Although minority students this year will outnumber white students for the first time in American history, Native American students will continue to remain the minority among minorities through 2019, according to federal government projections.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports the percentage of Native American students within the U.S. Public School System for the 2014-15 school year is 1.1-percent, compared with white students who make up an estimated 49.8-percent, black students at 15.4-percent, Hispanic students at 25.8-percent, Asian/Pacific Islander students at 5.2-percent and bi-racial students at an estimated 2.8 percent.
According to federal projections, the number of Native American students in the U.S. Public School System will gradually decrease throughout the next five years. Beginning in 2015, the number of Native American students will drop from 1.1-percent to a mere 1-percent.
While NCES projects a drop in the student demographic, the U.S. Census expects the overall Native American population to grow rapidly throughout the next 40 to 50 years.
Currently, there is an estimated 5.2 million Native Americans in the continental U.S. On July 1, 2060, the population of Native Americans in the U.S. is projected to be 11.2 million, or 2.7-percent of the overall population.
Critics of the U.S. Census regarding demographics concerning Native Americans argue persons of non-federally recognized tribes are not always identified as Native Americans by the census, and non-Native Americans are routinely changing their race to indigenous cultures between censuses, according to Census Bureau investigators.
To read the entire NCES enrollment and percentage distribution report, go here.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/12/number-native-american-students-us-public-schools-drop-population-rises-156372