Education Law

Demographic shifting

Two years ago this week, the U.S. population topped 300 million people, and it continues to grow. One reason for this growth is the surge of Hispanic Americans, and that's not showing any signs of changing. In fact, last month, the U.S. Census Bureau released a statement saying that in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, one in five speak Spanish. Nationwide about 35 million Americans speak Spanish at home.

So a recent report about minority college "attainment" caught our attention. According to the American Council on Education, between 1995 and 2005 minority college attendance rose to 5 million students. But there are gaps between groups that are concerning. For example, "in 2006, among 18 to 24 year olds, 61 percent of Asian Americans were in college. That compares with 44 percent of whites, 32 percent of blacks, and 25 percent of Hispanics."

NSBA's Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) has conducted three studies in recent years looking at school climate. In the 2006 Where We Learn, eight in ten students surveyed said that they plan to continue their education after high school. In the 2008 What We Think report, parents overwhelmingly thought that their child would continue his or her education after high school with 84 percent agreeing with that statement. According to the study, whites were the highest in agreement with 90 percent, while blacks and Hispanics were 81 percent and 83 percent respectively.

There are some parallels here, and we know that there is work that needs to be done to serve the urban districts in America. As educators, parents, teachers, principals, school board members, or just plain-old citizens of the U.S.A., what does it mean if students lose the idea that they can work hard and go to college and live a productive, tax paying, constructive life? Hopefully we can work together to spread the promise of the American dream to children of all ethnicities-- we know our future depends on it.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).