Commentary

<p><strong>Latino Coalition for a Healthy California</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; A year after the passage of national health reform, pundits and partisans continue to make a political football out of the landmark legislation. But one (potential) winner is clear: Latinos.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; It’s almost cap-and-gown time for seniors at high schools around the country, but too many teenagers have dropped out of school and are at risk of entering the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; This is one of the greatest failures of our educational system. About 10 percent of all males in prison are high school dropouts.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Last week, I documented the dismal statistics regarding Latino student achievement in the San Diego Unified School District:&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; · Nearly one-third of Latino students did not pass the California High School Exit Exam in English last year, and one-fourth did not pass the Exit Exam in math.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>New America Media</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; There was something unseemly about that gathering of college-age Americans outside the White House just before midnight on Sunday, cheering at the news of Osama bin Laden’s death. Some of the kids had draped flags over their shoulders; they chanted “USA, USA, USA.” I doubt there was a true patriot in the bunch.</p>

Commentary:
By: Jose Apolinar Olivera

   Few issues spark as much anger and propaganda as the issue of immigration reform. Unlike many other issues, views on immigration reform do not fall neatly into party lines or even racial lines.

   Regardless of one’s view on the issue, we can agree that the debate around immigration reform should be based on fact, not fiction.

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; On May 5, 1862, Mexican troops defeated an invading French army in the outskirts of Puebla, a city around 60 miles east of Mexico City. How did events come to this point; what were French troops doing in Mexico and why?</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; On September 15, 1810, a priest, Miguel Hidalgo, sounded the church bells to unite Mexicans in a war of independence from Spain. Independence was declared the following day, September 16th. But it took Mexicans 11 years to oust the Spaniards.</p>

Nielsen provides a reflection of diversity

By Monica Gil
SVP Public Affairs at The Nielsen Company

   The glorious celebration of Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, eagerly anticipated in cities and communities throughout the country. America is a wondrous tapestry of many colorful threads, it is important to acknowledge everything that makes us who we are.

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Public schools have been in the spotlight nationally and here in San Diego recently, from President Obama’s “Race to the Top” reform agenda to controversy surrounding our local school board’s budget priorities and commitment to student achievement.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; In the mid-sixties, I attended a lecture by Dr. Ernesto Galarza. Someone in the audience asked him why politicos and those in social movements didn’t care about Mexican Americans. Galarza responded that most elected officials that were Democrats cared about Mexican Americans but that we were never their number one priority or even close to it on their do list.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Reflecting on the 2010 Census results and the dramatic increase in the U.S. Latino community, I ask myself how we once again find ourselves in the same predicament as ten years ago, with no national sense of urgency to fix Latino education when it has significant implications for our future workforce.</p>