‘Feels like erasure’: Why Native American students may be undercounted by 90% in California schools
Assembly Bill 1581 would change school reporting rules after advocates said California may be undercounting Native American students by as much as 90%.
- Assemblymember James Ramos, a San Bernardino Democrat, introduced Assembly Bill 1581 to allow Native American students to write their tribe name and identify as Native American plus another race on school forms, with no opposition so far.
- California's data collection system counts students selecting both Hispanic and Native American as solely Hispanic, erasing their tribal identity; Celestina Castillo stopped checking the Latino box after learning her children's Native American heritage was not being recorded.
- California schools reported 24,822 Native American students last year, but the actual number may reach 156,000—an undercount of as much as 90%, advocates said—despite more than 760,000 Californians identifying as Native American.
- If accurately identified, Native American students would access cultural services and educational programs to help them succeed, while Ramos said an accurate count could shift public perception so Native Americans are seen as present everywhere rather than rare or extinct.
- Decades after the federal government forced thousands of Native American children into boarding schools in the late 19th and 20th centuries, Census Bureau improvements beginning in 1970 now position Ramos—a Serrano/Cahuilla tribe member—to affirm student identity.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Times of San Diego
‘Feels like erasure’: Why Native American students may be undercounted by 90% in California schools
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. When Celestina Castillo filled out the ethnicity forms at her children’s school, she’d always check Latino and Native American. After all, the family is proud of both its heritages. But because of a loophole in the state’s data collection system, checking Latino or Hispanic meant that her children’s Native American identity was not counted at all, and they would n…
‘Feels like erasure’: Why Native American students may be undercounted by 90% in California schools • The Mendocino Voice | Mendocino County, CA
This was written by staff at the nonprofit newsroom CalMatters. It was republished by The Mendocino Voice in partnership with CalMatters to bring relevant nonpartisan news to Mendocino County readers. Learn more about CalMatters here. SACRAMENTO, CA., 5/25/26 — When Celestina Castillo filled out the ethnicity forms at her children’s school, she’d always check Latino and Native American. After all, the family is proud of both its heritages. But …
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