Texas schools: Fewer white children; many more low-income kids

Such an important, critical topic in our state.  Excellent commentary by Dr. Iliana Alanís:

“There is a growing understanding that the foundation for academic success is established when children are very young–birth through age eight,” she said.
“Additionally, evidence reveals high quality bilingual programs from pre-k to 6th grade can raise achievement for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds who speak a language other than English and who have not had the same opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for academic success.

Closing the achievement gap between this group and native-English speakers is going to take more money to ensure quality instructional materials, teacher training, specialized staffing, program evaluation, and other essential components consistent with quality bilingual instructional models, such as dual language programs, she said..

“TABE also believes that all children need and deserve both expanded and improved access to universal pre-kinder programs as vehicles to better prepare children to enter the classroom,” Alanis said.

Enrollment statistics for the state of Texas may be found here:  http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/research/pdfs/enrollment_2008-09.pdf

-Angela

Texas schools: Fewer white children; many more low-income kids

If you want see the face of Texas in a few years, look at public schools where the number of white children has declined every year since reaching a high water mark of 1,750,561 million in the 1997-96 school year.

By last year, the number of white children had dropped to 1,608,515 compared to 2,264,367 Hispanic children.

Hispanic enrollment has increased in all 20 regional education service centers during the past 10 years while white student enrollment has decreased in 17 of those 20 regions, according to a recent report compiled by the Texas Education Agency.

The only areas showing modest increase in the number of white students were the Austin, Fort Worth and Huntsville regional education service centers.

Perhaps the most dramatic finding in the education study comes with the number of low-income children pouring into the public schools. Over the past 10 years, school enrollment has increased by 795,137 students. The number of children from low-income families (who qualify for free and reduced school lunches) has increased by 770,778 during that same period. Essentially, it means that 97 percent of our enrollment increase has come from low-income families.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte On a one-way, dead end

It’s inherently more costly to educate children from low-income backgrounds. Failure to reach them or to catch them up often leaves those students at risk of dropping out by the time they reach the 9th or 10th grades.
Not enough lawmakers understand the dynamics facing school districts with large populations of children from low-income families, says Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.

Various legislative study groups on education seldom include lawmakers who represent those districts, she says. The lack of such a perspective puts the state on “a one-way street that’s a dead end,” she said.

Earlier this decade, Steve Murdock projected that average Texas household incomes would be $6,500 less in 2040 than they were in 2000 if the current trend line does not change. The projected drop in household income was not adjusted for inflation, meaning the number could be even more dramatic.
Without action, “Texas will become less competitive as we go forward. It will become a state that’s poorer and less educated and less competitive,” said Murdock, a sociality professor at Rice University and the former state demographer and past director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Dealing with the situation requires more attention for quality early childhood programs and enrichment forms of bilingual education, said Iliana Alanís president of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education and an assistant professor of Early Childhood Education at The University of Texas at San Antonio.

“There is a growing understanding that the foundation for academic success is established when children are very young–birth through age eight,” she said.

“Additionally, evidence reveals high quality bilingual programs from pre-k to 6th grade can raise achievement for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds who speak a language other than English and who have not had the same opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for academic success.

Closing the achievement gap between this group and native-English speakers is going to take more money to ensure quality instructional materials, teacher training, specialized staffing, program evaluation, and other essential components consistent with quality bilingual instructional models, such as dual language programs, she said..

“TABE also believes that all children need and deserve both expanded and improved access to universal pre-kinder programs as vehicles to better prepare children to enter the classroom,” Alanis said.

“Economically, socially, and politically Latino children are important to the future of Texas. To maintain a strong economy and be globally competitive it is critical for all children to receive the education they need today for a stronger workforce tomorrow.,” she said. “Additionally as a growing proportion of the future electorate, it is important for Latino children to become informed and engaged citizens who can participate fully in society.”