Democrats are panicked by President Trump’s increasing popularity within black and Hispanic communities. According to a recent Rasmussen poll, Donald Trump has the support of over 34% of black registered voters. Neither the left nor the right could have imagined quite a shift four years ago.

While leftist media outlets such as the New York Times and CNN dismiss and even ridicule Trump’s poll numbers with minority voters, black and Hispanic workers have a surplus of personal anecdotes that underscore the reality of higher wages and the lowest unemployment rates in U.S. history (5.5% and 3.9% respectively). In addition, Trump’s popularity has been bolstered by long-term investment capital pouring into low-income communities through the highly successful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

In an unexpected rebuke to never-ending assertions of racism by leftists and the national media, President Trump has received the lion’s share of credit for last year’s First Step Act. This law has been embraced by minorities as a substantial criminal reform bill that has challenged many to reconsider their blind support of Democrats. Add to that efforts by the White House to aid ex-felons in finding jobs and it is easy to see why Trump is winning support from unexpected places.

Backing from the minority community is good news for those of us wanting the president’s re-election efforts strengthened heading into 2020. It’s not only President Trump who will benefit from the positive outcomes his policies have had throughout black and Hispanic communities. Purple district Republicans find themselves in an enviable position due to the rising tide of minorities walking away from a Democratic party that for fifty years has been long on promises while substantially devaluing the quality of their lives.

Urgent steps need to be taken by Republicans, however, in order to maintain this trend over the long term.

Throughout inner-city communities across the country, restlessness among black and Hispanic families is being rightly directed at local school districts that leave their young people unable to read or perform basic math. Malcolm X correctly stated, “Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world.” As businesspeople of color such as Robert Smith and Gisel Ruiz gain prominence, there is finally a broadening realization within minority communities of the tangible relationship between educational success and personal financial success.

Republicans can capitalize on the left’s staggering inner-city failures two ways: First, by creating national dialogue and introducing bills on Capitol Hill around facilitating school choice, voucher programs, and charter schools in low-income Opportunity Zones. Any of the three are a proactive means for underserved communities to gain access to better education.

Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Secretary, is an enormous advocate of school choice, vouchers, and charter schools. Ms. DeVos has the boldness and tough-as-nails skin to help Donald Trump make these forms of education one of Congress’ top priorities heading into his second term. Along with Republicans in the House and Senate, the president should put a full court press on Democrats, to the point of shame, until they acquiesce to school choice, voucher programs, and charter schools in Opportunity Zones where schools are failing.

This is not a proposition with a short-term outcome. It could understandably take years for black and Hispanic groups to fully grasp the material impact education alternatives have made on their communities. Still, it is a result worth pursuing that will not only benefit the party that drives these alternatives, but more importantly elevates America’s most vulnerable citizens who have long been oppressed at the hands of Democrats and so-called community activists. Just as minorities are citing Trump as the reason for low unemployment, blacks and Hispanics will undeniably acknowledge that it was the party of Lincoln that pushed for radical and meaningful education reform.

Second, President Trump should make it his top priority to roll out a nationwide plan that provides high school-aged students with skills training that is delivered independent of public schools.

A nationwide study conducted by America’s Promise Alliance revealed that the average inner-city student dropout rate starting from their freshman year is a stunning 47%. These “dropout factories” produce so few graduates because students and their families find little incentive or personal value in attending.

Establishing trade schools within inner cities would give teenagers opportunities for genuine career paths in trades that provide real earning potential.

Consider this: The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2017, the individual median annual income was a mere $31,099. At the same time, the average plumber’s apprentice earned $32,390 annually. The average plumber earned $64,790 -- nearly twice that of U.S. median annual income. Trade workers in the oil and gas industry, avionics, heavy equipment operation, HVAC, and electrical installation trades, to name just a few, have the prospect of even higher earnings.

By creating an aggressive program that establishes high school level trade schools within inner cities, teens from low-income families who complete training, work in a trade and subsequently marry another person with a skilled-labor job could easily have a dual household income well in excess of $100,000 per year. Think about the transformational power such a nationwide program would have on black and Hispanic communities. Instead of being spoon-fed the politics of envy, low-income families would be given the prospect of prosperity.

With the prospect of implementation, Democrats, because they simply can’t help themselves, would try to add as many layers of bureaucracy to these programs as possible. To subvert this, Republicans can write legislation that frames oversight of community trade schools in a way that federal and state regulation is abated while still securing safe learning and working standards. In contrast to how things are typically done in Washington, implementation of such a plan can be unbelievably simple.

To foster success and longevity, this type of program would require strong legs on which to stand once the student nears completion of his skills training. For this reason, it’s vital that the legislation offer tax incentives to employers who provide paid, hands-on apprenticeships during what would normally be considered the student’s senior year.

Finally, by stipulating that allocated student funds within a school district be channeled to the trade school the student attends, there would be no additional expense to the American taxpayer. Rather, trade school graduates could result in hundreds of thousands of new middle-class taxpayers with the result being a monetary windfall for state and federal coffers.

Would deviations of public funds have a negative financial impact on inner-city schools? Minimally. Most inner-city students attending trade schools would be the same ones who would have dropped out of local schools. Districts that aren’t already receiving funding for dropouts would experience very little financial effect. With little to no financial impact on local schools, anticipated cries of foul by leftists could be easily negated.

Within a single low-income community, as few as four to five trade schools would be able to offer training in 30 or more different trades. America is truly the land of opportunity and high school level trade schools are a pragmatic way to provide black and Hispanic communities with income opportunities that are critically absent through traditional inner-city schools.

If the Republican goal of implementing skills training and better education for low-income communities is solely for political gain, these programs will fail just as dreadfully as any Democrat-inspired social program that ever lived. However, when the goal is to truly uplift black and Hispanic families, Republicans will surely benefit -- as will our country as a whole. Within the successful policies of Donald Trump’s first three years lies the proof.

Instead of failed social programs that keep minorities enslaved and voting for Democrats year after year, helping them prosper would win Republicans the minority vote the right way.