Minorities Now a Majority in State’s Schools

Most of California’s 4.6 million public school students began a new school year Tuesday, and state education officials said that for the first time there will be more minority than Anglo students enrolled.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, in his annual back-to-school message, said the growth in minority enrollments marks a new era for California’s public school system.

“We are going to have to work with the most diverse group of youngsters we have seen,” Honig told reporters at a Capitol news conference.

The Department of Education released statistics showing that non-Anglo students are the fastest growing segment of the statewide public school population.

This year, Anglo students enrolled in kindergarten through high school will make up 49.2% of a record statewide student enrollment of 4.6 million, compared to 30.7% Latino, 9% black and 11.1% Asian and others.

Comparison to 1966

By comparison, in 1966, 75.2% of California public school students were Anglo, compared to 13.5% Latino, 8.2% black and the rest Asian and other minority groups.

While the state is just reaching the milestone, Anglos have been a minority in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 1969. Only about 16.9% of the district’s 590,000 students last year were non-Latino whites.

As for California as a whole, the state Department of Finance said its most recent population breakdown, for July, 1987, showed that 60% of the state’s population was white, compared to 23% Latino, 7% black, and 9% Asian and other minority groups.

Demographic experts said there were two chief reasons for the trend in school enrollments.

Mary Heim, a population researcher for the Department of Finance, said state studies show that “nonwhite groups, especially Hispanic and black, tend to have more children” than their Anglo counterparts.

Heim also said that large numbers of immigrants have poured into California from Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central America and other parts of the world. She said that California’s population grew by 662,000 in 1987, with 57% of the increase attributed to immigration to California and 43% to the net increase of births over deaths.

Education officials minimize the effect of white flight, the movement of Anglo students out of public schools into private schools. One state Department of Education official said that private school enrollment statewide has remained steady in recent years.

And officials said they have seen no strong evidence that greater numbers of Anglo students are leaving public schools. The state does not compile figures on the ethnic makeup of private schools.

Challenges Seen

This year, enrollment in California’s 7,125 public schools is up about 120,000 students over last year. The previous record of 4.45 million was in 1970, the peak of the post--World War II baby boom years in public schools. During the 1970s, school enrollments began to decline, but then began to increase again in the 1980s.

Honig said the changing ethnic makeup of the school population presents educators with challenges because many of the students come from poorer families and have difficulty with English. Honig said various statistical studies show that Californians, on average, are generally poorer and less educated than residents of other industrial states.

Honig said the school system will continue to place strong emphasis on academic subjects--English, mathematics, history, science--but that the changing demographics also mean that the school system must continue to improve on special programs for minority groups, such as bilingual education. About 600,000 students in California are deficient in their ability to read and write English, Honig said.

“These kids are up to it, but we have to give them the right kinds of programs,” Honig said. “There is no reason why this state can’t educate a diverse student body to a high level of excellence.”

Unskilled Labor

The schools chief said that by the year 2000 there will be a major decline in the need for unskilled labor, so the school system will have to do a better job of keeping students in school and giving them the technical training they will need to compete in the marketplace. “If you don’t graduate from high school, you are in deep trouble,” Honig said.

Honig said he expects the school population to grow by 850,000 in the next five or six years.

According to figures provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District, Latinos were the largest ethnic group in the district last year, with 56.9% of the students, followed by blacks at 17.7%; Anglos, 16.9%; Asians and Pacific Islanders, 6.5%, Filipinos at 1.8% and American Indians at 0.2%.

The state’s largest school district has not had a majority of white pupils since 1969. The proportion of ethnic minorities has climbed steadily since 1970, when whites accounted for 49.9% of the student enrollment and blacks, Latinos, Asians and others for the other 50.1%.

On another subject, Honig said he will continue to “negotiate” with developers and legislators to get a $1-billion bond issue for new school construction on the ballot in 1990. Both the Senate and Assembly passed legislation that would have put the bond measure on the ballot, but the Assembly rescinded its action shortly before it adjourned last Thursday.

The Assembly action pulling back its vote was an outgrowth of a bitter fight between school interests and developers over fees tacked onto new housing to help finance school construction. Legislation sought by developers to either reduce fees or eliminate them in some cases was defeated in the Senate.

Times education writer Elaine Woo in Los Angeles contributed to this story. CHANGES IN ETHNIC ENROLLMENT Anglos no longer account for a majority of students in California’s public elementary and high schools, and their share of total enrollment is expected to decline further over the next decade.

1966 1988 2000 (est.) Anglo 75.2% 49.2% 42.7% Latino 13.6 30.7 35.1 Black 8.2 9.0 9.3 Asian 2.2 7.6 8.8 Filipino 0.5 2.2 2.6 Pacific Islander n/a 0.5 0.6 American Indian/ Native Alaskan 0.3 0.8 0.9

Source: California Department of Education