New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows a small percentage of students in Iowa’s K-through-12 schools are classified as “English Language Learners.”  More than 476-thousand students were enrolled in Iowa’s public schools last year. According to the latest Census data, about 49-thousand Latino students are enrolled in Iowa schools this year — and about 17-thousand students are “English Language Learners.”

That means about three-and-a-half percent of Iowa K-through-12 students are learning English. On July 1st of 2012, the Census reports almost 14 percent of Iowa’s Latino population was under the age of five. More preschoolers in Iowa are Latino than any other race, including Caucasian.

(Radio Iowa)