What the rest of the US can learn about education and Latinos in Boston

There’s a warning bell sounding in Boston that has officials, leaders and educators scrambling to address the future of the city.

SEE ALSO: Latinos in higher education, bridging the attainment gap

However, to a larger point, a recent study commissioned by the Black and Latino Collaborative – including more than a dozen members from philanthropies and businesses, as well as elected officials – revealed the issues facing minorities in Boston are basically a microcosm for Latinos nationwide.

Preparing the report was Tufts University Urban Environmental Policy Professor James Jennings, who told VOXXI the onus behind the study was to create a baseline of issues to target for the group.

Specifically, the study examined Latino and African-American social, economic and demographic data ranging from housing and schools to transportation and workplaces.

“My report was basically a profile,” Jennings said. “What does the data say about the social and demographic characteristics of the group that this Collaborative wants to do more with? It was felt before people were to share their ideas, everyone should start with a foundation of basic data of these two groups.”

Including census data from 2007 through 2012, the report said, “There are at least four themes emerging from the census findings reported here. One, the black and Latino youth of Boston reflect a demographic bubble. They represent a dominant group, demographically speaking, that represents an important part of Boston.”

Among the glaring results regarding life in the Boston area, nearly half of all Latino men were on public assistance by the age of 15. Not surprisingly, the study revealed 13 percent of Latino males – age 16 to 64 – are unemployed, compared to 6 percent of white men.

At a glance the report showed:

• Black and Latino males comprise almost two thirds (61 percent) of all males 19 years and under; they also make up 59.1 percent of all 5-year-old males in Boston.
• Approximately 35 percent of all Latino males are 19 years or younger. The comparable figure for whites is 16 percent.
• Latinos age 13 to 21 years have varying ability to speak English very well. As an age group, 87.1 percent report speaking English well; only 17 year olds in this grouping reflect a lower response (67.7 percent ) to speaking English very well.
• The report shows 42.9 percent of all Latino grandparents are responsible for their own grandchildren under 18 years of age; the percentage of white grandparents is 31.4 percent.
• Latinos (12.3 percent) have a higher proportion of young non-relatives in their households.

Jennings said the areas that need to be examined include food stamps, public assistance and unemployment. Invariably, this is all tied to the education gap that continues to plague minorities.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh responded in the Boston Globe, “The future of Boston is going to be bright. I think we’re going to make a lot of adjustments in this city over the next couple of years. And in the long term, as long as we’re going to implement changes, that can and will happen, the future will be OK.”

Basically, the Black and Latino Collaborative report acts as a wakeup call for not only Boston leaders but others in dozens of cities from coast to coast that an entire population of youth is being underserved with devastating results.

“Latinos represent the demographic future of the city of Boston,” Jennings said. “The Latino community cannot be approached any longer as though it’s just this one new group in the city in that little corner. The Latino community, to a certain degree, is the face of future Boston. That has to be acknowledged.”

SEE ALSO: Latina’s education success story shines out at Stanford