Clinton Calls on Latinos to Stay in School

At a high school near the Mexican border Friday, President Clinton aimed a message directly at Latinos struggling to move forward in the global economy: Quitting school amounts to “Russian roulette.”

Specifically, the tradition of dropping out of high school to earn money for a family’s upkeep no longer makes sense in a world where knowledge adds up to market value, the president told the approving South Texas crowd.

Still, Clinton seemed aware that he was treading into an area of long-held cultural behavior, reflected by recent studies showing that Latino dropout rates typically exceed those of whites, blacks and Asians. Statistics from the California Education Department show that Latino students are twice as likely to drop out of school as their white peers.

“We have to convince many of our students . . . especially in Latino communities . . . that what used to be a good thing to do, to drop out of school and go to work to help your family, can now in fact hurt your family and hurt your future . . . , “ Clinton said.

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The overwhelming reason to stay in school, he maintained, is the emergence of a vast gulf in earning potential between educational haves and have-nots.

The ethnically tailored message came as Clinton exhorted audiences to use education benefits he has pushed for--including tax breaks to attend community college--as keys to prosperity.

The president also announced that his fiscal 1999 budget proposal will include a $70-million funding increase in the college work-study program, which gives federal money to colleges so they can provide jobs for students. The funding increase is aimed at bringing the number of participating students up to 1 million from about 940,000.

“Sometimes, if you have to work a little, you even are more disciplined with your time--and you wind up studying a little more,” Clinton told a youthful crowd gathered at Mission High School’s football stadium, named after alumnus and former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry.

Donning the black cowboy boots he favors on visits to Texas, Clinton divided his time Friday between extolling education and raising money for local candidates. He attended fund-raisers aimed at netting $550,000 for Democratic U.S. Reps. Ruben Hinojosa in nearby McAllen and Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston.

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Latino graduation rates have lagged those of other groups, the U.S. Department of Education reported in December. The report found that just 62% of Latino adults had completed high school, compared with 91.5% of whites and 83% of blacks.

Later in the day, Clinton told a Brownsville audience he had asked Education Secretary Richard W. Riley and White House aides to advise him on ways to reduce the high Latino dropout rate, which he called “one of the most troubling things to me.”

“Set yourself on a college path early, and complete at least two years of college,” Clinton advised his Mission audience. “People who at least have a community college degree have a very good chance of getting a job with stability and prospects of a growing income.

“People who do less than that in a global economy where we depend more and more on what we can learn every day, and the new skills we can apply, are playing Russian roulette with their future,” he added.

Later, in a Brownsville airport hangar, Clinton sought to describe the thinking of those who quit school to get a job. Dropouts delude themselves by thinking, “I ought to go to work . . . I won’t be a burden on my family. I can help my family make a living,” he said.

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But, he added: “That is simply not true anymore, and we have to change that attitude.”

Clinton said economic gains are not fully shared with those who lack skills.

Clinton appeared upbeat throughout the hectic trip. At a reception for Hinojosa in McAllen, he told the congressman that when he saw the day’s crowds, “I thought it was a good thing we had the 22nd Amendment, which limited my ability to run again, because I’d do it again after today if I could.”