Posted on 09/21/2009 12:48:01 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
Students living in northern Mexico have skirted residency requirements to attend U.S. public schools for generations, but when the superintendent in one Texas border town got word that about 400 school-age children were crossing the international bridge each day with backpacks but no student visas, he figured he had to do something.
The community is connected by a bridge to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, and like most border cities, the towns operate in tandem, with U.S. citizens and green cardholders living, working and shopping on both sides. All of it is legal, but public school attendance by children living in Mexico is another issue.
"We had several van loads (with Mexican license plates) pulling up at the schools and kids getting out. It's like 'C'mon, it's obvious what's going on,'" said Kelt Cooper, superintendent of the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District.
He directed district officials to stake out the bridge and warn students they could face expulsion if they don't prove they live in the district—a move that's brought complaints from civil rights groups and support from anti-immigrant proponents.
"We have a law. We have a policy. We follow it," said Cooper, whose spent most of his life near the border and is uncomfortable with attempts to make him a cause celebre for either side of the immigration debate. "I'm just doing my job."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Here’s the real kicker...in Texas, thanks to stupid liberals, we have ‘redistributive wealth’ in local school taxes, with poor districts (at least they used to be poor—when the law passed) getting tax dollars literally siphoned out of (formerly) wealthy districts to offset the inbalance in economic equity allegedly required by the Texas constitution. Since the beginning of Robin Hood school funding(as it is known down here), countless ‘wealthy’ districts face school closings, teacher lay-offs, supply shortages, etc. while simultaneously being forced to send as much as $2,000 per local student that the district takes in taxes to other districts to do with as they please. So the poor Mexican illegals can get an American education, other Texas tax-paying citizens’ children are being forced to do without textbooks, teachers, and schools. It’s the only thing I truly have hated about living in Texas.
Worse, they are crossing an international bridge with a U.S. Port of Entry manned by Customs and Border Patrol on the U.S. side. I don’t know how they are getting in, either, unless they have border crossing cards. If they do, they are still cheating by living in Mexico, out of the school district, and attending school in Del Rio. Could be they are American citizen anchor babies who are living in Cd. Acuna and attending school in Del Rio, in which case they are still illegal, because you have to live in the district. I am waiting for a lawsuit challenging the right to attend school in a particular school district while living outside the district. That would have ramifications far, far from the border. Where I live, there is a constant fight to keep kids who live in the District of Colombia from attending schools in Maryland and Virginia because they don’t live in those school districts. And if those kids are anchor babies, they are living in Mexico on U.S. welfare benefits and they qualify for Medicaid and SCHIP.
These are not victimless crimes. Education policy and Health care policy are both dependent on immigration policy.
We are spending more to educate and illegal in the US then to educate a citizen, due to busing, ESL and other special ed. We are proposing to ration health care to Granny to give health care to illegals. The Govt keeps trying to tell us it isn’t happening, but we know better.
Every school district should do this. By definition, an illegal is not a legal resident of any school district, and should thus not be allowed to attend any classes.
“Who calls Kelt Cooper?” Admittedly my Spanish is not top-notch, but I think I’m missing something.
You should have seen the uproar when I tried to place my one child in a neighboring school district (we’re right on the border). The answer was a resounding NO!
He directed district officials to stake out the bridge and warn students they could face expulsion if they don’t prove they live in the district—a move that’s brought complaints from civil rights groups and support from anti-immigrant proponents.
***
Saw the story about this school board head last week.
Re this version: What “anti-immigrant” proponents? Does this moron writer mean people who are opposed to ILLEGAL immigration?
LOL! Right. Profiling. What a hoot!
"Horale" is the Gringo version of "ORALE'!" which has been corrupted by the gay illegals as "ANALE'!"
This should clear everything up.
Your spanish is probably better than my Tex-Mex.
I was trying for... “What kind of name is Kelt Cooper?”
When I was in high school I was called to the office and kicked out of school right that second. They would not let me finish out the day and I had no transportation home. My crime was that we had moved into a new house and the realtor had promised it was in the same school district as before. I was a senior and had already attended four different high schools, so my folks didn’t want to have to change me yet again. Unfortunately the realtor was wrong, or lying. In any case, this quiet, good student who is very white, was summarily dismissed for living one street over. My how things have changed.
Ah, I see! :)
I am also wondering what “Kelt” is short for.
‘C’mon, it’s obvious what’s going on,’
Public schools get paid by the head.
Your tax dollars at work.
This man should run for governor of Texas or President of the United States to displace the resident usurper in The White Hut.
“It does cost us to educate these children, but we also get a benefit because we know they are likely to impact our economy in some way,” said Ratcliffe, noting that many will work in the U.S. as adults.
*How will that occur if they are ILLEGAL?
If these a holes aren't paying taxes in the district they need to shut up.
Believe it or not, Mexico is in worse shape than we are.
What would we get, a couple of tamales?
Was happening in Nogales, AZ and that was 16 years ago. It’s just finally hit OVERLOAD.
“What “anti-immigrant” proponents?”
I’ll settle for that for now, but would prefer “anti-illegal alien” proponents. But at least it sounds better than (what they were calling us): “racist, xenophobic, skinhead, red-neck/gringo vigilantes.” And it’s shorter too.
I’ve noticed the governments’ (important to note, not just the Democrats) house organs: TV, print, etc., are also using the adjective “illegal immigrants”, rather than the former “undocumented workers” more and more.
Before too long—after fighting our presidents, congress varmints & the `4th branch of government’ every step of the way—we should arrive at truthful categorical statements from the print and TV gerbalists:
(clearing throat) to wit,
“a move that’s brought complaints from illegal foreign aliens and their accessories after-the-fact, and support from law abiding, middle class Americans.”
Thank you. Thank you very much.
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