On numerous fronts, growth remains the watchword and the biggest challenge to education. Single-building schools have been replaced by campuses with classroom wings, cafeterias and libraries. And schools are now trying to handle social problems, sometimes in ways as basic as serving free breakfast and lunch to poor children. This has triggered new jobs and responsibilities. Teachers mentor colleagues.
Psychologists help determine whether a child has a learning disability.
The complexities are apparent in the Fresno Unified School District, now the fourth-largest in the state, with 78,000 students. The school offers bilingual programs that have been successful in moving children into English-only classrooms. The area's growing population of immigrants has made teaching in languages other than English a necessity. In the '80s, the immigration of thousands of Southeast Asian refugees triggered unprecedented growth, forcing many elementary schools into year-round operation. The faces of students changed from predominantly white to a majority of Hispanic, Asian, African-American and other minorities.