LATINOS FOR EDUCATION ON ARPA SPENDING BILL: INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATOR DIVERSITY & BROADBAND EQUITY ARE WHAT STUDENTS NEED

LATINOS FOR EDUCATION ON ARPA SPENDING BILL: INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATOR DIVERSITY & BROADBAND EQUITY ARE WHAT STUDENTS NEED

Boston, MA – Latinos for Education, the nation’s first Latino-founded organization focused on elevating the voice and representation of Latinos within the education sector and pushing for educational equity for Latino families, issued the following statement on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending bill signed into law by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker:

“We applaud Governor Charlie Baker for signing this historic spending bill and making the necessary investments that students, educators and families need to continue receiving a high-quality education during this ongoing pandemic; especially the $10 million commitment of ARPA funds towards diversifying our educator workforce as well as the $50 million commitment to establish a Broadband Innovation Fund which will help address the growing digital equity and opportunity gaps families in Massachusetts are facing.

These are the investments that Latino students, families and educators need to navigate a rapidly changing education system and world around them. Without universal access to reliable and affordable broadband, we risk losing millions of students who currently don’t have the resources and infrastructure they need to participate in our education system. We are excited to work with the legislature to make broadband accessible to more Latino families in our state, and can’t wait for implementation of the Broadband Innovation Fund.

The investment and commitment to educators of color, who are already underrepresented in our state’s educator workforce, is needed and will help school leaders invest in hiring, retaining and promoting more educators of color so Latinx, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander students can have teachers in their lives that share their background and validate their identity and potential.  The legislature should make these investments available to community-based organizations that are already doing tremendous work along the educator pipeline to get more diverse teachers into the profession.

We thank Governor Baker, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka and the members of the House and Senate for ensuring that these federal investments make a real impact on helping Latino families recover, since many continue to disproportionately bear the impacts of COVID-19.”

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Latinos for Education is a Latino-led education organization focused on improving opportunities and outcomes for Latino students by increasing the voice and representation of Latinos within the education sector; advancing bold policy at the local, state and national level; and building a strong network of Latino educators nationwide.