Clifton Seeing Shift In Student Population

Spanish-speaking growing in number

CLIFTON—In perhaps the clearest picture yet of the city’s changing
demographics, the school district is reporting a sharp increase in the
number of Spanish-speaking students and a shrinking number of students
whose first language is English.

 

In the span of two years, the K-12 school district added 434
students who say the primary language spoken in their homes is Spanish.

 

That’s a 27.2 percent increase in that category from the 1995-1996
school year to 1997-1998. Such students now account for 23 percent of
the district.

 

Also on the rise is the number of students from households where a
language other than Spanish or English is spoken. They made up 23.8
percent of students in 1997-1998. Those languages include Polish,
Arabic, and Slovenian.

 

During the same time frame, students from households where English
is the spoken language declined by 187, or 3.8 percent.

 

The information is contained in the state School Report Card,
released last week for the 1997-1998 school year.

 

“It doesn’t surprise me,”Superintendent William Liess said this
week of the numbers.”The community is changing, and the schools are
usually the first place we see the change.”

 

The report cards are issued by the state Department of Education
for each district and for individual schools. They include a wide range
of data, from test scores to class size.

 

The Record reviewed changes in the language category from the
1995-1996 school year to last year.

 

The report card shows that the majority of Clifton students still
come from homes where English is the primary language. In 1995-1996,
they made up 58 percent of the district; last year they accounted for
53.1 percent: 4,684 students.

 

The number of students from families who speak Spanish at home
jumped from 1,595 in 1995-1996 to 2,029 last year, a 27.2 percent
increase.

 

Liess said the numbers do not indicate a need to expand the
district’s bilingual-education program. In general, he said, many
students are competent in English even if their families speak Spanish
at home.

 

Sandwiched between the largely Latino cities of Paterson and
Passaic, Clifton has seen its Hispanic population climbing since 1980.

 

But the growth as reported by the last U.S. census doesn’t reflect
what is happening in the schools.

 

The 1990 census reported that Hispanics make up about 6.8 percent
of Clifton’s 71,000 residents. An estimate by a private research firm
puts that figure at about 12 percent for 1998.

 

In the 9,000-student district, Hispanics make up about 30 percent
of the enrollment. That figure is higher than the report card numbers
because it includes people of Hispanic origin whose families speak
English at home.

 

In random interviews conducted this week, Hispanic students said
their parents moved to Clifton from Passaic or Paterson for social
advancement and for the schools.

 

Hispanics in Clifton are still a relatively invisible presence
when it comes to leadership positions, both within the school and in the
larger community. And there are few Hispanic teachers in the district.

 

In the high school, there are no Hispanics on student council or
among the class officers.

 

There are no Hispanics on the City Council or Board of Education.

 

There is not a Hispanic citizens organization within Clifton.

 

Junior Elizabeth Roldan, whose parents are natives of Colombia,
said she expects Hispanics to play a progressively larger role in school
politics and other activities. Because the school is still largely
white, she said, some Hispanics may feel shy or intimidated about
becoming involved.

 

“I think it is only a matter of time before people realize that if
they want to do something, they can do it,”said Roldan, who has started
a food drive in the school for the earthquake in Colombia.

 



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