ABSTRACT
Introduction The 1990s witnessed dramatic diversification in immigrant destinations with a rapid and sizeable influx of Hispanics1 to urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout the American Southeast (Suro and Singer, 2002; Singer, 2004; Kandel and Cromartie, 2004). These new patterns of settlement have drawn increased attention from scholars and policy makers, particularly local officials grappling with social service needs of these newest residents (Taylor et al., 1997). Underlying many policy issues are demographic differences between local residents and recent migrants, including age, gender, and household composition (Kandel and Parrado, forthcoming 2006). Public education represents a central arena where Hispanic population growth translates into significant and visible fiscal and policy impacts (Huang, 1999; Wortham et al., 2002). The arrival of growing numbers of Hispanic school-age children into the American southeast has rapidly increased demand for educational facilities, contributed to school overcrowding, and increased the need for translators and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers (Torres, 2001). Given current demographic patterns, these trends are expected to continue for the foreseeable future (Mare, 1995). Public schools comprise a sizable portion of local tax expenditures, and the accommodation of growing numbers of Hispanic children represents a considerable social and economic transformation over the not-toodistant future on a scale previously unseen in many new immigrant destinations. This chapter contributes to a nascent scholarship on rural Hispanic education by analyzing quantitatively how Hispanic demographic growth has transformed elementary and secondary school enrollment and illustrating qualitatively how public schools in new areas of immigrant destination have responded to the corresponding demand for public education. We begin our analysis with a macro approach to frame recent U.S. migration as a demographically self-selective process that heavily influences the age distribution of Hispanic residents throughout the United States. The first portion of the chapter uses census data from
1990 and 2000 to analyze metropolitan and nonmetropolitan2 county differences in demographic profiles and school enrollment rates between non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics throughout the nation, highlighting nonmetro counties with recent rapid Hispanic population growth. We then augment this quantitative analysis with ethnographic data from two case studies in the South to illustrate how school administrations respond to changing education enrollment, new programming requirements, and funding challenges. Our data was collected from elementary schools in communities of varying levels of Hispanic population growth, one in a large town within a Mississippi nonmetro county, and the other in a city within a North Carolina metro county. Finally, we draw implications from our research on the influence of migrant residential stability and prospects for student academic achievement. Even though the case study design prevents broad generalizations, in our chapter, we emphasize a metro-nonmetro dichotomy to distinguish how the Latino experience differs by geographic context, which, in turn, encompasses distinct settlement histories and patterns of adaptation. This dichotomy is particularly important in new areas of destination. While traditional immigrant destinations such as California, Texas, or Florida have established infrastructures and immigrant communities to assist newcomers, the same cannot be said of southeastern areas experiencing recent Latino settlement. However, the capacity to adapt to the inflow of Hispanic migrants and the impact on receiving communities varies significantly by population size, economic characteristics, and fiscal constraints, all factors that vary substantially across metro and nonmetro areas. In rural communities, small population becomes a constraining factor even as they face needs of their new Latino residents that are the same as those faced in urban areas. With limited fiscal support, rural areas must often scramble to train or hire skilled personnel and develop programs and accumulate institutional knowledge for integrating recent foreign-born residents. As a result, a relatively small number of newcomers can have very visible and long-lasting impact on rural communities. Moreover, rural economies are often smaller and less diverse, and rural employment often entails disproportionately hazardous and unpleasant working conditions, all of which combine to reduce residential stability and foster more geographic mobility. In addition, Hispanic inflows to the southeast do not occur in a vacuum. The racial mix of the newly receiving areas is likely to affect patterns of immigrant adaptation. The well-established Black-White racial dichotomy of much of the southeastern U.S. creates a very different context of reception relative to the more diverse racial composition prevalent in much of the traditional receiving areas. More importantly, Hispanic migration to the South is having a demographic impact over and above changes in age and gender composition. Rapid and sizeable Hispanic inflows are turning the region into a multiracial society. While White and Black responses to Hispanic immigration are likely to differ, these responses are not the main focus of our analysis. Future research will certainly highlight the racial transformation of the South arising from Hispanic migration and how the process differs between metro and nonmetro areas.
