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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Preschool Urged For Migrants' Kids

By Leann Holt
Journal Staff Writer
    Children of immigrant parents are leading the racial-ethnic transformation of America, according to a recent study.
    But they might not be getting the educational start they need to ensure success in school and at work, experts warn.
    One in five children in this country lives with at least one foreign-born parent, according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis. Forty percent of those children have parents from Mexico.
    In New Mexico, 18 percent of children are from immigrant families, 80 percent of whom are from Mexico, according to 2000 census data.
    By 2030, these children and other racial-ethnic minorities will make up 57 percent of the workforce, according to Don Hernandez, one author of the study. They will provide economic and community support for elderly baby boomers, who are 72 percent white, non-Hispanic.
    To prepare them for life in the U.S. workplace, it is important for immigrant children to be in preschool, experts say. Preschool provides an opportunity for them to become proficient in English and get ready for school.
    "There's lots of evidence that children learn language more quickly earlier in life," Hernandez said. "Investing resources in (immigrant children) is likely to have an especially big payoff in labor-force productivity."
    But immigrant families are less likely to enroll their children in preschool, the study found. Only 12 states had immigrant families who enrolled their children in pre-kindergarten at a rate similar to native-born families.
    In New Mexico, about 42 percent of immigrant 4-year-olds are enrolled in pre-K, compared with 56 percent for youngsters from native-born families, according to the research.
    That gap— 14 percentage points— is one of the largest in the nation, Hernandez said.
    Danielle Gonzales, of Pre-K Now and co-author of the study "Latinos and Pre-K," said many immigrant families come to America because they want a good education for their children, and most know that includes preschool. In fact, 81 percent of 4-year-olds in Mexico are enrolled in pre-K, which is free, according to the Child Trends report.
    But the language barrier, preschool costs and worries about documentation and Social Security numbers keep many families from enrolling their children, she said.
    Gonzales said New Mexico has made progress in providing free pre-K for all children but still has a long way to go. Efforts should be made to put programs in areas where immigrants are coming into the state, she said.
    "The state can really start to be strategic about the programs," she said, "putting programs where there are kids who need it most and starting to close the achievement gap."
   
Immigrant children in N.M.
   
    80 percent have parents who came from Mexico
    79 percent speak a language other than English at home
    72 percent have parents who have been in the United States for 10 years or more
    32 percent have limited English proficiency