The subject of the Latin American heritage and history in our public school system is indisputably one of the most underestimated subjects. Latin American culture is in fact underrepresented across most subjects such as social studies, reading, and writing or language arts. The Latino population in public school systems has grown and it is expected to increase rapidly due to floods of immigrants from Latin America in the last 40 years. According to the Pew Research Center, the Latino population since 1970s has increased six fold. In 2012, the Latino population in U.S was 53 million. While waves of Latino immigrants flooded the metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, and New Jersey in search for job opportunities,
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the general assumption was that these newcomers needed to become integrated or assimilated into the mainstream culture. However, one must also take into consideration that the newly-arrived immigrants already carry a Latino identity that cannot be ignored. That identity makes up the rich diversity and cultural outlook of our schools and classrooms.
