By Maureen Hayden
The Herald Bulletin
INDIANAPOLIS —
Indiana University professor Annela Teemant specializes in teaching educators in urban settings how to teach English as a second language to immigrant children. But three years ago she expanded her efforts to reach teachers in the affluent suburban community of Avon, Ind.
Her help couldn’t have come soon enough. The number of students in Avon’s elementary schools who don’t speak English as their native tongue went from 87 to 127 in the last four years. At Avon’s Hickory Elementary School, the number went from 1 to 64 students; more than 10 percent of the school’s students are now classified as English Language Learners, or ELL.
Across the state of Indiana, the number of ELL students quadrupled over the last decade to nearly 50,000. That’s a fraction of the state’s 1.1 million K-12 students. But it’s a segment with high need: Teemant, who administers a federal grant aimed at accelerating the number of ELL teachers in Indiana, said the ratio of certified ELL teachers is about 1 to 150 students in need.
“The demand is expanding much more rapidly than school districts’ ability to keep up,” Teemant said.
In 1920, the U.S. census reported that Indiana was the most white, native-born, Protestant state in the nation. Ninety years later, the state is still less diverse than the rest of the nation, but the past decade has brought significant change.
Nowhere is that showing up more vividly than in the state’s K-12 schools. What the 2010 census revealed is that the historically homogeneous state of Indiana is becoming increasingly diverse in ethnicity and race thanks to its children.
While surrounding states saw a drop in their under-18 population over the last 10 years, Indiana saw an increase, and it did so despite a nearly 8 percent drop in the number of white children in the state.
According to the Indiana Business Research Center, tasked with analyzing the 2010 census, there are now about 100,000 fewer white children in Indiana than there were in 2000. But there’s also about 120,000 more non-white children than in 2000. In 10 years time, the number of Hispanic children more than doubled in Indiana; the number of Asian children and children classified as “multi-race” jumped by nearly 90 percent. The number of black children grew by 8 percent.
The changing face of Indiana didn’t just occur in the state’s big cities, but in its suburban and rural areas. The county that saw the fastest growing Hispanic population over the decade was Hendricks County, where Avon is located on the western outskirts of Indianapolis. It saw a 277 percent increase in its Hispanic population.
“We’re becoming a different kind of Indiana,” said Carol Rogers, director of the Indiana Business Research Center. “The likelihood that you’ll walk down the street and see somebody different is greater now than it was 10 years ago.”
The fast rise in the Hispanic population, due to immigration and higher fertility rates among Hispanics, has brought a host of challenges. Daniel Lopez, head of the Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, said an estimated 24 percent of Hispanics in Indiana are “linguistically isolated” — unable to speak English.
Among the problems that has posed: In Indiana counties where there there are no Spanish-speaking emergency dispatchers, some 911 calls are ending in frustration and no help. “The people are here,” Lopez said of the Hispanic immigrants who accounted for 43 percent of Indiana’s total population growth in the last decade. “But the infrastructure isn’t in place.”
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels sees some opportunity in Indiana’s increasing diversity. When he talks about immigrants in Indiana, he talks about Mr./Miss Math and Mr./Miss Science awards he created after taking office to honor the state’s top science and math student each year. “Seven of the eight winners are the children of immigrants,” Daniels said. “Am I happy they’re part of the changing demographics of Indiana? Oh, yes.”
How many immigrants in Indiana are here legally isn’t a question that the 2010 census answers. The estimates vary widely. The Pew Hispanic Research Center estimates that undocumented workers, Hispanic and otherwise, make up less than 2 percent of Indiana’s total population.
Michael Hicks, a Ball State University economist said Indiana’s growing diversity is a good thing. He cites a BSU study soon to be released that shows that 44 percent of immigrants who come to the state legally are college-educated. He cites other studies that show, even among less educated immigrants, their family values are strong. “The classic worry is that immigrants are a problem,” Hicks said. “But the places in Indiana that are the most robust are those with the most diversity.”
One area of agreement: A more diverse under-18 population in Indiana means a more diverse Indiana in years to come as that age cohort moves into adulthood, into the work force and into parenthood.
“We’re just on the cusp,” Lopez said, “of seeing some real significant change.”
Maureen Hayden is Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI Indiana newspapers. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com
