Latino Students Now Make Up Majority In California Public Schools

The San Francisco Chronicle (11/13, Kane) reported, "Latinos now make up a majority of California's public school students, cracking the 50 percent barrier for the first time in the state's history, according to data released Friday by the state Department of Education." State data from the 2009-10 school year showed, meanwhile, that out of 6.2 million students throughout the state, 27 percent were white, nine percent were Asian, and seven percent were black. "Students calling themselves Filipino, Pacific Islander, Native American or other total almost 7 percent." UC Berkeley Education Professor Bruce Fuller said that Latinos' large impact on public education in California will continue to grow, "as Latino parents -- now in the majority -- realize many of the schools their children attend are underfunded."