Hispanic students account for 25 percent of all K-12 students, the latest sign that Latinos are the fast growing population in the United States.
Census Bureau numbers analyzed by the Pew Research Center’s Fact Tank found that the population of young Latinos under 18 surged 22 percent from 2006 to 2016. That helped “keep the nation’s youth population steady at about 73 million over the past decade,” said Pew.
Over that period, whites under 18 declined 11 percent, and blacks 7 percent. There are over 18 million Latinos under 18-years-old in the U.S.
And most are American born, often the children of immigrants. “The U.S. born account for 81 percent of Latinos ages 35 or younger in 2016,” said Pew.
As a result, grade, middle and high schools are seeing the biggest surge in Hispanic students.
Said Pew, “Latinos accounted for 25 percent of the nation’s 54 million K-12 students in 2016, up from 16 percent in 2000. In 14 states, Latinos accounted for at least 20 percent of K-12 students in 2016, up from six states in 2000, according to Census Bureau data. States new to this list in 2016 are Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. Latinos account for about half or more of all K-12 students in three states – New Mexico (61 percent), California (52 percent) and Texas (49 percent).”
Speaking of Spanish still dominates, said Pew. “English use is on the rise among young Hispanics. Still, about six-in-10 say they use Spanish,” said the outlet.
