Transporte

Black Asian Black Asian Other _Other Other Black 2000 34.0 million 47% Anglo 33% Hispanic 7% 11% 2010 39.2 million 39% Anglo 39% Hispanic 7% 12% 2020 43.9 million 34% Anglo 43% Hispanic 7% 3% _3% 4% 13%

SOURCE: State of California, Dept. of Finance, 2004.

NOTE: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. The Other category combines persons classified as “Pacific Islander,” “American Indian,” and “Multirace.”

percent Asian, 8 percent black, and 2 percent other (see Figure 2.2).1

Sixteen years earlier (1986–1987), they were 30 percent Hispanic, 50 percent Anglo, 11 percent Asian and other, and 9 percent black.

By 2012–2013, the majority of students in California’s public schools will be Hispanic according to official state projections. Figure 2.3 shows the numerical shift for the two most numerous groups— Hispanics and Anglos.

Blurring these group distinctions are the growing numbers of California children classified as multiracial on Census 2000. They now exceed 7 percent of all California children, well above the 4 per- cent at the national level.

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1 _{The classifications shown in Figure 2.2 (and notes thereto) are the only racial/ethnic classi-} fications available; the state does not publish more-detailed data for enrollments. Data for these classifications are available since 1986–1987. Earlier data distinguish only between “white and black” or “white and non-white,” depending on the year. The current “Hispanic” and “non-Hispanic white” categories are not directly comparable with earlier categories, such as “Persons of Spanish language or Spanish surname.”

14 California’s K–12 Public Schools: How Are They Doing?

Figure 2.2

Student Population Enrolled in California’s K–12 Public Schools, by Race/Ethnicity

RAND MG186-2.2

SOURCE: State of California, Dept. of Finance, 2003b.

NOTES: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. The 0.8 percent of students categorized as “Multiple or No Response” are allocated to the known race/ethnicity groups (see Source for details). The Other category includes students classified as “Pacific Islander” or “American Indian.”

2002–03 Asian Black 34% Anglo 45% Hispanic 8% 11% Asian Other Other Black 2012–13 27% Anglo 52% Hispanic 7% 12%

An important correlate of California’s ethnic diversity is that some of the population is in the process of learning English or be- coming more fluent. As an immigrant “entry port,” California has an abundance of “English learners” and linguistically isolated house-

holds.2 _{California ranks nationally as the state with the highest per-}

centage of children with limited English fluency. Fully 5.8 percent of all California children ages 5–17 have difficulty speaking English,

versus 2.5 percent nationally.3 _{Within this age group, 13.4 percent}

are linguistically isolated (versus 5.1 percent nationally). Both these disparities heighten educational costs for affected school districts: English learners impose specialized and/or higher per capita staffing needs, and linguistic isolation hampers two-way communication be- tween schools and parents.

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2 _{Children of ages 5–17 are classified as being linguistically isolated if they reside in a house-} hold in which no one age 14 and over speaks English “very well.”

Demographic Overview of California’s K–12 Public School Student Population 15

Figure 2.3

California K–12 Public School Enrollment, 2003 Series

1.0 0.5 3.5

0

Number of students (in millions)

2008–2009 2006–2007 2004–2005 2002–2003 2000–2001 1998–1999 1996–1997 1994–1995 1992–1993 1990–1991 1988–1989 1986–1987 2010–2011 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 RAND MG186-2.3

SOURCE: State of California, Dept. of Finance, 2003a.

NOTE: From 1998–1999 onward, multiple race and nonresponses were allocated to known categories (see Source for details).

Projected

Hispanic

White (non-Hispanic)

Age Composition

The age structure of California’s population differs from that of the national population: The share of the population that is under age 18 is 27.3 percent for California and only 25.7 percent for the nation. Consequently, California has within its borders 12.8 percent of the nation’s school-age population but only 11.8 percent of the nation’s adult population, which means that the number of potential taxpay- ers (i.e., adults) in California available to shoulder the financial re- sponsibility for persons of school age is relatively small. Put another

16 California’s K–12 Public Schools: How Are They Doing?

way, California’s youth-to-adult dependency ratio is 9 percent higher

than that of the nation as a whole.4

Child Poverty

About one in every five California children lives in poverty—i.e., in a family whose income is below federally established poverty thresholds (which vary according to a family’s size and the ages of its members). For California children in single-mother families, the proportion liv- ing in poverty is 39.7 percent, which is marginally lower than the cor- responding 40.6 percent for the nation (see Table 2.1). For those living in married-couple families (by far the most common type), the proportion of children living in poverty is noticeably higher for Cali- fornia than for the nation: 12.9 percent compared with 8.4 percent. Overall, California’s poor children are just as numerous in married- couple families as in single-parent families.

Table 2.1

Number and Percentage of Related Children Under Age 18 in Poverty in 2000, by Family Type, California and the United States

California United States

Family Type Number inPoverty

Percentage of All Children Number in Poverty Percentage of All Children

Related children under 18 1,705,797 19.0 11,386,031 16.1

In married-couple families 844,893 12.9 4,255,820 8.4

In single-mother families 711,818 39.7 6,281,647 40.6

In single-father families 149,046 23.9 848,564 20.8

SOURCE: Census 2000.

NOTE: “Related children” are all household members, regardless of marital status, who are related to householder; householder’s spouse and foster children are ex- cluded.

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4 _{The youth-to-adult dependency ratio compares the number of persons in the population} under age 18 to the number 18 and older. In 2000, this ratio was 0.376 for California and 0.346 for the United States.

Demographic Overview of California’s K–12 Public School Student Population 17

California trails the nation and displays a worsening trend on two key indicators of child poverty: the percentage of children living below the poverty line (19.5 percent in 2000) and the percentage of