Hispanic pupils surging
Their Utah growth tops whites by a hefty margin

By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News
Some 71 percent of Utah's new public and charter school students over the past five years have been minorities, and that growth was largely fueled by a booming Hispanic population, the Utah Office of Education reports.
Utah schools gained 20,188 Hispanic students between 2000 and 2005, more growth than every other ethnic/racial group combined, including white students, according to the education office.
The 62,218 Hispanic students enrolled statewide now account for about 12 percent of students, said Patty Murphy, state education finance and budgeting specialist.
Overall, Utah's school population grew by 34,743 students over five years to a statewide enrollment of 510,012. Hispanic students accounted for 58 percent of that growth.
The growth has been largely in areas with strong job markets and bedroom communities, new construction and comparatively affordable housing, Murphy said.
"Our numbers coincide perfectly with new housing construction," she said. "The numbers are audited, and we feel pretty confident about it."
One-year growth in the total school population was also rapid, up by 14,330 students this year, the highest one-year growth since 1982, Murphy said. Next year's growth is expected to continue at about the same rate, she said.
She said nationwide signs that housing markets are cooling could impact that growth somewhat.
"Utah has its own independent job growth and housing market," she said. "It could cool off, but it's definitely not going to drop suddenly or drastically."
Utah's minority student population boom will be among topics discussed today at the Utah Education Deans Colloquium 2005 at Thanksgiving Point.
Murphy said the increasing numbers of minority students â€â€