor’s desk – will he sign?

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

A sign at a Los Angeles rally, August 2010

Now that the California Assembly has approved AB 131, the second half of a package referred to as the California Dream Act, will Gov. Jerry Brown sign it into law? Brown has until Oct. 9 to sign the bill, which would provide undocumented college students with publicly-funded financial aid. The bill cleared the Assembly this afternoon 45 to 27; it was approved by the Senate last week.

Brown’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford emailed this statement, the same sent out by the governor’s office last week:

“The Governor continues to broadly support the principles behind the Dream Act and will closely consider any legislation that reaches his desk.”

Brown signed a companion bill, AB 130, into law at the end of last month. Unlike AB 131, that bill only guarantees undocumented students access to privately-funded scholarships and grants. If it becomes law, AB 131 would provide these students with the same kind of state-funded tuition aid as U.S. citizen and legal resident students, such as CalGrants.

In the meantime, Assembly member Gil Cedillo, who sponsored both bills, issued a statement this afternoon:

“We thank Governor Brown for signing the first portion of the California Dream Act, AB 130 and look forward to the Governor ‘Completing the Dream’ by signing AB 131, the final portion of California Dream Act. By signing AB 131, the Governor will help increase the earning potential of these students, which helps all of us by contributing to our tax base and the future of our state.”

That AB 131 has cleared both houses of the state legislature is a feat in itself in this tough economic climate. The measure could cost anywhere between $22 million and $42 million, according Gil Cedillo’s office, though roughly $13 million is set to come from money already set aside for low-income students whose grades qualify them for CalGrants, but who can’t access it now due to their legal status. Undocumented students are presently barred from receiving public financial aid, though they do qualify for in-state tuition if they meet residency requirements under California law.

The bill has generated a firestorm of opposition, now rearing its head online. “NOOOOOO!” tweeted @KFIAM640, home of the conservative “John and Ken” talk show, this afternoon shortly after news broke that AB 131 was approved.

Opponents to the bill have complained that the cash-strapped state is better served spending the money in other ways, and that undocumented students may not be able to make good use of their degrees because their lack of status precludes them from getting the jobs they study for. Unlike the federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, the California Dream Act does not propose legal status for students.

Proponents, meanwhile, say the state has already spent money educating these students at taxpayer expense through high school, and preparing them to contribute to the state’s economy – particularly if federal laws change to grant them legal status – is a good investment.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice

September 2, 2011 | 9:20 AM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

More colleges and universities seeing high Latino enrollment

Photo by billerickson/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Cal State Long Beach, one of the schools on a list of colleges and universities with more than 25 percent Latino undergraduate enrollment, June 2008

As more Latinos attend college, the number of colleges and universities boasting an undergraduate student body that is more than 25 percent Latino is on the rise as well.

A report this week from Excelencia in Education, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing Latinos’ educational opportunities, noted that the pool of colleges and universities defined by the federal government as “Hispanic-Serving Institutions” has grown from 236 to 293 in a six-year period.

Referred to as HSIs, the colleges and universities defined as such are highly concentrated, located in 17 states (California having the most) and Puerto Rico and representing just under 10 percent of all higher learning institutions. And for that matter, so are Latino students: During the 2009-2010 school year, these schools were home to 54 percent of Latino undergraduates.

It’s this concentration that makes the HSI definition important. From the report:

The identification of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) was created in the 1980s. Leaders at the federal, state, and institutional levels recognized that a small set of institutions enrolled a large percentage of Latino students but had low levels of resources to educate these students. The classification of HSIs formally recognized these institutions for capacity-building and other support.

Colleges and universities classified as HSIs have access to funding that allows them to expand opportunities, academic offerings and attainment for Latino students.

Even so, the offerings of institutions benefiting from the federal HSI program skew heavily toward two-year degrees. Nearly half (47 percent) of these schools are community colleges, according to the report, which draws statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. Only 21 percent are public four-year colleges or universities; only 28 percent are private four-year institutions. Less than half the designated HSIs offer graduate degrees.

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FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Excelencia in Education, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, HSIs, Latino enrollment, Pew Hispanic Center

August 31, 2011 | 1:52 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

California Dream Act clears the Senate – what’s next?

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

A student activist's t-shirt, March 2011

The second of two bills making up the California Dream Act is one step closer to being signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill known as AB 131, which would give undocumented college students access to state-funded financial aid, cleared the state Senate 22-11 today, UC Berkeley’s Daily Californian reports.

It now goes back to the Assembly for approval of amendments made in the Senate. The bill will likely be signed if it reaches the governor’s desk, as Brown has already indicated his support.

But AB 131 still faces challenges. Its companion bill AB 130, signed into law last month, will allow undocumented college students access to privately-funded scholarships and grants not available to them before. AB 131, on the other hand, would allow them to receive the same state-funded tuition aid programs available to U.S. citizens and legal residents, a costlier proposition that has drawn more controversy than the previous bill.

The measure has come far enough in a tough state economic climate. Implementing AB 131 could cost anywhere between $22 million and $42 million, according to office of Assembly member Gil Cedillo, who sponsored the bill, although roughly $13 million of that would come from money already set aside for low-income students whose grades qualify them for CalGrants. Opponents say they don’t wish to spend state funds on educating undocumented students, especially if their immigration status prevents them from fully using their degrees.

Unlike the federal Development, Relief and Education of Minors (DREAM) Act, the California bills don’t propose granting legal status to students. Undocumented immigrants in California qualify for in-state tuition if they meet residency requirements, but they are presently barred from receiving public tuition aid, as other students can. As an alternative, many work multiple jobs while spreading out their education over several years.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, California Dream Act, Dream Act

August 30, 2011 | 10:19 AM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

South LA’s film students (Video)

The Urban Oasis Film Academy teaches the art of filmmaking to teens in South Los Angeles, allowing them to make films that have gone on to win awards and landed jobs for some in the film industry. Videographer Katherine Sheehan interviewed several of the students and instructors for KPCC, including a couple of boys who documented their crosstown trip from South L.A. to Santa Monica, contemplating the socioeconomic and culture divide between the two sides of the city. “It’s beautiful out here,” one boy said once at the beach, “but it’s not for us.”

The academy is a partnership between HBO and the Youth Mentoring Connection. A few of the students’ films can be seen here.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Health/Education, HBO, South Los Angeles, Urban Oasis Film Academy, Youth Mentoring Connection

August 26, 2011 | 1:29 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Reaction to the California Dream Act

Photo by CSU Stanislaus Photo/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A bill that would provide undocumented students in California with access to public financial aid for college is on its way to a Senate vote, but it isn’t expected to have an easy ride.

AB 131 is part of a two-bill package referred to as the California Dream Act. Its companion bill AB 130, signed into law last month, will allow undocumented college students access to privately-funded scholarships and grants not available to them before. The more contentious AB 131 would let them access the same state-funded tuition aid programs available to U.S. citizens and legal residents.

The controversy that the latter bill is attracting is evident just from the conversation on this site under a post from yesterday, when the bill moved out of committee and toward the Senate floor, with a vote expected as early as next week. Here are a few excerpts from readers.

Ke6rbt wrote:

Stop short changing American students. They don’t get help because they already speak English.

Bigsack831 wrote:

the help is there for american citizens if they are not receiving it it’s because the ain’t looking for it

HeSaid1 wrote:

ILLEGAL is the issue, despite your ridiculing rhetoric. ILLEGALS are not entitled to any more public assistance.

And Dream On Good, who also referred to the federal Dream Act, wrote as part of a longer message:

You have two options. Have your taxpayer dollars fund massive deportations or number two, legalize those undocumented immigrants who have no criminal backgrounds starting with DREAMers. Keep in mind option number two would require each individual to pay fines, back taxes if they haven’t been paying taxes. Now I leave it to you to decide which one of those options will generate massive amounts of revenues which will go right back into our economy.

Unlike the federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, neither of the two bills that make up the California Dream Act propose granting legal status to students. But the combination of AB 131′s price tag (though a portion would come from an existing Cal Grants fund, implementing it could run between between $22 million and $42 million) and the state’s current budget crisis, along with other factors, could impede its passage.

The Senate is expected to vote first on the bill, which would then go back to the Assembly for approval of recent amendments. If it is voted in by the state legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown has indicated he will likely sign it. A Brown spokeswoman said yesterday that the governor “continues to broadly support the principles behind the Dream Act and will closely consider any legislation that reaches his desk.”

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, AB 130, AB 131, California Dream Act, Dream Act

August 25, 2011 | 5:04 PM | By Leslie Berestein Rojas

Will the second part of the California Dream Act become law?

Photo by un.sospiro/Flickr (Creative Commons)

One of two measures that make up what’s referred to as the California Dream Act was released from suspense in a state Senate committee today, and is expected to go to the Senate floor next week for a vote. But unlike AB 130, a companion bill that was recently signed into law, the bill known as AB 131 faces slimmer odds of success.

Both measures aim to make it easier for undocumented college students to pay tuition. AB 130 allowed these students access to previously unavailable privately funded scholarships. AB 131 would grant them access to publicly funded financial aid, the same kind of financial aid now available to students who are U.S. citizens and legal residents. Although undocumented students can qualify for in-state tuition if they meet state residency requirements, they are still barred from public financial aid programs, such as Cal Grants.

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