Some 55 million youngsters are enrolling for classes in the nation's schools this fall, making this the largest group of students in America's history and, in ethnic terms, the most dazzlingly diverse since waves of European immigrants washed through the public schools a century ago. Millions of baby boomers and foreign-born parents are enrolling their children, sending a demographic bulge through the schools that is driving a surge in classroom construction. It is also causing thousands of districts to hire additional qualified teachers at a time when the Bush administration is trying to increase teacher qualifications across the board. Many school systems have begun recruiting overseas for instructors in hard-to-staff subjects like special education and advanced math. The U.S. Department of Education said the nation's elementary and secondary enrollments would grow, on average, by about 200,000 students annually, reaching 56.7 million in 2014. The enrollment trends would be uneven, regionally, with schools in the Northeast and Midwest losing students, on average, and those in the South and West growing.

It is also causing thousands of districts to hire additional qualified teachers at a time when the Bush administration is trying to increase teacher qualifications across the board. Many school systems have begun recruiting overseas for instructors in hard-to-staff subjects like special education and advanced math.

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/education/27education.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

Published Monday, Sep. 18, 2006