Maryland Schools Prepare for Increased Diversity

 

Maryland public school enrollment data show that 48 percent of the students in the state’s 24 school systems are white according to the Baltimore Sun.  African-Americans represent 38 percent of the school population, Hispanics 8 percent and Asian-Americans most of the remaining 6 percent.
The shift officially took place in 2004, after a decrease in the number of white students and growth in the number of minorities. But schools have been adjusting to the change over several years – increasing classes for non-English speakers, using translators for parent nights and creating smaller classes in schools with large numbers of minority students.
In Howard County, the school system provided interpreters for 2,000 conferences between parents and teachers; 16 of the county’s 38 elementary schools have a larger minority enrollment than white.  Maryland’s total population is not majority nonwhite, but it is one of 15 states in which public school enrollment is predominantly minority.
The changing demographics are a result of several factors, including a drop in the white birth rate and the departure of families for cheaper housing in Pennsylvania, according to Mark Goldstein of the Maryland Department of Planning. From 2002 to 2006, Hispanic school enrollment statewide rose by 20,000 while white enrollment dropped by 40,000.
That change mirrored a decline in the total population of white school-age children in the state and was not a result of parents transferring children into private schools, according to Mark Goldstein of the Maryland Department of Planning. Minorities outnumber whites in five school systems – Baltimore City and Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles and Somerset counties. Baltimore County is 50 percent minority as of Sept. 30. In many places where whites are still a majority, the number of Hispanic students has doubled or tripled since 1999.

— Teachers of Color