6 million of the 17.3 million eligible Hispanic voters cast a ballot (Kaufman 2007).
The language barrier might be yet another reason that Hispanics struggle to find a foothold in American society. ESL programs often fail to address Latino's needs in schools. Latinos have the highest high school dropout rate of any ethnic group in America, and there is no statistically significant difference between drop-out rates for immigrants or the native born, indicating that intensive ESL programs are necessary to supplement the education in English teens receive at home and in informal social contexts. Poverty and an inability to acclimate to the school environment because of inadequate language education in the early grades are two possible reasons that "at 21%, the national Latino high school dropout rate is more than twice the national average of10%" (Pew Center, 2004).
Despite the centrality of the family in Latino culture, many Latino teens lack social support for their education: almost 10% of Latino teens do not live with a parent, at twice the rate of white teens. Even when parents are present, parents may lack the English proficiency to reinforce what students are learning in school. Hispanic children often do not have role models...
Improving education and increasing Latino political influence is especially critical, given the relatively young age of the Latino demographic. Although some Latinos have succeeded in American society, Latinos must improve the quality and the quantity of the education of the younger generation if their influence in American society is to reflect their numbers.
References
Kaufman, Stephen. (2007, 11 October). Hispanic-Americans' political clout expected to increase. Pew Center. Retrieved March 26, 2010 at http://www.america.gov/st/usg-english/2007/October/20071011113828esnamfuak0.9106256.html
Pew Hispanic Center fact sheet. (2004, January). Pew Center. Retrieved March 26, 2010 at http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/7.3.pdf
