A large chunk of Denver’s burgeoning Latino population is in the youngest category – children 4 and younger.
A total of 21,780 Latinos are estimated to have moved to Denver or were born here from 2000 to 2006, and a third of them – 7,260 – are just 4 and younger, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The increase among that age group was three times that in any other child- age category among Latinos, but the numbers released this week were not a surprise to those who track child population in the city.
“We’ve known all along the growth of the Spanish-language population,” said Adele Phelan, director of the Denver Preschool Program, a voter-approved initiative that will use tax revenue to help people pay for the city’s preschool programs. “It’s not ‘Oh, my God,’ all of a sudden.”
The total number of children 4 and younger in Denver in 2006 was 50,820, which is tracking higher than the city’s 2003 forecast that predicted 57,290 children 5 and younger living in Denver by 2010.
That was the figure that was used to push for a sales-tax increase to pay for early-childhood education. In November, voters narrowly approved the sales tax of 1.2 cents on $10 purchases.
By year’s end, the fund is expected to have collected more than $10 million.
About 2,000 kids are expected to be served by the program, which will be fully rolled out in January.
Phelan said lawyers are looking into whether children who are not citizens or who are sons and daughters of illegal immigrants may be served by the program.
“Because the children are young and because most of them are probably citizens, I don’t think that is going to be a problem,” Phelan said.
The Latino baby boom may present challenges for preschools if many of those children do not come from English- speaking homes.
Denver Public Schools offers preschool programs to about 4,500 4-year-olds.
Classes with at least 50 percent Spanish speakers must offer the program in Spanish.
Finding qualified Spanish- speaking preschool teachers is a challenge, said Cheryl Caldwell, director of the district’s early-education department.
Of the district’s 125 preschool teachers, an estimated 36 are qualified as bilingual teachers, Caldwell said.
Some people advocate that children should be immersed in English regardless of their primary language. Others say students should be taught in their native language and transitioned into English.
Denver schools have been under a federal court order since 1999 to teach children entering preschool to be proficient in English by the end of third grade.
Children entering the district at the first grade or higher are expected to be proficient within three years.
Research says that language is not the problem when it comes to teaching children.
“What really matters is the educational background that they come to school with,” said Mary Ann Baca, director of the district’s English Language Acquisition Department. “If you have a 3- or 4-year-old who comes from a home where they aren’t reading, don’t have crayons or papers to draw on, they are already coming in behind.”
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer can be reached at 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
