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"I
don't think any governmental entity in the history of this nation
was ever faced with as complex a social challenge as the public schools
of California, saying, absorb the peoples of the world, bring them
into your classroom, deal with the 60 to 70 languages and somehow
meld that together into a workable classroom. That is an extraordinary
challenge which the public schools of California accepted."
Kevin Starr, First to Worst
In 1962,
the population of California was 17 million. At the time, only 8%
of the population was listed as non-white. But the repeal of the national
origins immigration quota in 1965 was to change all that by ushering
in a new era of mass immigration. This new phase of immigration culminated
in 1986 when the Immigration Reform and Control Act allowed more than
2.5 million illegal immigrants, more than half residing in California,
to become legal residents. This huge wave of immigration transformed
the demographics of the state.
By January of 2000, the population of California was 35 million people
with hispanics making up 32% of the population and whites making up
only 47%. These changing demographics had a profound effect on the
education system where 55% of students are now hispanic or Asian.
English is the second language for 40% of California's students.
25% of these students are still learning English. Moreover, California's
student population has increased dramatically. Between 1980 and 2000,
the student population grew by an average of 100,000 each year. The
result is that many California schools are severely overcrowded with
numerous elementary and middle schools serving more than 1000 students.
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