By Kimberly Bufkin, On-line Forty-Niner
May 13,1997
The United States has long been regarded as a "melting pot" with its citizens' heritages ranging from across the globe.
People come to the United States for greater opportunities, freedom and better education.
California is no exception. California has one of the most diverse populations in the nation and no where is this more evident than in the California public school system.
In the 1995-96 academic school year, 5.4 million children were enrolled in California schools in kindergarten through 12th grade classes, according to the California Department of Education.
By the year 2005-06, the CDE estimates an 18 percent increase in California's student population, bringing the total to 6.4 million students.
The K-12 enrollment projections were broken down by ethnic groups and were compared to current percentages of the ethnic make up of California Students.
The largest projected student population increase was of Hispanic students (10.55 percent) while the largest decrease was of white students (10.47 percent).
Asian, Filipino, American Indian and Pacific Islander student projections also show slight increases while black student projections was the only other noted decrease.
With California's public school system's ethnic proportions changing, causing for a more diverse student population, how are educators addressing the issue of diversity in the classroom?
"Almost all districts' standards include statements for teaching diversity," said John Attinasi, acting department chairman of teacher education.
The Long Beach Unified School District is no different. The school district is taking steps to bring more diversity into its classrooms.
"Long Beach is a microcosm of people ranging from Latin to African-American to Asian," Attinasi said.
A breakdown of Long Beach's student population shows that 39 percent of all students are Hispanic, 24 percent Southeast Asian (mainly Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino and Thai), 19 percent African-American, 10 percent Caucasian and 8 percent other ethnic decent, said Linda Mehlbrech, curriculum leader of history and social science for the district.
"We are always trying to come up with new ways to incorporate diversity into (the curriculum)," said. Mehlbrech "Diversity goes a whole lot further than ethnic groups"
One way that it is trying to do that is by getting away from