Los Angeles (AP) -- More suburban schools in Southern California are teaching English as a second language, as immigrant families move from cities into outlying areas,.
The Los Angeles Times says that between 2000 and 2005, the enrollment of English-learners increased in 80-percent of the elementary schools in San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura Counties.
In the San Jacinto School District, for instance, the percentage of Caucasians has decreased to 25-percent from 42-percent about a decade ago, the Times reported.
At Park Hill Elementary School in suburban Riverside County, the number of English learners went from nearly none in 1995 to 362 as of February -- accounting for more than 40-percent of the student body.
Only four of that school's 40 teachers are fluent in Spanish, the dominant second language, the report says. But school officials say they're trying to hire more bi-lingual teachers to help students who are still learning English.
Formal bi-lingual classes are no longer an option, however, since California voters decided in 1998 to scale-back teaching in Spanish.
The Times says that between 2000 and 2005 the percentage of English-learners in San Bernardino County schools has increased 25-percent; in Riverside County, 19-percent; and in Ventura, 4-percent. During the same period, the percentage in Orange County schools has fallen 7-percent and has dropped 18-percent in L.A. County schools.
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