Clark County (Nevada, where Las Vegas is) schools ponder an Arizona exodus

[alp227]

Arizona’s incendiary immigration law has Clark County education officials keeping a close eye on enrollment for the upcoming academic year because of the potential influx of students fleeing the Grand Canyon State.

The law would require Arizona police officers to verify the immigration status of anyone believed to be in the United States illegally. Immigrants would be required to carry documents verifying their legal status.

It’s too early to tell whether families with school-age children will leave Arizona, particularly because a federal judge last week suspended the more severe elements of the law hours before it was to take effect. But Rick Baldwin, demographics coordinator for the Clark County School District, said it’s a question many people are asking.

The district projects its fall enrollment to be 309,373, a decrease of 103 students from the official head count in September 2009.

Schools are being staffed at 97 percent of the projected enrollment, reducing the likelihood of layoffs if fewer students than expected show up. The district’s enrollment dropped by about a half-percent last year, the first decline in more than 25 years.

snip

A large influx of English-language learners could be a mixed blessing for the district. It would help keep the total enrollment numbers up, which would mean more jobs for teachers. But the district doesn’t receive extra money to provide the services and programs such high-need students often require.

As of the 2009-10 academic year, Clark County’s student population was 41 percent Hispanic, and about 18 percent of the total enrollment was identified as English-language learners.

The district receives the same per-pupil amount from the state for every student (although extra money is provided for special education services). State and local education officials have long advocated for a “weighted” student formula, which would mean extra money for children who are English-language learners, or have other challenges, such as being homeless or coming from low-income households.

Full story: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/02/schools-ponder-arizona-exodus/

Hmm, I guess SB1070 is helping get more jobs for teachers in the Las Vegas/Southern Nevada area? :eyes:

The subtitle to this story: "Fleeing families might add English-language learners to district rolls." Hmm, I wonder if Arizona will be able to extradite families who moved from Arizona to avoid police checks. And...this story seems to be written from the standpoint that most Hispanics don't speak English. Oh c'mon.
- This year, a Nielsen/Stanford poll found that Hispanic Americans valued higher education more than Americans in general.
- According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 61.8% of Mexican Americans speak English proficiently.

[pinboy3niner]

1. Some stories about Hispanic families leaving AZ in advance of the law...

...described them as mixed-status families in which the children are U.S. citizens, born and raised here. They are likely to be more fluent in English than in Spanish. Even with an influx of these families in Clark County schools, they probably would not need special language services--unless the county decided to offer "Spanish as a Second Language" programs. :)

[enlightenment]

2. Sometimes, sometimes not.

Many 1st generation (even some 2nd generation) kids still speak their parent's native language at home, live in communities where the native language is predominate, and even shop/etc. at local businesses that cater to or are owned by people speaking the native language.

I have many, many students in my college classes (I teach in Las Vegas) who - despite having been born and raised here - still do not have a complete grasp of either spoken or written English. It is an interesting phenomenon, certainly.

I'm not passing blame or suggesting anything of the sort; I'm simply passing along what I have learned while living and teaching in Las Vegas.