Youth in the USA
Special Types of Schools Within the U.S. Education System Magnet Schools Magnet schools typically have a selective admissions process and require students to have prior skills and ex - periences in the special subjects that they will be focu - sing on. In addition to the typical curriculum of a public school, magnet schools also have a set curriculum for the program in which a student will specialize. This me - ans that they would have more dedicated time during their school day for art, music, technology or the magnet program in which they are participating. Charter Schools Charter schools are public schools that are privately ma - naged, not exclusively under the care of a local school district. These schools receive some public funds, but typically receive private funding as well. While they must adhere to state standards to some extent, they also have the ability to create their own curriculum and systems that do not have to adhere to all of the same rules of public schools. For the most part, students are admitted into charter schools through a lottery system. Advocates of charter schools say that it gives parents more choice on the type of school that they would like to attend and the quality of education that their child can receive, par - ticularly if the student lives in a neighborhood where the quality of their traditional public school is not very strong. However, there are also many critics of charter schools who believe that it privatizes a facet of Ameri - can society that should be a public service and incentivi - zes not putting resources into making traditional public neighborhood schools stronger.
of Spanish or French. Chinese, German, and Latin are the only other world languages that account for more than 5 % of the courses offered to secondary school students. German as a second language has trended in a negative direction since the year 2000. Demographics within the U.S. Educational System There were 49 million public school students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through grade twelve in Fall 2020. It is also important to note that many school districts remain quite segregated by race and class within the United Sta - tes. This is despite the fact that the country, as a whole, continues to become more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. As of 2020, the racial breakdown of the student population in U.S. high schools was the following:
» » 22.6 million White students
» » 13.8 million Hispanic students
» » 7.4 million Black students
» » 2.7 million Asian students
» » 2.2 million students of two or more races
» » 0.5 million Indigenous peoples of America / Alaska Native students
» » 0.2 million Pacific Islander students
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