Where we go to School: Latino Students and the Public Schools of Boston focuses on the experience of Latino children in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). Using available public data that had not previously been compiled, it aims at the fullest view possible of the Latino school population.

Boston Public Schools is the largest school district in the state, enrolling 56,765 students in AY 2006, the school year that is the focus of this study. School enrollments in Boston have been both shrinking and diversifying. In 2000-2001, for example, enrollments numbered 63,024; just five years later, enrollment was 9.6% lower. Driving this drop in numbers was a decrease in the enrollment of Asian, Black, and White students. Only Latinos and “others” increased in this period. The latter increased as function of new racial classifications. The former increased as a reflection of the growth of the Latino population in the city.