America is dealing with the problem of over crowded class rooms for the past few decades. Much of this has been attributed to the flexible immigration laws that allow foreigners to immigrate to the country and thus causing serious problems of various types. A large number of foreigners from neighboring countries have been entering the country in search of a better future for the past three decades. The report prepared by Fair Horizon Press (2002) states that immigration is the direct cause of over crowding at schools. The statistics indicate the bitter truth that one in every five students has an immigrant parent. About a quarter of these children were themselves foreign born. Future projected score indicates that immigration will cause 96% increase in the school age population in the next fifty years. If immigration problem is not solved amicably it will result in further over crowding of the already existing class rooms. This will also deprive the children individual attention, quality education and some of them may not get a place in the schools at all.
A prominent example in this regard is the case of Miami Dade County Pubic Schools in Florida. The county has long been considered as a gateway community for foreigners. According to the fact sheet prepared by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (n.d.) the total population of the county in 2006 was 2,402,208. The statistics show that the strength of immigrant population in 2006 was estimated to be approximately 1,343,545. Let us begin with the basic statistics of the foreign born population in Miami Dade County as is mentioned in the report prepared by the Migration Policy Institute (2000).
- Approximately 51% of the Miami Dade County is foreign born.
- Where as the total population of the county increased by 16%, the population of the foreign born increased by 31%.
- Approximately 21% of the immigrant population entered the USA from 1995-2000.
- The top five nationalities of the foreign born in Miami Dade includes Cuba (525,841), Nicaragua (86,108), Columbia (81,377), Haiti (71,054) and the Dominican Republic (36,870). These five groups constitute 70% of the immigrant population.
At present Miami Dade schools are facing the problem of over crowded class rooms due to the immigrant population. A report prepared by Diane Weaver Dunne (2002) states that approximately 41 schools of Miami Dade County are 150% over crowded. Immigrant population is increasing at an alarming level. In the past six years approximately 88,000 immigrant children were enrolled in the Miami Dade County Schools. Thus the immigration population occupies twenty two percent of school seats consisting of 360,000 students. Majority of these immigrant students have little or absolutely no knowledge of English language.
Duune (2002) further states that the Miami Dade County school system is considered to be one of the largest in the country and is at par with the New York City, Los Angeles and California school systems. It has been estimated that since 1994 approximately 12,000 to 24,000 immigrant students have been enrolled in the Miami Dade County Schools each year. A prominent reason for admitting such a large number of children could be the moral sense that every child has the right to education. At the same time the big question of their adjustment in schools has not been taken care of. This unattended problem has forced many principals of Miami Dade County to convert their one class rooms into two. In majority of the schools closets have also been used to accommodate the increasing population of immigrant students. The report presented to the grand jury for this problem of over crowded class rooms showed that custodial closets, computer labs, staff rooms, book storage rooms, alcoves and even locker rooms have also been converted into class rooms.
A number of County schools have also taken the help of portable class rooms to accommodate the immigrant children in a better way. However the condition of these portable classrooms is deplorable. At the moment the county utilizes the services of 50,000 portable classrooms. According to the report published on CNN.com (2003) the business of portable classrooms is flourishing rapidly in America. The law related to class strength indicates that till 2010 no more than 18 students are allowed in classes from kindergarten to grade three. The student strength for fourth to eighth grade should not be more than 22. For high school the class strength is set at 25. This however is not the case for Florida schools where average number of students in one grade is 23 in Junior School and 26 in Middle and High Schools. Due to over crowding these portable classrooms often smell of mould and have improper ventilation. This however is considered to be the least expensive method to over come the problem of over crowding in schools.
The problems do not finish here. It has been stated by Dunne (2000) that over crowding has also raised the problem of teachers’ shortage in the County. The Number of teachers compared to the large number of students is far less. This seriously affects the quality of education and deprives the students of their right of individual attention by the teacher. As mentioned above the county is trying to solve this problem of over crowding through portable rooms. However it has been estimated that the county will run short of approximately 60,000 student stations in the next ten years. Future projected score shows the county is expected to receive 130,000 immigrant students in the next ten years. This suggests that with this pace the county needs to build at least one school in a month for the foreign born students.
To solve the issue the county has received funds from the Federal budget and has constructed 68 new schools out of which 12 are primary learning centers. However more schools have been planned so that the immigrant students can be accommodated reasonably (Dunne, 2002).
In conclusion the problem of immigrant students has existed in the past and is still emerging as one of the serious problems faced by the American government. It is important that the government should take serious notice of this issue since it is affecting the quality of education both for the native and foreign born students. At the same time teachers are over burdened with their work and cannot give their hundred percent to the students. Unless immigration laws are not properly implemented the country will continue to face the problem of the ever increasing immigrant population.
References
“County/Metro area fact sheet: Miami Dade County, Florida PMSA,” Federation for American Immigration Reform, (n.d.). Web.
Dunne, D. W. “Florida fails children of Miami Dade County”, Education World, (2002), Web.
“No Room to Learn, Immigration and Over Crowding”, Federation for American Immigration Reform, FAIR Horizon Press, (2002). Web.
“Key Aspects of the Foreign Born Population in Miami Dade County, Florida.”Prepared for Knight Foundation by the Migration Policy Institute. (2000). Web.
“Over Crowding Fuels Portable Classrooms Boom”, CNN. Com, (2003).