Posted on 02/19/2005 7:56:25 AM PST by deepFR
LINCOLN, Neb. - Dick Eisenhauer is tired of watching white families take their children out of the schools in his Nebraska district and enroll them in smaller, outlying ones where there are virtually no poor or Hispanic students.
Like many of Nebraska's school systems, the Lexington district where Eisenhauer is superintendent has seen an influx of Hispanics, largely because of jobs at the meatpacking plants, and an accompanying exodus of white students to public elementary schools just outside town.
And there is nothing Eisenhauer can do about it. Nebraska law allows students to switch schools without giving a reason.
"It bothers you when people come into your town and make comments like `You've got lots of Mexican kids,'" Eisenhauer said. "I feel distressed if they would opt out for that reason."
The situation in Lexington and elsewhere in Nebraska has caught the attention of the state Legislature, which is considering a bill to thwart what some say amounts to legal segregation in the schools.
The proposal would force the outlying elementary-only schools to merge with larger kindergarten-through-12th-grade districts. That could mean the closing of the smaller schools.
Beginning in the 1960s, white flight to the suburbs left many big-city school systems across the country predominantly black. But what is happening in Nebraska is a different phenomenon: The white families are staying put; they are just sending their kids to school outside town.
This is possible because Nebraska, unlike many other states and communities, does not require students to attend the schools in the district in which they live.
As a result, in Lexington, the in-town schools, with an enrollment of 2,500, have 804 students learning English as a second language, and 1,172 who are getting a free or reduced-price lunch. The six outlying elementary schools have about 130 students — none of them English learners, none of them living in poverty, according to the state Education Department.
The situation is similar in and around the small town of Schuyler, which also has seen an influx of Hispanics in recent years. There are 250 students there who are learning to speak English; none of them attend the outlying schools. Of 325 students living in poverty, all but 18 go to school in town.
At the same time, spending per student in the outlying schools is as much as twice as high as spending in the Schuyler grade schools. All public schools in Nebraska are primarily funded with local property taxes and state aid, which is based in part on enrollment.
Cecilia Huerta, director of the state's Mexican-American Commission, said other Nebraska communities with large numbers of Hispanics are likely to have the same situation.
"People in Lexington and Schuyler do not want their kids being polluted by Latin Americans and Hispanics," Huerta said. "They think they're not going to get the quality of education if they have a diverse classroom."
Many Hispanics are not aware of what is happening, but if they did "they would be up in arms," said state Sen. Ray Aguilar, the Legislature's only Hispanic.
Chris Dvorak, a white parent who has two children who attend a school outside Schuyler, said she sent her children there to avoid overcrowding in town, not to get away from Hispanics. "I would have done the same thing if they were all white kids," Dvorak said.
There are 45 students enrolled at Dvorak's children's school, compared with more than 850 at Schuyler Grade School.
State Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler pointed out that anyone can attend the outlying schools. "It's not an elite group that gets to option," he said.
But Aguilar said Hispanic students do not go to the schools outside of town because in many Hispanic households, both parents work and do not have cars to take their children to class.
Rosa Valerio, a Hispanic mother whose children both attend school in Schuyler, said she never considered sending them to schools outside town because they are too far away.
Some senators are afraid the state will face legal challenges if the Legislature does not stop the trend toward separate white and Hispanic schools.
"It is unconscionable," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Ron Raikes.
"The situation in Lexington and elsewhere in Nebraska has caught the attention of the state Legislature, which is considering a bill to thwart what some say amounts to legal segregation in the schools."
So, now parents will not have school choice because it's more important to create "diversity" in the classroom?
"People in Lexington and Schuyler do not want their kids being polluted by Latin Americans and Hispanics," Huerta said. "They think they're not going to get the quality of education if they have a diverse classroom."
Oooo, a mind-reader.
What's stopping the hispanic kids from going to these county schools, too?
I have no problem with legal immigrants. Get legal, or get out.
No. I think it's a combination of funding and the idea that chldren are the property of the State.
Nothing. The article sounds like an attempt to equate illegals with Jim Crow.
It really isn't (or shouldn't) be about the ethnicity of the kids. It really is about the kids being low-income. Low-income generally equals a more transient lifestyle, which leads to gaps in education and behavior problems, which leads to needing more services like special ed. or behavior modification....who in their right mind would want their child to be in a class or school with all of that when they can go elsewhere?
Like many of Nebraska's school systems, the Lexington district where Eisenhauer is superintendent has seen an influx of Hispanics, largely because of jobs at the meatpacking plants, and an accompanying exodus of white students to public elementary schools just outside town.
Not to mention the so-called "reporter" ignores the issue that this influx are in the country illegally and that the plants employing them are openly violating our immigration laws without fear of repercussion. To them, the real story is whitey is racist.
The Nebraska legislature seems poised to declare native-born American children as chattel.
It should read Mexicans and Hispanics. Latins are Hispanics and Mexicans are Mexicans.
If by "diversity" you mean "large numbers of kids from single-parent families inadequately prepared for learning," I'm afraid I'd have to opt out as well. I suspect that's the real issue here. And I also suspect you'll find that most of the middle-class minority families are getting out as well.
It really isn't (or shouldn't) be about the ethnicity of the kids
It should if the kids and their parents are in this country "illegally". I believe that if politicians were required to send thier children to public schools we would see many of these issues addressed.
1. Government adopts insane policies (immigration).
2. Folks take simple rational actions to shield themselves from the insane policies.
3. Government adopts more insane, and now coercive policies designed to prevent people from acting in their own interests....rinse and repeat...
How dare those Americans try to do what the illegals criminal Mexican aliens and their racist supporters claim they are doing!! The darn gringos must learn that their primary role is to supply the wealth and resources to improve the situation of the invaders! Not to play the race card here, but folks in the black community have given up employment and any claim to jobs to ensure that illegal Mexicans get work. Why can't the folks in the white community live up to tjeir obligations, as well?
Just for the record, these were not illegal immigrants either. Almost all were natives and some could trace there families in California back to before most of the rest of us could find ours in North America.
Arizonans and Californians can be heard shouting,
"Welcome to the world of reality, Nevadans! You
now know what displacement means."
I feel that for the amount of property taxes that they rape us for ("It's for the schools, you know.") parents should be able to send their kids where they want to. We homeschool, so we get to pay for this nonsense no matter what (that's our choice). I just don't like the divisions it throws up in the communities. I generally don't have any problem with the Mexican people who live here, although if they are not here legally I do. I don't know what the percentages are as to legal vs. illegal, but if someone plays by the rules and is here legally, then great, welcome. Now start learning English. You don't have to give up speaking Spanish, but English is the language of our contry and you need to learn to speak it (just like I would need to learn to speak Spanish if I moved to Mexico).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.