Michael Fix, CEO and director of studies at MPI, cited summer school, community colleges and adult education as institutions relied on by immigrant youth that were hard hit by budget cuts. (Photo courtesy of C-SPAN)
The Migration Policy Institute released a report Wednesday, “Critical Choices in Post Recession California: Investing in the Educational and Career Success of Immigrant Youth,” addressing just that issue. A full 54 percent of youth in California are immigrants or children of immigrants—3.3 million youth between the ages of 16 and 26.
Though immigrant youth are heavily represented demographically, they were hit hard by the effects of the recession.
“The budget crisis, and the attendant cuts that resulted from it, we think fell particularly heavily on a set of institutions that are relied on by immigrant youth, including summer school, including community colleges, and, within them, non-credit courses including ESL and adult education,” said Michael Fix, CEO and director of studies at MPI, during an MPI telebriefing on the report’s finding.
The report shows how immigrant youth were impacted by state budget cuts to the school system and how their educational outcomes can be improved.
Between 2007―08 and 2010―11, as California school districts laid off 32,000 teachers, or 11 percent of its teaching workforce, student enrollment stayed the same. As a result, schools slashed instructional time, crowded classrooms, and reduced the length of the school year. Funding for adult educational programs was redirected toward general funds, resulting in the closure of some programs altogether or a substantial decline in their offerings.
As California rebounds economically, it is cautiously renewing its investment in all levels of public education. “While the crisis may have largely passed and much spending has been reinstated, in substantial measure because of the remarkable passage of Proposition 30, education spending in general remains below pre-recession levels,” said Fix.
