Latino youth constitute slightly over half of the students in California’s public K-12 school system

According to 2009 data, 37% of California’s African American public high school students dropped out before graduation. Latino public high school students in the Golden State were right behind their black classmates with a dropout rate of 27%. Whites make up just 46% of California’s adult population, but account for 66% of the state’s likely voters. Only 34% of Latino adults are likely to vote, compared to 44% of Asians, 57% of blacks and 73% of whites.