Chapter 8: The St. Louis Co-Teaching for ELs Regional Initiative

The St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area became the new home of over 10,000 immigrants in 2015, and from 2014 to 2015, St. Louis experienced an increase of 8.9% foreign-born residents. That was the highest percent increase of the 20 largest metropolitan regions in the country (Fenske, 2016) . In 2017, the St. Louis Regional Chamber noted an additional increase of foreign-born residents during 2016 (Tripp, 2017). Most recently, Axios reporter Kim Hart (2019) noted that for smaller cities like St. Louis, immigration could be making the difference between population loss and growth, as the native born population ages and immigrants of working age are needed to sustain economic growth and prosperity.