You make a valid point here. I am not sure that I believe that there is something cultural involved in valuing education for the opportunities it presents. There are many educated Latinos who have moved up the socio-economic ladder through higher education. However, I teach ESL to a predominantly Latino population (usually from Mexico) in a charter high school in Denver, and I don't always see a large percentage of this population truly understanding the importance of education the way I did when I was their age. Many are struggling teen mothers, and many work outrageous hours for peanuts. They all have problems I did not have at their age. I had the luxury of going to state colleges (grad and undergrad) and was able to make education a priority in my life. It's more than simply having an overbearing pushy Jewish mother who made sure we did our homework every night. What about having role models? What about good sex education? What about immigrants' rights? What about language/culture barriers?