Growing Pains: The Challenge of Overcrowded Schools Is Here To Stay. A Back to School Special Report on the Baby Boom Echo.

Available in portable document format (pdf) and MS Word. For full text: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/bbecho00/index.html.

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Colleges; Comparative Analysis; Crowding; Data Collection; Elementary Secondary Education; Enrollment Projections; Higher Education; Private Schools; Public Schools; Rural Schools; School Construction; Urban Schools

This report examines the severe overcrowding facing U.S. public and private schools in the next decade and the challenges for cities and the suburbs, the need for school construction and the nationwide effort to modernize schools, and the changing cultural diversity of these students. Enrollment statistics from 1970 through 2010 are provided along with comparative data on states, school districts, and urban areas with the largest enrollment increases. Additional enrollment data are listed for public and private 2- and 4-year colleges as are data on public high school graduates by state and region from 1989 through 2010. Data show a projected public school enrollment of 53 million K-12 students and 15.1 million college students by the fall of 2000; and rises in public elementary, high school, and college enrollments are expected to be 12, 19, and 11 percent respectively between the years 2000 and 2010. Increases are expected mostly in the South and West. Beyond the year 2010, the number of school-age children is expected to reach 94 million by 2100, about 42 million more than in 2000. Enrollment projection methodology concludes the report. (GR)

2001

ED447683