The Changing Landscape of American Public Education: New Students, New Schools

This report examines the following trends in public education: an increase in enrollment because of the growth of the Hispanic population and an increase in the number of schools. The starting point for this analysis is the 1993-1994 school year, and the ending point is the 2002-2003 school year. The total school counts and enrollment statistics used throughout the report are for 48 States and the District of Columbia. Two States are excluded because their racial/ethnic enrollment data was incomplete—Tennessee and Idaho. Hispanics account for 64 percent of the students added to public school enrollment. Meanwhile, Blacks account for 23 percent of the increase and Asians account for 11 percent. White enrollment declined by 1 percent. During the same period, 15,368 schools, with an enrollment of 6.1 million in 2002-2003, were opened. Nearly half of the students attending the new schools were White (2.5 million). In contrast, about two-thirds of the increase in Latino enrollment was accommodated in older schools. Data show that despite population change, White students continue to attend schools populated primarily by other White students. Data also show that a relatively small number of schools absorbed most of the increase in Hispanic enrollment and that those schools differ in important ways from schools less affected by Hispanic population growth. The schools that experienced the largest growth in Hispanic enrollment were generally larger, had more students on Federal subsidies, and also had greater teacher–student ratios. The final section of the report examines the changes in schools that have experienced a significant increase in Hispanic enrollment.