English language learner rolls leveling off
The number of Clark County School District students not fluent in English grew by 132 percent between 1998 and 2008, but has since leveled off.
By the district's official count, it has just 206 more English language learners this year than it did in 2007-08.
English language learners represent about 20 percent of the district's enrollment. This year's total number of English language learners, 62,683, has declined by 1,094 students since the official count was taken in September, said Norberta Anderson, district director of the English Language Learner program.
She linked the decline to the bad economy, which probably has parents looking for work elsewhere.
The leveling off in the demand for services for limited-English speakers could provide relief to state politicians who face difficult funding decisions in the current economic crisis.
State Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, is sympathetic to immigrants but said the public has filled his "complaint drawer" with criticisms of illegal immigrants taking advantage of public schools.
He requested enrollment information on illegal immigrants during Tuesday's legislative subcommittee hearing on Nevada's education budget to air the issue and perhaps rebut critics.
"It helps us to remove some of the political obstacles to solving policy problems," Coffin told district officials.
But just how many students with illegal status are enrolled in the school system is unknown because of legal and practical reasons.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that all children are entitled to an education regardless of their immigration status. Joyce Haldeman, the district's assistant superintendent for community and government relations, said federal case law also restricts public schools from asking if students and parents are illegal immigrants.
Aside from the law, protecting the border is not the mission of the public schools. "We're an education system," Anderson said. "We're not law enforcement."
About 75 percent of the district's English language learners are American born, said Anderson, citing information from birth certificates.
It can't be assumed the remaining 25 percent are in the country illegally because foreign-born students could be covered by their parents' work visas, amnesty exceptions, status as refugees or other legal provisions, Anderson said.
More than 90 percent of district English language learners primarily speak Spanish. That's followed by Tagalog, the language of the Philippines, which is the primary language for about 4 percent of district students.
Students in Clark County public schools speak more than 100 different languages.
The district's English Language Learner program has a budget of $14 million. Half of the funding comes from the federal government.
Anderson is proud of her students' performance, noting that they're the only English language learners from an urban school district to make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years under the guidelines of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
She also resents how students are lumped "into a social issue."
Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, said it's wrong to scapegoat a segment of the population.
"We (Hispanics) are an easy target," Romero said.
He recalled how President Herbert Hoover authorized the repatriation of millions of Mexicans during the Depression.
"History is repeating itself," he said.
Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.
