Gonzalez is president of California State University San Marcos. He was a member of President Bush's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

We learned recently from the UCLA Center for Study of Latino Health and Culture that one-half of the children born in California during the second half of 2001 were Hispanic. This startling statistic should serve as a wake-up call.

In 16 years, more or less, these infants should be knocking on the doors of the state's colleges and universities. However, if current trends continue, one-third of those children will not complete high school. That will leave a staggering percentage of our population under-educated and under-productive. Can our economy thrive in that situation?

President Bush's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, on which I served, has just issued its final report and recommendations on how we, as a nation, should change this gloomy outlook. The commission, comprised of 17 Americans with diverse experiences and views, spent the last 18 months talking to and hearing from more than 1,600 experts, parents, teachers, students and business and community leaders. Even though I consider myself informed on these issues, I found the experience enlightening.

The group decided on six major recommendations. I will focus on just two because I have particular experience with them. Interested readers can visit www.yesican.gov to learn about the others.

1. Teacher quality. Research shows that the most important variable in teaching and learning by any individual is the quality of their teacher. The commission learned that students who had three effective teachers in a row scored in the 85th percentile at the end of fifth grade. Students with three ineffective teachers in a row scored in the 29th percentile. There is little question that teacher preparation must be one of our highest priorities.

Not only must we prepare teachers for teaching, we must prepare them for the kind of students they will teach. We don't have enough teachers from the ethnic groups that are changing the face of our population. While working to change that, we must instill in the student teachers we have a cultural sensitivity to the needs of students from different backgrounds.

We also must help good teachers stay in their profession. We must work to reduce an attrition rate that approaches 50 percent after a few years. Teachers need better pay, more training, and more stability in their work environment.

The commission also recommended creating an award to recognize teacher preparation programs that provide the best training for teachers of Hispanic students. Members would like to see repeated attention for this issue through an award similar to the Baldridge Award for Quality.

2. The Hispanic college experience. The commission was reminded that only about 10 percent of Hispanics make it through college. That figure has held steady for almost three decades despite greatly increased numbers of Hispanic students entering college. While more Hispanic students need to complete high school and be eligible to enter college, perhaps the more pressing concern is helping students complete their four-year degree.

The commission challenged post-secondary education institutions to graduate 10 percent more Hispanic students each year for the next decade. The commission believes that "by focusing on key activities that colleges and universities already perform," the goal can be attained.

The commission also recommended assisting Hispanic families to understand college financial aid options and creating strategic alliances between community colleges and four-year institutions.

Not every student will go to college. But every student who demonstrates the ability and has the desire ought to be able to take her or his education as far as possible.

If we can, as a nation, make progress in these areas and others, we will be able to prepare Hispanic children to make their contribution to the vitality of the economy. If we cannot, we risk leaving that group unprepared to compete in an increasingly technical, knowledge-driven workplace.

I don't believe we can afford not to tackle, and solve, this problem. The Hispanic children being born in California each year deserve an opportunity at the best future they can earn.