LatinaLista — It’s no secret that Latinos can no longer be defined as only living in the “Little Mexico,” “Little Havana” or any other Hispanic-centric part of a city. Latinos have been moving to the suburbs for years now and it’s been accepted that Latino, black and Asian students would be outnumbered at their new schools in the suburbs.
A group of suburban high school students.
Yet, a new report from Pew Hispanic Research suggests that while the suburban migration of families of color has been increasing over the years, for some reason, not all schools reflect the same level of diversity that exist in the suburban neighborhoods.
The Rapid Growth and Changing Complexion of Suburban Public Schools report found that Hispanic students have become more segregated in suburban public schools over the last decade, even while blacks and Asians have become slightly less isolated.
The report featured several other notable findings:
- White students comprised 59 percent of suburban public school enrollment, down from 72 percent in 1993. Hispanics, who now make up 20 percent of enrollment compared with 11 percent in 1993, were the primary driver of overall growth.
- Minority students tended to cluster in schools where blacks, Hispanics and Asians made up the majority of students, rather than being evenly spread among schools.
- Nationally, blacks, Hispanics and Asians saw modest declines overall in segregation since 1993.
Blacks and Asian students have achieved better integration into schools than Hispanic students and the study found that Latino students seem to get clustered into the suburban schools.
The obvious reason seems to have to do with language issues or perceived language issues. If so, all the more reason to make the argument that Hispanic students need to be better integrated into the schools so as to more quickly learn the language and feel a part of the school.
