Hispanic children dominate elementary schools

One in five kindergarteners are Hispanic
LATINO JOURNAL E-NEWS

The Associate Press released an article last Thursday announcing that nearly one in four kindergarteners in the United States is Hispanic. Such a growth in Hispanic youth population is certain to influence political debate, from jobs and immigration to the No Child Left Behind education, for years. The article was based on recently released U.S. Census Bureau data.

The following are key points highlighted in the article:

- Make up of Hispanics students is primarily in the states of:

* New Mexico 54%
* California 47%
* Texas 44%
* Arizona 40%

- Hispanics account for more than 23 percent of kindergartners in private and public schools
- More Hispanic kindergartners in 2007 were U.S.-born than foreign-born.
- Fifty-three percent of Hispanic 4-year-olds were enrolled in nursery school, compared with 43 percent in 1997 and 21 percent in 1987.
- In 2007, more than 40 percent of all students in K-12 were minorities - Hispanics, blacks, Asian-Americans and others.
- About 58 percent of children enrolled in grades K-12 are non-Hispanic whites.
- Hispanics made up 12 percent of full-time undergraduate and graduate students.

The accelerated growth is due to births and immigration among Hispanics and Asians, and declining birth rates among non-Hispanic whites.

The census data was based on the Current Population Survey. Data on U.S. regions and states came from the 2007 American Community Survey, the government's annual survey of about 3 million households. – LJ