US student census finds record boom

Schools facing challenges with staffing, language
By Ben Feller, Associated Press June 2, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A record 49.6 million students filled US schools in 2003, breaking a mark set by their baby boomer parents and giving educators a new generation of challenges. The growth is largely due to all the children who were born in the late 1940s to early '60s and have since become parents themselves, the Census Bureau said yesterday. Rising immigration played a part, too, in pushing enrollment past the 1970 record of 48.7 million.
''You could have predicted this back in 1970 when we had all those kids," said Mark Mather, a demographer for the Population Reference Bureau, which assesses population trends. ''We knew they were going to have kids of their own. We have this classic echo effect going on."
Even if it is not surprising, the record tally of students poses steep challenges for schools: recruiting teachers, helping children who do not speak English, keeping class sizes manageable, and finding enough financial aid for students who go on to college.
In population rings outside urban areas and in Western states such as Nevada and California, for example, the growth has been concentrated, increasing demands on schools.
''They just really don't have the fiscal capacity to match this," said Scott Young, senior policy specialist in education for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In districts outside Atlanta, Houston, and Las Vegas, enrollment has soared more than 20 percent in the past five years, said Bruce Hunter, who directs lobbying for the American Association of School Administrators. His group has identified about 400 such districts.

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