Posted on 02/18/2005 2:40:30 PM PST by television is just wrong
U.S. National - AP AP Nebraska Fears Segregation in Schools
Fri Feb 18, 2:26 PM ET Add to My Yahoo! U.S. National - AP
By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press Writer
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.
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My guess is that a lot of these newcomers are illegal immigrants (Mexican Nationals ?) and they plan to bring Mexico to Nebraska.
I wonder where his kids go to school.
Yes. I was thinking out loud. In other words, meatpacking used to pay a decent wage. Funny, my 1/4 pounder at McDonald's hasn't gotten any cheaper by paying Mexicans a fraction of what we used to pay Americans. I've also noticed that housing costs haven't fallen even though we are paying Mexican construction workers a pittance as well.
Hmm... I better stop. I'm starting to sound like a leftie.
"I did not see "illegal" anywhere in this article."
There has been a history of INS raids on the meat packing houses in Nebraska. Don't know if it is still an ongoing thing. In the past significant numbers of illegals have been caught.
Just curious, who used to work at these meatpacking plants before the recent influx of hispanic (mexican) immigrants? I mean, Americans have been eating beef and chicken for a while now. Somebody had to have been working at these plants?
At one time these jobs were good paying jobs. Actually a living wage job. But then the packers brought in the illegals and undercut the pay. Pay has moved backwards along with benefits ever since. Enjoy your cheap beef you are paying the difference out in entitlements.
More profits for big business.
I went to neighborhood Sav-on Drug store. They have ring your own order up. I asked the manager if they are offering a discount for me running up my own order, since they are not paying a cashier to be there.
The manager gave me a dirty look.
I love Lexington, NE...there is a small truckstop on the southside of the intersate that has a resturant adjacent to it.
The resturant has a "chicken fried steak" that is over a 1/2 lb of real tenderized steak, battered and deep fried with veggies for $7.95 (couple years ago) They bring the steak on 1 plate and the veggies on another.
Don't know if this is still the case or not, haven't been there in a while. Also, there is a grocery store on the north side of the interstate, that has a great deli with hot plate lunches for almost nothing.
Hell Yeah, let's all stop in Lexington, NE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hell Yeah, let's all stop in Lexington, NE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you ever considered moving there? I understand there is a lot of property for sale very reasonable.
Nope..too damn cold for a coonass from Louisiana to survive thru the winter!!!!!!!!!!!!
Source?
I acxcidently inserted the wron g quote. What I would loke to see is the source for your following statement:
"The schools in Texas are specifically for illegal alien children."
Force them together (liberal's remedy) and see what happens!
Yeah, I used to live in Lexington a long time ago. It was a lilly-white community then, and they're determined to stay that way if they can!
It was either on www.americanpatrol.com, or wwwsteinreport.com. Not absolutely sure, but I came across it, and was astounded.
I grew up in Burbank, Ca. Sidewalks literally rolled up at 5:00pm, daily. Small number of latino students, and only one afridan american in my senior year in highschool. I cannot say it is this way anymore. Burbank has exploded along with the rest of Southern California. Some growth is good, some is bad. We are at a crossroads, of losing our identity of what Burbank is all about.
Nope, I checked both those sites. Sure it wasn't StormFront or some other site you don't want to mention? But I did find that you found this article in AmericanPatrol, a white supremacists site from which articles are not allowed to be posted on FR.
Perhaps you have a reason for not wanting us to know where you saw the lie about Texas having schools just for illegal immigrants.
You've been outed.
There was an article on FR about border schools in Texas last year.
Before Dick opens his mouth again he should make a trip to California and see what has happened to the quality of education in our schools because of non-English speakers. He might also note that we're being forced to build MANY new schools to accommodate them, all at the expense of California taxpayers/homeowners.
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