Thread: Hispanic kids bolster boom at U.S. schools

Hispanic kids bolster boom at U.S. schools

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... hools.html

By EUNICE MOSCOSO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/06/06

Washington — Georgia and other Southeastern states have seen the nation's largest percentage growth in enrollment of Hispanic students in their public schools, according to a study released Thursday.

At 390 percent, Georgia's increase was the fourth-largest in the nation, behind those of Arkansas and North and South Carolina, according to the report by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group. Alabama was fifth.

Some metro Atlanta area school systems have seen their proportion of Hispanic students increase more than sixfold over a decade.

The report covers the period between the 1993-94 and 2003-04 school years, the most recent data available. It says the number of Hispanic students in Georgia schools increased from about 19,000 to 93,000.

During the same period, the study says, the number of white students in Georgia increased 7.6 percent to 792,000; the number of black students increased 26.8 percent to 572,000; Asian students increased 117.6 percent to 37,000; and American Indian students increased 21 percent to 2,300.

Fueled by the burgeoning Hispanic population, the number of public school children nationwide increased by 4.7 million from 1993 to 2003, the largest growth since the baby boomer generation started school. Hispanic students accounted for 64 percent of the total growth, or about 3 million children.

"Latinos have been the key [to the growth of] student population over all of American public education," said Richard Fry, a senior researcher at the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the study.

The impact of high rates of immigration in the 1980s and 1990s — which produced an influx of young Hispanic adults in their prime childbearing years — is most evident in the numbers of Hispanic students in elementary schools, the study says.

From 1993 to 2003, Hispanic enrollment in public elementary schools increased by 1.6 million — roughly four times the number for black students and eight times that for Asians. During the same time, white enrollment declined by 1.2 million, the study shows.

Sloan Roach, a spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia's largest school system, said Hispanic students account for about a fifth of the county's enrollment, up from 3 percent in 1993.

"Our school system has become more diverse both ethnically and socio-economically," she said.

More bilingual staff

The number of students with limited English proficiency increased from 1,473 in May 1994 to 15,185 in May 2005, she said. During the same period, the number of students who primarily speak a language other than English increased from about 3,900 to nearly 41,000.

The changing enrollment has caused the school to hire more bilingual staff and teachers for English for Speakers of Other Languages classes, Roach said.

In the Cobb County school district, the number of Hispanic students has increased from 2,215 in 1996 to around 14,000 currently, said spokesman Jay Dillon.

The increase has prompted the school district to hire more teachers and staff who speak Spanish and Portuguese, the native language of the county's growing number of Brazilian immigrants.

Dillon said the new population presents challenges for both the school system's budget and its efforts to meet academic requirements under the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act.

In the DeKalb County school system, Hispanics constitute about 5 percent of high school students, 7 percent of middle school students and 11 percent of elementary school students, according to the district's


The Pew Center report also shows that the nation has seen a boom in the construction of new schools, with more than 15,000 built between 1993 and 2003. That marks the most vigorous school construction period in the United States since the 1920s.

Most Hispanic students, however, are being educated in schools built before 1993. The report does not provide a reason, but Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California, said new immigrants often settle in older neighborhoods and inner cities.

"There is a correlation between port-of-entry communities and older schools," he said.

The situation will likely change over time, as Hispanics become more affluent and educated and move to suburban communities and other areas, he said.

"Hispanics are just like all other Americans. They want the dream of the house in the suburbs with the yard, the fence and the dog," he said.

Hispanics are just like all other Americans. They want the dream of the house in the suburbs with the yard, the fence and the dog," he said.

A fence? No....no fences.

Originally Posted by crazybird

Hispanics are just like all other Americans. They want the dream of the house in the suburbs with the yard, the fence and the dog," he said.

A fence? No....no fences.

Crazybird that's funny

Hispanic Americans want a yard, fence and a dog, NOT the illegals!

Crazybird....I need that laugh!!!

I might add, they also want chickens in their backyards, and cars on their lawns (I know..I've seen it first-hand).

A house that will hold at least 20 people!

might add, they also want chickens in their backyards, and cars on their lawns (I know..I've seen it first-hand).

And a taco stand and bar on every corner........

A fence? No....no fences.

cb!

Originally Posted by americangirl

Crazybird....I need that laugh!!!

I might add, they also want chickens in their backyards, and cars on their lawns (I know..I've seen it first-hand).