On Wednesday during what was billed as a Twitter Town Hall event, more than 400 participants accessed a live video stream on their computing devices as tweeted questions and answers pertaining to Hispanic education access and success produced a multilayered dialogue with the U.S, Education Secretary.
Some of the questions were familiar — how to make higher education affordable and how to deal with undocumented students — but all the answers provided a valuable guide in the efforts to achieve Hispanic educational success. Education Secretary Arne Duncan responded to questions for the first 30 minutes of the event and then José Rico, director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, took the microphone for the remainder of the hour.
Questions were submitted in English and Spanish via Twitter both prior to and during the virtual town hall using the hashtag #HispanicEd. The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics also tweeted in English and Spanish throughout the hour as well as adding information and suggestions for action afterward.
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address included several educational topics. He has set the goal of returning the United States to being number one in the world for college graduation by 2020. The Hispanic population is expected to play a critical role in achieving that goal.
Rico’s office has done 14 Hispanic Action Summits around the country with one coming up on Feb. 18 near Cleveland. One of the top issues is education and affordability for the Latino community.
Duncan noted that the goal of all Hispanic young people has to be higher education as that’s where job opportunities are. “We have significantly simplified the financial aid form,” he said. The form is on the Department of Education website, www.ed.gov, and should take less than 30 minutes to fill out. There has been an increase in Pell grants.
There also has been a huge incentive in the American Opportunity Tax Credit, or AOTC, for people who enter public service after earning their degrees. For example, after 10 years in the classroom, a public school teacher would have the balance of any student loan erased.
