The Issues Conference conducts a concurrent summit series format that facilitates discussion on the most significant issues affecting the Hispanic community. Summit topics range from education and immigration to finance and international trade. 

This morning’s panel “Preparing the Hispanic Community for Leadership in the STEM Fields,” focused on engaging the community, preparing high school students for college and careers, producing more STEM graduates, and advancing STEM professionals.

Below are Congressman Hinojosa’s opening remarks, prepared for delivery:

“It is no secret that we are losing our competitive edge in producing experts in math, science, and engineering.  If we do not engage and provide quality educational opportunities for our fastest growing population—Hispanic Americans, we will permanently cede leadership in this area.

“Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico has been a tremendous leader in this area.  He was the driving force behind the National Academies of Science seminal report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm.  This report has become the rallying cry for national action.  Senator Bingaman would have liked to join us been with us today but had to get back to New Mexico.

“Our charge today is to discuss how we prepare the Hispanic community for leadership in the STEM fields.  Here are a few things we should consider.

“First, we should design our policies so that they benefit the students we have in our schools.  There have been calls for a national investment in STEM like the one that followed the Soviet launch of Sputnik.  But we cannot simply lift programs and policies that were designed for a Sputnik era population.

“As the old saying goes, “If you want to catch fish, you have to go where the fish are.”   I always tell people that the fishing is really good in the Hispanic community.  

“But the truth is that we need to take better care of our fish and their ponds.   Minority students are isolated in the highest poverty schools.   The 2006 Condition of Education reports that nearly half of all Black and Hispanic students and attend schools where more than 75 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunches.  

“There are tremendous social and academic costs to this isolation.  Education Week reported alarming figures -- only 56.2 percent of students at school with high racial segregation and 54.9 percent of students with high economic segregation graduate from high school.    Effectively, we are cutting our talent pool in half by the end of high school.

“The House and Senate have been working to create legislation along the lines of the competitiveness agenda that President Bush outlined in his state of the union address last year.  We have to keep asking the question—Where does our community fit into this agenda? 

“Congressman Reyes and I sent a letter to the House Science Committee raising this question and offering some answers. 53 members of Congress signed that letter.

“This is how we described what is needed –

‘Successful policy to boost American competitiveness will include a continuum of support that begins with early outreach and awareness of STEM careers, continues with high quality math and science instruction, provides adequate financial assistance to ensure that no potential scientist or engineer is turned away for lacking the personal means to pay for college, and supports the institutions of higher education that enroll and graduate under‑represented groups.  Additionally,  STEM success demands access to a rigorous curriculum, the irreplaceable experience of working in a laboratory during high school, and the availability of supplementary scientific experiences for highly achieving students.  This approach must see wide implementation so that all Americans are provided the opportunity to pursue STEM careers and help this country renew its commitment to innovation, security, and prosperity. We simply cannot remain competitive if we fail to increase the number of women and minorities in the STEM fields.  The math does not work.’

“We must build a system of support that carries our future STEM professionals all the way through the process. That means from pre-school through graduate school.  We have many leaks in the pipeline.

“I am particularly concerned that our young people do not have access to the laboratory sciences classes they need in secondary school in order to be able to pursue college-level science. 

“Consider these findings from the U.S. General Accountability Office

• 49.1% of schools where the minority student population is greater than 50.5% reported not meeting functional requirements for laboratory science well or at all.
• 40% of those college students who left the science fields reported some problems related to high school science preparation.  Cited problems included a lack of laboratory experience and no introduction to theoretical or to analytical modes of thought. 

“That is why I introduced the Partnership for Access to Laboratory Science Act. (H.R. 5106).  This legislation has 48 cosponsors –democrats and republicans and would authorize $50 million for a matching grant program at the National Science Foundation that will leverage federal, state, local, and private resources to re-invigorate high school laboratories in high need and rural school districts.  Partners will include a high need or rural school district, a college or university, and the private sector.  Grants will be used to improve the teaching of science through the integration of hands-on learning into science education programs at high school laboratories as part of a comprehensive plan to improve the quality of science instruction and student learning outcomes.   

“We are making some progress but have a very long way to go.  That is what we are here to talk about today.”

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