In Schools Across U.S., the Melting Pot Overflows

School enrollements are booming, which is putting tremendous strain on the system.

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In Schools Across U.S., the Melting Pot Overflows

By SAM DILLON

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/education/27education.html

STERLING, Va., Aug. 25 — Some 55 million youngsters are enrolling for classes in the nation’s schools this fall, making this the largest group of students in America’s history and, in ethnic terms, the most dazzlingly diverse since waves of European immigrants washed through the public schools a century ago.

Millions of baby boomers and foreign-born parents are enrolling their children, sending a demographic bulge through the schools that is driving a surge in classroom construction.

It is also causing thousands of districts to hire additional qualified teachers at a time when the Bush administration is trying to increase teacher qualifications across the board. Many school systems have begun recruiting overseas for instructors in hard-to-staff subjects like special education and advanced math.