Good for All Kids, Pre-K Programs Are Especially Beneficial for English Learners

Our divisive politics around immigration lag behind the diverse reality of our schools — and for English learners, early ed is a key to success.

For all the campaign arguments about immigration and the United States border, you’d think that we were embarking upon a new situation, something coming, an arriving novelty barely visible over the horizon. And yet, as far as schools are concerned, this is a past tense debate. The U.S.’s demographic reality is already shifting in remarkable ways, many of which are being driven by immigration patterns. 

Cohorts of younger Americans are more diverse than older Americans in essentially every way. In 1986, 70% of U.S. K–12 students were white, just shy of 10% were Latino, and not quite 3% were Asian or Pacific Islander. In 2022, U.S. K–12 enrollment was 44% white, 29% Latino, and 5% Asian or Pacific Islander. Similarly, in 2022, roughly 21% of school-aged children spoke a non-English language at home — in 1990, it was under 14%. Go younger, and linguistic diversity grows. In 2022, roughly 1 in 3 children under 5 years old spoke a non-English language at home.