45% of Hispanic students are dropping out of suburban high schools

Bruce Lambert:

The face of the early suburbs, which to some were initially a retreat from increasingly multiracial cities, has also changed. Those suburbs are now more racially diverse than the nation as a whole. From 1980 to 2000, the percentage of minority residents in those suburbs doubled; black, Asian and Hispanic residents now make up a third of the population there.

The first suburbs are also drawing more immigrants than the cities, the historic destination for the foreign born, the study said. Those suburbs had 9 million immigrants in 2000, eclipsing the 8.6 million in the adjoining primary cities.

"The enormous inflow of foreign-born residents is literally transforming many first-suburban communities," the report said. "First suburbs are just now starting to come to grips with these new trends."

By many measures, the older suburbs remain strong — some are among the nation's richest communities — with employment, education levels, income and home prices all exceeding national averages. But even those indicators show the older suburbs lagging as the competition catches up, with New York and many other cities in revival mode and newer suburbs flourishing farther out.

Median income stagnated in the older suburbs in the 1990's, while rising elsewhere. A troublesome 45 percent of Hispanic students are dropping out of suburban high schools.

"Alarming" pockets of poverty have emerged, counter to national trends, the report said. Among all first suburbs, the number of census tracts where 20 percent or more of the residents lived below the poverty line more than tripled from 1970 to 2000.

Report: Hispanic school-age population booming

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Census: Hispanic dropout numbers soar

Hispanic dropout dilemma

Hispanic Youth Dropping Out of U.S. Schools