WASHINGTON — The number of Hispanics who dropped out or never attended high school surged by over 50 percent in the 1990s, especially in the South and West where many schools were overwhelmed as they tried to accommodate the fast-growing Spanish-speaking population. The changing demographics present a tough task, particularly to small-town and rural school administrators who must find money in their tight budgets to hire bilingual staffers and develop new programs to teach newly arrived students who may not have a good grasp of English. In 2000, approximately 1.56 million U.S. residents ages 16 to 19 were not high...