Abogados de Inmigracion

By Profesor Martin N. Danenberg “El Quijote del GED”

Here is very critical information about the target percentage that passed the GED in 2003. You can see the states that are below the national average (1.2 percent) by state: Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, California, District of Columbia, and Delaware. Those states that are at the national level are Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and West Virginia. No state compares with Alaska with 4.6.

The states with percentages below the national level (44.9 percent) for women include Wyoming, Mississippi, Iowa, Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota, Missouri, Nevada, Utah, South Carolina, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Alaska, Michigan, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Delaware. Wyoming is 44.7, Maryland 38.1, and Delaware is 31.2. These figures may indicate that women’s rights groups ought to be focusing on the GED issue for women now.

Statistics of those who passed the test in 2003 show that 19.3 percent of the known population is Hispanic and 14.6 percent is African American. New York has the highest percentage for Hispanics and the District of Columbia for African Americans. Their percentages are far higher than other locations. Florida has a low percentage of people who are Hispanic and African Americans are low in New York. Although higher percentages exist in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the percentages are under 30 percent in each of those states, making Whites much more competitive there. Maryland is 37.9 percent (for African Americans) which puts it in second place and there are no other states above 30 percent. It is quite possible that African Americans are falling behind in education levels.

In French GED, New Jersey started testing in 2003 (it did not in 2002), testing 207 and New York increased its lead testing 1,211. There were only 1,577 tested in 2003 in the United States. The absence of anyone tested in most of our nation, but especially Florida and Massachusetts, shows unequal delivery of public services. Ohio started testing people in Spanish in 2003 (it did not in 2002), testing 44, but several states did not test anyone in Spanish and those states have Spanish dominant residents. This again shows unequal delivery of public services. Nobody tested in Spanish in Canada in 2003 and only 333 in French, mostly in New Brunswick. Quebec is not part of the system and is becoming less and less competitive each year because it does not give the GED to its residents.

Please feel free to contact me about getting more information about this very important national issue. I would strongly suggest that the Governor’s Conference hold meetings about the GED, unite, and eliminate regulations that make their residents less competitive. The states that I single out include, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and North Carolina. Puerto Rico is on that list too. California and Delaware must be singled out for low delivery of GED’s to the people and the District of Columbia too.

MARTIN N. DANENBERG
7 BLAZER DRIVE
ISLANDIA, NY 11749
GEDHOTLINE@AOL.COM
631-348-1341
WWW.GEOCITIES.COM/GEDHOTLINE
WWW.AHORRE.COM