HispanicTrending

Staffing Hispanic Marketing Roles in Today’s Reality or “Why it is not about Los Leones del Norte”

Note: It is a great pleasure to share with you the first of many great posts to come as one of the results from a recently established strategic partnership between Hispanic Trending and BRANDiosity, a consulting firm that helps companies identify, prioritize, and seize untapped opportunities from the multi-segment marketplace. Enjoy!

Saludos,

Juan

August 27, 2008
by BRANDiosity

A client of ours who is going through a corporate reorganization recently asked us for a point of view regarding how to staff one of their key ‘marketing to Hispanics’ roles. We’ve all heard the clichés and we’ve all encountered the paradigms on both sides of this issue, but this got us to thinking about this hotly contested topic.  The results of a recent survey we fielded in conjunction with the executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles revealed that respondents, who were primarily heads of marketing, were essentially split on whether it is really necessary to be a Latino when marketing to a Latino.  However, this question really glosses over the real issues underlying what it takes to market to Latinos, namely passion and a strong consumer marketing acumen.  Don’t get us wrong, we do fundamentally believe that being Hispanic can certainly help you be a more effective advertising creative in the Hispanic space, but it is not an essential criterion for marketing strategy.

Another client of ours recently appointed a non-Latino to head up all of their Hispanic efforts and it did not take long for us to hear from several other people within the company who felt the appointment was flawed because the executive was not “of color.”  We know this individual very well and have no doubt that he will be an incredibly effective marketer to Hispanics because he is both a classically trained marketer (e.g. ex-P&G) and because he brings boundless intensity and drive to all his assignments.  Let’s face it, we have all met people heading up Hispanic marketing teams that seem to be in an intellectual coma and seem to be just going through the motions.  Which one would you rather have focused on the Hispanic opportunity at your company?

Recognizing that there are already a number of very solid articles out there on this topic, let’s talk briefly about the primary myth that you need to be Hispanics in order to market to Hispanics.  I recall recently asking a Hispanic middle manager who was in the Hispanic marketing department of one of our clients why he thought he was uniquely qualified to dispense marketing advice about Hispanics to the rest of the organization (presumably comprised of mostly Anglos).  His response was startling: “well, since I am Hispanic I can relate better with the target and that positions me as an expert on this group.”  I found this to be a rather cavalier answer and realized that the myth in many ways was being perpetuated by Hispanic marketers themselves.   I probed a bit further to make sure I was not missing something…”so what is the source of your Hispanic expertise beyond being Hispanic?”  His follow up response troubled me even more…”I’ve marketed tortillas to Hispanics and thus understand what it takes to market to them, this category is no different.”  Keep in mind that the category in question is alcoholic beverages and you can imagine my surprise as I was supposed to believe that marketing tortillas to Hispanic moms was somehow analogous to selling alcoholic beverages to Hispanic young adults.  As a community of marketing professionals we have to stop perpetuating the myth that knowing who the Leones del Norte are somehow establishes you as a Hispanic marketing expert.

This so called ‘Hispanic marketer’ did not understand that marketing to Hispanics was no different than marketing to any opportunity segment; it all starts with understanding first and foremost how to ideally segment them, target them and position brands to them.  I care less whether you know who Wisin y Yandel or Don Francisco are and more about whether you understand how to develop a tight targeting strategy for Hispanics because as we all know this is an amazingly complex, heterogeneous group.

Now back to the primary topic at hand: staffing Hispanic marketing roles.  This might shock some of you, but we actually believe that in many cases the best thing an organization can do is put a non-Hispanic, high performer in the role for several reasons:

a) It communicates to the organization that Hispanics are a strategic priority that will require the best and the brightest regardless of ethnicity.  This is similar to what Procter & Gamble did years ago in terms of its Wal-Mart team.  Understandably (and this was years ago), no one wanted to move to Northwest Arkansas for a few years until it was made clear that Wal-Mart experience would be a career accelerator within P&G.

b) It also communicates more overtly to the organization that this is not a dead end career path and it will not pigeon hole you (which is a concern many Hispanic marketers have and is why many of them steer clear from Hispanic marketing roles).

c) It provides future leaders of the organization with an important and formative multicultural experience that will help them dispel myths and challenge paradigms when they theoretically lead the organization in the future.

d) It injects new thinking into roles that have in many cases been trapped in time with Hispanic incumbents who have lost that ‘fire in the belly’.

e) It can also help avoid the inadvertent ostracism that sometimes creeps into organizations (e.g. “well I don’t need to worry about it since I’m sure the Hispanic team is covering that…”).  One of the biggest obstacles Hispanic marketing teams face in terms of reaching their full potential involves integrating with the general market efforts & team.  This approach helps encourage the broader marketing organization to see Hispanics as part of the general market effort – not a distinct (i.e. internally competitive) effort.

At the end of the day, we are fervent believers that cultural nuances should impact the development of creative, but not the development of strategy.  Thus, we propose you look to your agencies for deep cultural understanding and ensure that the folks you place in charge of marketing to Hispanics are fundamentally solid strategic marketers above all else.  If you are tempted to staff these roles with Hispanics for any number of reasons, we strongly encourage you to do so with marketers who have had at least one significant experience in the organization’s general market team, and ideally on the brand in question, so that they understand the big picture and how Hispanic marketing fits in.

On our next rant we’ll take on the topic of whether Hispanic marketing departments should exist at all or whether this focus area should be built into existing brand groups.  Hint: Our former boss, Sergio Zyman, blew up the Hispanic marketing department at Coke years ago…

'Pocketbook concerns' top priority for Hispanic voters

August 28, 2008
By Nancy MitchellThu

The largest Hispanic voter research project that Democratic pollster Andrew Myers has ever heard of included 17 focus groups and nearly 1,800 separate interviews in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona.

All that work, and the result is this: The top concerns of Hispanics look pretty much like the top concerns of everyone else.

"Pocketbook concerns dominate," said Myers, of Myers Research in Springfield, Va., which worked on Project New West: Hispanic Voters in the New Western Battleground.

That means the rising cost of gas is a very serious concern for 93 percent of those interviewed, and gay marriage is a very serious concern for only 32 percent.

Or, as one respondent told Myers' group, "I would support gay marriage if it would fill my tank with gas so I could get to work."

Social issues such as gay marriage, abortion and illegal immigration have moved to the back burner, Myers said in a press conference with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson during this week's Democratic National Convention.

"When we asked in an open- ended exercise, what is the most important issue in deciding your vote for president, a full majority, 55 percent, said the economy, jobs - everything is clustered in that area," Myers said.

"That was followed by the war in Iraq, which is as much an economic issue in these voters' minds because we're spending $2 billion a week there rather than focusing on our needs at home."

Illegal immigration was a deciding issue for one in four of those interviewed, Myers noted, and only 35 percent listed it as a serious concern. "When they express concerns about illegal immigration," he said, "it is far more about the Republican rhetoric, which has damaged them deeply."

The research was done in July and August. The poll of likely Hispanic voters in the four states has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, Myers said.

What Hispanics care about has been a hot topic in DNC meetings this week, and it is hard to overstate the perceived importance of the Hispanic vote. On Monday, Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke at the Hispanic delegate caucus and, on Wednesday, Michelle Obama appeared before the group.

"There is nothing that will be easy about the next few months," Michelle Obama said. "That's why you all are so important."

Myers' poll shows Barack Obama leading likely rival John McCain by nearly 2-to-1 among Hispanic voters in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

So why the heavy push? Simple, Myers said, Hispanic voter registration rates and voter participation rates are far lower than those of Anglos and blacks.

In 2004, 58 percent of Hispanics ages 18 and older were registered to vote, 11 percentage points below blacks and 17 points below whites, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

And in the 2006 election in Colorado, a state with a Hispanic population of about 20 percent, only 7 percent turned out to vote, exit polling showed. Low turnouts also were seen in Nevada and Arizona.

Some Hispanic leaders, including Richardson, have said the Obama campaign is not doing enough to court the Hispanic vote.

"He needs to visit more, he needs to campaign more in the West," Richardson said this week. "He needs to put more resources in the West, more volunteers, more offices."

Obama's deputy Latino vote director agreed that the Hispanic outreach effort may have started a little late.

"Our campaign for a year leading up to Iowa was focused completely on Iowa," said Carlos Odio. "There wasn't any national campaign or outreach constituency."

It worked in winning Obama the Iowa primary. But a state with a Hispanic population of less than 4 percent provided little practice in courting Hispanics.

Contrast that to Clinton's effort, which included spending $100 million pre-Iowa on a full constituency outreach that included Hispanics, among others.

"We were focused on the numbers," Odio said. "It wasn't about developing relationships per se."

The emphasis now has shifted to "introducing" Obama to Hispanic voters, Odio said.

"One of the things the campaign takes a lot of pride in is something we like to call the enthusiasm gap between our supporters and McCain's supporters," Odio said. "Our supporters are a lot more enthused. But I wouldn't necessarily say that's the case with Hispanics, because they're still getting to know him."

In the 70 or so days before Election Day, he said Obama's activity in the West will pick up:

"We think if we win Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, Barack Obama is president of the United States."

Talk of the convention

"I have a hard time when people like me are Repub- licans. I don't get it because they're not on our side."

Steve Hildebrand, gay man and deputy campaign manager for Barack Obama, speaking to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus

"This is the year the sleeping giant has awakened, and that is you."

Former Denver Mayor Federico Pena to the Hispanic caucus

"They robbed us in Florida in 2000, but not this time. They took our votes in Ohio in 2004, but not this time."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, exhorting the Black Caucus to get out and vote.

"We really need you. We need your having our backs. We need you to pray for us. And we need you to work very hard over the next few months."

Michelle Obama, making a plea for help from the Black Caucus.

"One more conservative judge (on the U.S. Supreme Court) and we lose the Americans with Disabilities Act, we lose the Fair Housing Act, we lose everything that we value."

Julie Reiskin, Denver disabilities advocate, telling the Disability Caucus what she thinks would happen if John McCain wins the White House.

"Sen. McCain had honorably served as a POW and was courageous . . . and he kept faith with his fellow POWs. He has not kept faith with American veterans."

Retired Air Force Col. Dick Klass, telling the Veterans and Military Families Caucus that McCain has been "AWOL" on support for vet programs.

"Let's show the whole world what a woman can do when she puts her mind to it. And let's elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States."

Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson, challenging the Women's Caucus

"If his name was John Jones and he grew up in New York, I think it would be much less of an issue."

Steve Geller, Florida's Senate minority leader, on the challenge of convincing some older Jewish voters that Obama is not an Arab.

Source: Yahoo! News

Latino Markets Becoming Acculturated

August 28, 2009
By George Anderson

Hispanic immigrants find comfort in shopping in stores that offer familiar products and surroundings similar to what they knew at home. Equally true is that the children of those immigrants are looking to fully participate in the American way of life and for Latino markets that means apple pie might be finding space next to pastelito de guayab (Cuban pastries with guava).

According to the NPD Group, the Latino beverage and food market is expected to grow to $8.4 billion over the next three years, a leap of 47 percent over 2006's numbers.

Mainstream retailers such as Walmart in the U.S. have been quick to identify this opportunity and are making efforts to attract Latinos with both traditional products and those that provide them with a symbolic entry to the American way of living.

Harry Balzer of the NPD Group told Marketplace on National Public Radio that children of immigrants are drawn to American supermarkets and Latino stores need to adapt if they are going to appeal to the generations of consumers to follow.

"As you spend more time in America, you all of a sudden start eating ham sandwiches and hot dogs and hamburgers," Mr. Balzer told Marketplace.

Source: Retail Wire

Latino leaders fight stereotyping

August 27th 2008
BY NATASHA KIRTCHUK

The Latino Leaders Network Luncheon was certainly an international room.

The ballroom in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts resonated with the echoes of Spanish and English. The speakers recited their speeches in Spanglish, reading in English but randomly substituting words in Spanish.

During the luncheon, Children’s PressLine caught up with Senator Kenneth McClintock from Puerto Rico who told us that he was attending his 9th consecutive Democratic Convention. McClintock was concerned with the cultural stereotyping that many ethnic groups face.

“We should know another language in addition to English so that we can put it to good use and stop seeing people who are bilingual as people who are inferior,” he said.

Senator Leticia Van De Putte from Texas who spoke about the rights of children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. “I support the current status where regardless of citizenship, children in this country deserve a full education,” she said.

We asked Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa about why young Latinos should vote as he was hurrying out to another event.

“Let me just say that young people need to vote because if anyone has the future at stake, it’s young people- they have the most to lose,” he said. “At a time when so many young people are cynical about politics, we need that energy and optimism that young people have.”

Source: NY Daily News

Tax Opportunities with a Different Accent

August 28, 2008
By Robert W. Scott

Is there a Hispanic customer in your future?

For those outside of the metropolitan areas with many Spanish speakers, the chance may seem remote. But it’s clear, having seen enough Hispanics in my rural Southern Indiana hometown to justify holding a Hispanic food fair, that things are changing in many places.

And for tax preparers that translates into challenge and opportunity.

A visit to the booth at the New York IRS Tax Forum of Latino Tax Services, headed by Manuel Alvarez, who has put together marketing materials to explain the American tax system to Spanish speakers, produced a map that predicts just how dramatically the Hispanic population will rise.

Alvarez has an interesting product called Multi-Tax that enables preparers to handle multiple tax years within the same application. But whether that product is as promising as it appears to be, the real message is that in a market where there is little growth, the Hispanic market is one where there are people with unmet needs, but also different experiences with government and different assumptions about how the system works.

Certainly, I didn’t think my high school and college Spanish would prove useful in my day-to-day life. But it has been useful virtually every day at work in Manhattan and many days on our street in suburban New Jersey in talking to the families of our daughter’s friends. It has helped to have tools to understand others. And in business, one of the keys to success is such an understanding since few people are exact matches for our own experiences and views.

Of course, there are Hispanic preparers to serve Hispanic customers. But it would be a terrible shame if we only have Hispanics dealing with Hispanics simply because opportunity should have a broader base.

Not everyone needs to run out and immediately learn Spanish. On my street, with many Asian neighbors, it’s a little late to also master Mandarin and Gujarati. But there is a need for businesses to have resources to grow and in many cases, having someone in a business that can handle the needs of Hispanics and the software that will make the task easier.

Source: Web CPA

Spanish Radio Association 'Disappointed' in PPM Service

August 27, 2008
Source: Radio Online

The Spanish Radio Association (SRA) issued a statement Wednesday expressing "disappointment" to the recent response by Arbitron to its Hispanic measurement concerns through a communication published on HispanicAd.com on August 19. SRA says the ratings company's public response did not address its concerns or its research questions.

"As broadcasting groups, our focus is with results across markets, not the performance of individual markets or individual stations. Because we recognize the dynamics of radio where the only constant is change we strongly support electronic measurement," SRA wrote.

One of SRA's primary concerns is primarily related to how Hispanics are recruited and represented, and how the PPM panel is maintained. At this time SRA says Arbitron:

    * Is not taking into account the diversity of the Hispanic population.
    * Has not shared information on recruitment to ensure that the diversity of the Hispanic community is reflected.
    * Is knowingly under-sampling the "cell phone only homes," which impacts Hispanic representation disproportionately.
    * Is using the same model across markets and not looking at the diversity and demographics of each in recruitment and measurement models.

"It is significant to note," SRA wrote, "that the only PPM market with MRC accreditation is Houston. A market with in-person recruiting, which Arbitron has indicated they will not use in any other markets. It appears that in trying to rush out PPM, Arbitron is sacrificing the accuracy of the data. If any of the pieces are wrong, then the overall outcome will be wrong. Therefore, if Hispanics are not properly represented, then all of the stations in the market will be impacted and the losers in the end are listeners."

The SRA has also issued a point-by-point response to Aribtron's communication from August 19:

Point-by-Point Response to Arbitron's HispanicAd.com Communication:

Arbitron: "On August 13, 2008 four of the country's top 10 Hispanic markets, including the number one market, officially received their first pre-currency PPM report. Broadcasters are now seeing that some Spanish stations increase their ratings and rank position significantly in PPM."

SRA: This is the exception, but not the rule across the Radio First PPM markets. Changes in station rank are not our concern. We fully expect that market dynamics may change and we accept that. Changes caused by the inaccurate measurement, however, are not acceptable.

Arbitron: "Arbitron first debuted PPM ratings pre-currency reports in New York last October and while an average of 8 percent of our Hispanic panel has been replaced each month with brand new Hispanics, the ratings results in this market have not changed dramatically."

SRA: The extreme variability of these ranking data make the above statement highly questionable. ( Please see or request attached slides to demonstrate instability in New York Spanish-Language stations since PPM launched).

The only thing stable is change. This makes local market planning and buying of radio advertising and the verification of radio audience delivery month to month tenuous, if not impossible.

Arbitron: "Today, the Hispanic PPM sample has also improved to a point where, for the past several months in New York, it has consistently out-performed the diary on nearly every measure."

SRA: This is a very broad statement that needs further clarification. We invite Arbitron to provide specific examples of which metrics they are citing. Does that include response rates? We expect the PPM measurement service ultimately to be better than the diary measurement service.

Arbitron: "Our work is never done and we will continue to put forth an earnest effort to work together with Broadcasters and agencies to improve areas that can benefit from it."

SRA: Is the advantage of commercialization a benefit to advertisers or to Arbitron? Considering the amount of work that needs to be done and Arbitron's timetable for improvements, we urge Arbitron to reconsider its rush to mass commercialization of its PPM products.

Arbitron: "At the same time that we look to the future, I want to take this opportunity to point out the facts on PPM samples today;-In the wave of markets rolling out now, PPM has the largest local market electronic media ratings panel ever maintained. The Hispanic sample size is more than twice the size of the current Nielsen LPM Hispanic panels."

SRA: This is comparing apples-to-oranges. Nielsen meter counts are based on households – not the number of persons or TV's within a household. Sample size does not equate to accuracy. A large sample that improperly represents a market is not better than a smaller sample that properly represents the market. Nielsen has learned that when one is relying on panel measurement, it is very important to have accurate market representation. There are more local radio stations in a market than local TV stations, therefore it requires a larger sample. Additionally, a fair comparison with Nielsen would be to look at the same level of detail about the sample they provide. This was one of the SRA's first requests from Arbitron and they have set no timetable for delivering that analysis.

Arbitron: "The Spanish Dominant Hispanic PPM sample across all 10 deployed markets including New York and L.A. is over-representative of the Hispanic population and performs higher than the diary. The average PPM proportionality in June 2008 was 119 percent where 100 is the goal. The diary method achieved 101 percent in the last survey available survey for all of these markets"

SRA: Arbitron claims a PPM average index of 119 proportionality in New York and Los Angeles. We have difficulty analyzing and interpreting Arbitron's response because their numbers did not take into account the reissue of San Francisco and San Jose PPM data due to implementation of "outdated" language usage populations that were used to process the July 2008 data. According to Arbitron, this mistake affected ethnic weighting in these two markets. Additionally, there are certain embedded markets in which we do not have the data to individually verify. This is not the first time inaccurate data was loaded for PPM, thus resulting in a reissue. These events do not instill confidence in the PPM system within the ethnic broadcasting or advertising community.

Arbitron: "Hispanic Panelists agree to participate in our PPM panels in higher percentages than non-black, non-Hispanics. We cannot say the same thing about the diary service."

SRA: Agree and participate are two different things. Arbitron is assuming their Hispanic sample is 100% representative of each market's Hispanic community. Our research has shown it is not (in terms of proportionality). After numerous requests, we are still awaiting specific information detailing Arbitron's Hispanic recruitment procedures in the PPM service.

Arbitron: "Spanish Dominant PPM panelists participate in higher percentages each day than any other panelists. We cannot say the same thing about the diary service."

SRA: Arbitron is assuming their Hispanic sample is 100% representative of each market's Hispanic population. Our research has shown it is not (i.e. proportionality). We have concerns with how Hispanics are recruited for PPM.

Arbitron: "PPM includes individuals in Cell-Phone-Only homes, whereas the diary does not. These panelists tend to be Hispanic and young. The Cell Phone only population is a fast growing segment of the population and will be an increasingly important part of our panel."

SRA: Arbitron states in the PPM Description of Methodology that they knowingly under-sample the Cell Phone Only homes. Sample balancing by re-weighting is not the way to fix this inequity. We know that because of the considerably lower age of the Hispanic community, the cell phone is of greater importance than any other segments of the market.

Arbitron: "Hispanic 18-34 year olds PPM panelist counts in June are at or above target in 8 out of 9 of our panels. Six are over 100 percent, two are over 97 percent and only Nassau-Suffolk is below target but climbing. The diary service is not performing at this level."

SRA: Arbitron sets its target at 75% of the total installs. In other words, 25% of each market's meters can fail to report usable data but that is the threshold Arbitron has set for 100% in each market. Our concern with this statement is that Arbitron is using a low self-imposed target as their benchmark. This is another example where two separate methodologies are inappropriate for comparison.

Arbitron: "Our Hispanic customers have asked for additional panel characteristics and controls in PPM, such as country of origin, more discrete language weighting by age groups, and in-home, in-person coaching. These measures and controls do not exist in our diary service and they would be yet another way that our electronic service will surpass all former radio ratings collection systems."

SRA: We were not consulted in the development and design phases about the unique characteristics of the Hispanic community and how to best measure their listening behavior. After the fact, we have suggested procedures that are critical to Arbitron's new methodology in order to accurately represent the audience.

Arbitron: "Despite the facts noted above, a concern has been raised that PPM "must be fixed" and must "be made right.‰ Those who have not had an opportunity to see the facts but have seen the headlines in industry trade magazines might assume there is a bias against Hispanics in the ratings. The reality is that in PPM Hispanics have the highest listening levels of any ethnic group. Hispanic stations have among the highest time spent listening in PPM."

We do not disagree that Hispanics listen longer. We disagree with the way Hispanics are recruited. Hispanics cannot be simply classified by language. We have been asking Arbitron for many of their "facts" . . . and, we are still waiting.

Arbitron: "Hispanic stations total weekly count of listeners increase virtually across the board in PPM. Rather than asking what is wrong with the ratings, perhaps the better question is, "why don't my ratings look like the dairy? The difference in ratings between diary and PPM has been quantified and it is because of the measurement tool."

SRA: This is not our point. We strongly believe that additional initiatives need to be implemented in panel management to maintain accurate Hispanic representation. We never expected the PPM results to look like the diary produced data. We invite Arbitron to share the data that quantifies the ratings differences are a function of the PPM instrument and not due to the sample alone.

Arbitron: "After electronic measurement, the Diary is the best radio survey method available and it does a terrific job of measuring core radio listening habits. Yet, anyone who needs to understand why differences in radio listening exist between diary and PPM need only come to Arbitron headquarters to view how the American public records their listening in the diaries. The diary gets the job done well, but there is better way to deliver more granular and timely results with accountability that advertisers demand."

SRA: Our issues are not with the principals of electronic measurement but with specific areas of implementation by Arbitron as it sees to introduce the PPM. It is significant to note that the only PPM market with MRC accreditation is Houston. A market with in-person recruiting, which Arbitron has indicated they will not use in any other markets.

If any of the pieces are wrong, then the overall outcome will be wrong. Therefore, if Hispanic is not properly represented, then all of the stations in the market will be impacted.

Members of the Spanish Radio Association include: Border Media Partners, Spanish Broadcasting System, Entravision Communications amd Univision.

Other states look to California on how to educate growing Latino population

August 27, 2008
BY SHARON NOGUCHI

Latinos make up nearly half of California's K-12 public school students, and their numbers are surging across the country, underscoring a growing challenge for educators who are looking to the Golden State for ways to adapt to the changing face of America's classrooms.

Almost one in three of the country's Latino students go to school in California. But the numbers, revealed Tuesday in one of the first comprehensive looks at Latinos in public schools, show Latinos now make up the largest minority student group in 22 states.

Since 1990, the number of Latino school-age children nationwide grew 94 percent and now is projected to swell 166 percent through 2050. By contrast, whites, blacks, Asians and other non-Hispanics in K-12 edged up just 9 percent in the same 16 years, and will slow to 4 percent growth through 2050, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

The changing dynamics are playing out in California, where educators are struggling to address an academic achievement gap between Latinos and blacks and their higher-performing Asian and white peers.

In Santa Cruz County, where Latinos make up 48 percent of 38,000 total public school students, Superintendent Michael Watkins of the County Office of Education said the challenges of addressing the needs of English learners is nothing new.

"In this county, we've been immersed in that reality for a number of years now," he said. "We have ongoing ways to refine our efforts in ensuring that the equity is there for all students."

At the Two-Way Immersion Program at DeLaveaga Elementary in Santa Cruz, teachers offer instruction in both Spanish and English. Migrant Head Start, run by the county office, provides childcare and education for more than 700 children of agricultural workers.

The numbers of Latinos nationally who identified themselves as fluent in English were surprising. While 70 percent of Latino students speak a language other than English at home, 82 percent speak English fluently, according to the Pew report.

But the low education level of Latino parents is putting a greater burden on schools to guide students toward college and career tracks, experts say.

Without parents who understand the school system, "they are at a startling disadvantage," said Richard Fry, one of the authors of the Pew study. At Harbor High in Santa Cruz, parents can take a course in Spanish designed to help them navigate their children's preparation for college. But the biggest challenge for schools is still educating immigrant students, especially those who start school at an older age. Students who don't become fluent in English are more likely to drop out.

Source: The Mercury News