Immigration is to blame for school overcrowding, and if the flow of
immigrants is not cut it will account for 96 percent of the future increase
in the school-age population over the next 50 years, a report released by
the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) concluded.

The report, "No Room to Learn: Immigration and School Overcrowding," showed
that the school-age population will increase to 68.8 million by 2050 if
immigration continues at its current rate. As a result, efforts to reduce
class size and ease overcrowding — two of the biggest problems facing the
nation's schools today — will fail, the report said.

With zero net migration, the school-age population in 50 years would stay
close to the current level: 53.6 million, the report showed.

"Education experts are united in their belief that reducing school and
class size are imperative if we are to improve the quality of the education
our children receive," said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR, a
nonprofit group that supports immigration reform.

"This goal can never be accomplished if the federal government is not
willing to do its part by stopping illegal immigration and reducing today's
massive levels of legal immigration."

Currently, U.S. school enrollment is at 53.1 million students. Between 1990
and 2000, enrollment increased by 14 percent. One in five elementary and
high school students, or 10.1 million, has an immigrant parent, and
one-quarter of these children were born outside the United States.

Meanwhile, teachers have been complaining that classes are too large to be
managed effectively and they can't help students who need extra attention.
Some 14 percent of the nation's schools are exceeding capacity by 6 percent
to 25 percent, and 8 percent exceed capacity by more than 25 percent, the
report showed.

To ease overcrowding, more than one-third of schools use trailers as
classrooms and one-fifth hold classes in cafeterias or gyms. In Arizona,
some 700 elementary school children attend classes in an old grocery store
after their schools run out of room in their trailers. In other parts of
the country, some students begin eating lunch as early as 10:30 a.m. to
ease the strain on crowded cafeterias.

FAIR's report drew criticism from civil rights groups, who called the
results "just a distraction" and urged FAIR to come up with "real
solutions" to overcrowding.

"It's not conceivable that 1.9 million Latino children are responsible for
the overcrowding in the U.S. schools," said Lisa Navarrete, vice president
for communications at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). "And I think
that Americans are still planning to reproduce in the next 50 years, so
it's not terribly plausible that only immigrants will account for a 96
percent of the future increase in the school-age population."

Aisha Qaasim, legislative staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), agreed: "The idea that this kind of
education reform can somehow be achieved by closing the doors to all
immigrants is hollow at best."

Census Bureau figures show that immigration is responsible for almost 70
percent of U.S. population growth since 1990. Immigrants arriving in
America since 1994, along with their descendants, will account for
two-thirds of future population growth.

Of the 53.4 million school-aged children living here in 2000, 25 percent
were born in other countries, and 46 percent were born here but had two
immigrant parents, the report showed.

The 15-page report referred to figures released by the U.S. Department of
Education, which projected that by 2100, the country's schools will have to
find room for 94 million students — almost double the number the nation has
now.

Enrollment in grades nine to 12 is projected to reach an all-time high of
15.8 million in 2005. Total enrollment will reach 55 million by 2020 and 60
million by 2030.

Educators have said ideal enrollments are no more than 300 students for an
elementary school, no more than 500 for a middle school and 600 to 900 for
a high school. However, 71 percent of all U.S. high school students attend
schools that have more than 1,000 students. The ideal class size is 18
students.

High schools with an estimated 3,000 enrollment are now common in large
cities such as Los Angeles and New York. For example, 7 percent of New York
City students immigrated to the United States in the past three years. As a
result, schools in Queens are now scrambling to find space for 30,000
additional students.

"This is about the quality of education," Mr. Stein said. "And there's
really no way out of this equation. Either Congress needs to appropriate
enough money to the states to build more schools or it needs to cut
immigration."

Solution
No school for immigrant's kids.
Teach them at home and let them take responsiblity
They are destroying our system by over crowding