A Brief Demographic Portrait

Abstract

A demographic portrait, with particular emphasis on school-related issues, points to the dire situation of Latino/a education. According to the 2010 Census, the number of Hispanics (the term used in government data) currently was 50,477,594 million, an increase of 43 percent since 2000, making this group the fastest growing of all ethnic/racial groups in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Latinos/as represent 16 percent of the total U.S. population, meaning that they are the largest so-called “minority” group in the nation. Approximately 63 percent of Latinos/as living in the U.S. are of Mexican origin, 9 percent are Puerto Rican, 3.5 percent are Cuban, 3 percent are Salvadoran and 2.8 percent are Dominican, with smaller percentages of other Central American, South American or other Hispanic origin (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).