Latino, Black, Indian And Asian Elementary Kids Likely To Top 50% Of Madison's Enrollment

Susan Troller:

ased on recent demographic trends, this is likely to be the year when minority students become the majority in Madison's elementary schools.

While the student census in all districts in Wisconsin will not be verified until Sept. 21, which is the official enrollment count, statistics from the Madison district over the last 10 years suggest a combination of Hispanic, Asian, African-American and American Indian students will exceed 50 percent of the elementary school population during the 2007-08 school year.

"This could be the tipping year when minority students become the majority," Sue Abplanalp, assistant superintendent for elementary education, confirmed in a recent interview.

During the 2006-07 school year, Madison's 5,542 American Indian, Hispanic, Asian and African-American elementary students accounted for 49.6 percent of the kindergarten through fifth grade student body, compared to 5,636 white students. Minority enrollment in Madison has been growing by about 2 percent each year for more than a decade.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 8, 2007 12:00 AM
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