School Choice Week and the Latina Gap

National School Choice Week was January 23-29, 2011 which aimed to highlight all the options parents and students have to educate children. The organization created a wrap up video highlighting clips and activities from the week:

Education continues to be the number one issue for the Latino community. Discussing school choice and education is an excellent opportunity for candidates and organizations to connect with Latino voters. The reality is that across the nation Hispanic children continue to underperformed academically, with high drop out rates and low levels of college completion. Educating Hispanic parents on school choice options is necessary and vital for the future of his country.

A MALDEF survey – “Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation” – highlights the dropout crisis impacting Latina students and the alarming gap between aspiration and expectation contributing to the problem. Clearly there is something wrong with our nation’s education system when children don’t feel empowered enough to follow their aspirations.

Some disturbing facts:

• 80% of Latina students aspire to go to college
• 98% of Latinas aspire to get a high school diploma
• 66% of Latinas expect to get a high school diploma
• 41% of Latinas dropout before they acquire a standard HS diploma

• 50% of Latino drop out before they acquire a standard HS diploma
• 12% of Latinos graduate from college

There is no doubt that many Hispanic parents do not have enough information about the educational options for their children. Maybe if they did we wouldn’t see 50% of Latinos drop out of college.

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Fotos Of The Day: Red Bird In Snow

Hidden in the winter snow in NYC, beautiful red bird was perched on a tree in Central Park…

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Me Vs. Snow

I recently decided to rebuild my relationship with snow…. You see we started on very shaky ground.

I first met snow in New York City during a high school field trip from my native home of Miami, Florida. I had always wanted to see snow. I had romantic visions of the way snow looked, felt, smelled from all the movies and television shows. Finally, on the one free day we had during the trip a friend and I decided to go to a tapping of the Today Show at Rockefeller Center, knowing that snow would show up that morning. And boy did snow show up, it was EVERYWHERE!! … What ended up happening is that this Miami Latina, who had never seen snow, somehow didn’t understand that snow was made up of water – horribly cold wet, icy, hurtful water. As a result I was frozen solid as my cloth gloves, sneakers and athletic socks were not made for winter weather. I had to seek shelter in St. Patrick Cathedral and resar for warmth. Since that day I hated snow.

Fast forward 11 years later, I am back in New York City. I have decided that for too long I have let my bad relationship with snow hurt my feelings about winter. (My boyfriends laughs that each time the weather report announces snow shower, I physically look ill.)

I decided to rebuild my relationship with snow, this time away from the busy streets of Manhattan, instead we decide to meet the snow in Central Park.

Below are the pictures… a much more joyful experience…

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Republicans State of the Union Response in Español

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was selected to give the Republican’s Spanish response to President Obama’s State of the Union. Her statements were carried on Univision, Telemundo or CNN en Español immediately following President Obama’s speech.

Download the audio here: http://gop.gov/sotu-spanish/Ileana-Ros-Lehtinen-republican-response-sotu.mp3

Read the full text after the jump.

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The Future of the California GOP?

The biggest story coming out of the Institute of Governmental Studies “The 2010 Governor’s Race: The Inside Story” Conference was the need for the California GOP to connect with non-traditional voters (i.e: Latinos, women, youth, etc).

In 2010 the state bucked the national political trend. The state got bluer during an election in which Republicans were gaining seats throughout the country. Many politicos were left asking what is in store for Republicans?

Here are some articles from the IGS conference:

• San Francisco Chronicle Blog – “Republican brand in Calif is “dead”: Former CA GOP chief” (1/22/11)
• San Jose Mercury News – “Political advisers sift through ashes of 2010 gubernatorial campaign” (1/22/11)
• San Francisco Chronicle – “GOP brand pronounced dead in deep-blue California” (1/23/11)

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Going Back To Cali

On my way back to California to attend the Institute of Governmental Studies “The 2010 Governor’s Race: The Inside Story” Conference in Berkeley, California.

The event is meant to be a post-mortem on the California Governor’s race. The IGC describes the event as: “We bring together campaign pros, political journalists, pollsters, and others for a candid analysis of California’s most important political contest.”

Several members of Team Poizner will be speaking at the event. I’ll tweet up dates at @BettinaInclan

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The Search for Authentic Mexican Food

Growing up with a Mexican father in South Florida is a challenge – a gastronomical challenge. We were constantly on a quest to find authentic Mexican food in a town dominated by Caribbean and South American culture. Let’s just say my dad was excited when they opened a Baja Fresh by his house (yes, sad I know… no offense Baja Fresh.)

Living in California had the added blessing of finding great Mexican food in every corner. Now, during my funemployment I rejoice in finding great Mexican cuisine in different cities.

In New York City I went to La Esquina. The three in one restaurant is a gem of great authentic Mexican food. We were lucky enough to get reservations for the posh down stairs hidden restaurant which you enter through the “Employees Only” door in the back of the tacqueria/taco stand.

By far my favorite item was a somewhat simple dish – grilled corn (aka Elotes Callejeros). The cheesy, crunchy fire roasted corn on the cob was mouth-watering and made me want to call my father immediately to tell him about the hidden NYC hot spot.

Below a picture of the item thanks to the internet. Also according to the internet the Elotes Callejeros are made by brushing them with chipotle mayonnaise, rolling them in finely grated sheep’s cheese (cotija cheese), sprinkle with a dry mix of chilli, paprika, ground pepitas and lime zest, and lastly a generous squeeze of fresh lime. Yum.

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Wrapping up the Hispanic Leadership Network: Positive Steps Forward (PHOTOS)

For two days Republicans packed the swanky Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida listening to speeches and videos from elected officials, presidential hopefuls, pundits, politicos and leaders of the GOP all discussing one topic – how the GOP can do a better job connecting with Latino voters.

During a panel on immigration, former Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) said “If we become perceived as an anti-immigrant party, America, being a country of immigrants, will never allow us to be the majority party.”

The National Journal’s Beth Reinhard, a veteran of Florida politics and who has covered the Hispanic electorate, wrote about the event in “Immigration Policy Bedevils GOP with Hispanics.” A major theme throughout the conference was the need for the GOP to pay attention to tone.

“If you send the signals of  ‘them v. us’ you’re not going to be able to get the desired result,” said Bush, whose brother, President George W. Bush, unsuccessfully pursued immigration reform. “Leaders have to lead and that means they have the responsibility of civility as well as having a tone that draws people toward our cause and not against it.”

“We do have a challenge on the Hispanic vote,” said Alex Castellanos, a Republican political consultant who worked on the Bush campaigns. “It is a language problem. It is a tonal problem.’’ …

During the 2010 election, Hispanics favored Democrats by a 3 to 2 margin, which was an improvement from previous election cycles. Clearly the GOP has a long road ahead in their attempt to capture the Latino electorate. National Journal interviewed me for the piece, discussing the positive steps the GOP is making with Latinos and recognizing the steps the GOP has made in reshaping its connection with Hispanic voters.

“This is not happening in September of 2012. It’s happening now,’’ said Bettina Inclan,  former executive director of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. “You have to communicate with Hispanics, not preach to them. You don’t have to cater to Hispanics, but you do have to tailor your message.’’

The conference was sponsored by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman’s American Action Network and co-chaired by Bush and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who intended to get the ball rolling early enough to impact the 2012 election cycle. The conference included panel discussions on free trade, border security, immigration, messaging and education reform.

Looking forward to see what is next for the Hispanic Leadership Network…

Hispanic Leadership Network in Miami

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Hispanic Leadership Network to Latinos: Your Home Is With the GOP

There is major buzz with the main stream media about the Hispanic Leadership Network Conference. From NPR to Politico to CNN, and everyone in between, is covering the event which is the second major conference held by Republican leaders in hopes to connect with Latino voters in the last two moths.

CNN’s  “Republican conference to Hispanics: your home is with the GOP” highlights the hard work the GOP has ahead of them. In a July 2010 CNN/Opinion Research poll only 32% of Hispanics felt that Republicans agreed with Latinos on the issues they care about. Of the same group, about 57% said Democrats where more inline with Latino issues. In that same poll, 56% of Hispanics said the GOP is doing a bad job of reaching out to African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities.

The CNN article by Shannon Travis quotes both former and current Florida Governors, Jeb Bush and Rick Scott:

“This is not about politics, this is about the conservative cause,” Bush told a small but supportive crowd at the conference kickoff at the swank Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. “And if you look over the horizon over the next 10 to 20 years…without the active involvement of Hispanics, we will not be the governing philosophy of our country.”

Bush stressed that his party’s philosophy centered on limited government, lower taxes, education reform and maintaining U.S. competitive edge – all items, he said, that makes the GOP a natural home for Hispanics.

CNN asked Florida’s current governor if the conference is a tacit admission that Hispanics are either leaving the GOP or turned off by many of its policies:

“The Hispanic community clearly believes in the Republican principles,” Scott replied. “The principle that family is important. The principle that… we all care about, Hispanics care about religion. They care about building businesses. They focus on the same things I’m focused on: limited government, making sure we don’t kill jobs through regulation, through too large a government.”

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A Bilingual Governor

I’m in Miami, Florida for the first night of the Hispanic Leadership Network Conference (http://www.hispanicleadershipnetwork.org), an off-shoot of the American Action Network, aimed at ramping up GOP outreach efforts towards Latino voters.

Tonight’s speakers included Senator Norm Coleman, former Governor Jeb Bush, Former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Florida State Senator Anitere Florez and Rob Collins. All whom spoke about the need for the GOP to connect with Latino voters.

The keynote was given by newly inaugurated Florida Governor Rick Scott, who broke out some Spanish phrases during his address. Governor Scott won over 50% of the Latino vote during his 2010 run for Governor of Florida.

Governor Scott highlighted the need to reach out to Latino voters and even talked about his new business cards, printed in English and Spanish.  Several reporters took pictures of the card to tweet and comment about it in stories (below).

Small gestures like these go a big way with Latino voters. Clearly, cards in Espanol are not enough, but they do signal that the newly elected Florida leader understands the importance of Hispanic voters in the very diverse state of Florida.

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