Though pundits, mainstream media and the political parties themselves have been obsessed over the push-and-pull direction of the Latino vote in this presidential election, one of the real issues that matters is being ignored — kinda.

The issue is the future of the Latino community and the nation. Not as it relates to today’s job situation or the economy or even healthcare, but education. The Schott Foundation for Public Education released today a new report, According to The Urgency of Now: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, that finds less than 60 percent of Black (52 percent) and Latino (58 percent) male ninth-graders graduate from high school four years later.

Those numbers are alarming when compared to the graduation rate of White, non-Latino male ninth-graders which stand at 78 percent.

“We have a responsibility to provide future generations of Americans with the education and the skills needed to thrive in communities, the job market and the global economy. Yet, too many Black and Latino young boys and men are being pushed out and locked out of the U.S. education system or find themselves unable to compete in a 21st Century economy upon graduating,” said John H. Jackson, president and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. “These graduation rates are not indicative of a character flaw in the young men, but rather evidence of an unconscionable level of willful neglect, unequal resource allocation by federal, state and local entities and the indifference of too many elected and community leaders. It’s time for a support-based reform movement.”

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