[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Last week I refuted the notion that the rising Hispanic population will doom the Southwest to becoming the Appalachia of the 21st century with data from Florida.

What?????? This makes no sense. Appalachia of the 21st century? I'm Appalachian, and I don't know what the hell you're talking about here...

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

To pretend that the Caucasian/Castilian Cuban "Hispanics" in Florida bear any resemblance whatsover to the Aboriginal/Mestizo "Hispanics" in Arizona is worse than ludicrous: It is intentional statistical fraud.

And yes, the Southwest will be the "Appalachia" of the 21st century.

[Clemenza]

This is ridiculous.

The Hispanic population of Florida includes a large number of middle and upper class Cubans and South Americans, who came here with education and bourgeois values. Many are also of European ancestry.

By contrast, the Hispanic population of Arizona is overwhelmingly comprised of Mexicans of Amerindian heritage, many of whom are very poor.

[x]

Poor taste in your headline and first line.

Nowadays you have to assume that anything posted on the Internet gets read by everybody everywhere.

For punishment we're going to use Arizona as an example of the worst place on earth for the rest of the year.

As in, "Yes, things are bad in Burkina Faso, but still, it's not like it's Arizona or anything ..."

[jmyrlefuller]

The difference is that there’s nobody left IN Appalachia. They’re all running south.

Meanwhile, corrupt big city interests and union cronies in NYC and Philly get to run things, especially in northern Appalachia, and the people who remain get the shaft.

I doubt Arizona will ever have that problem... unless they run out of water.

[GatorGirl]

I think the point of a “different class” of Hispanics is well taken, although Florida does have plenty of illegals and migrant farmworkers.

Our proximity to Puerto Rico, South America and Cuba is responsible for the difference in backgrounds of a number of Hispanics. I don’t think it’s so much a racial (Caucasian Hispanic vs. Mestizo) difference as a social and educational difference.

However, the point of the article, which many here miss, is that Jeb Bush’s FCAT, which the teachers unions despise, by the way, has been a boon to education in Florida. It’s just sickening how the teachers cry, whine and gnash their teeth over the FCAT. I say I had to take plenty of standardized tests in school and how are we going to know how our kids are doing if we don’t have some sort of objective test?

They’d rather go all touchy-feely and socially promote. I say Hurrah! to the FCAT!!!

[stainlessbanner]

Florida has a large migrant worker population from ranching and agriculture. I wonder if AZ is the same way.

Regardless, Jeb Bush and Florida public schools are nothing to brag about. The HS graduation rate is pretty low.