In Calexico, Calif., schools crack down on students who live across the border

[Francis Hult]

Via lgpolicy...
 

Border schools get tough on Mexican students
In Calexico, Calif., schools crack down on students who live across the
border.

By Randy Dotinga | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
and Mary Knox Merrill | staff
from the May 23, 2008 edition

CALEXICO and SAN DIEGO, Calif. - If you cross the US-Mexican border at the
town of Calexico you might run into a photographer named Daniel Santillan.
But he's not likely to be shooting pictures of tourists. He only has eyes
for Mexican schoolchildren who want an American education. Mr. Santillan
is a residency enforcer, assigned by local education officials to make
sure students live in the US, not Mexico. When he's not tracking students
on weekday mornings at the border crossing, he visits local homes to make
sure children live where their parents say they do.

Santillan isn't thrilled about busting youngsters for living south of the
border, but he accepts his job. "The bottom line is that these kids are
taking up room," he says. It's impossible to know how many Mexican
students cross the border daily to attend school in the US, sent by
parents who think they'll get a better education. Still, border
communities have fretted over their presence for more than a decade. Some
schools are now doing more to enforce residency requirements under
pressure from politicians and activists concerned about wasted taxpayer
money.

Calexico's schools, however, have gone further than others by sending
Santillan to photograph students at the border and requiring parents to
provide proof of residency twice a year. The school district, which serves
9,000 students in a poor southwestern California border town, wasn't
overly concerned about Mexican students until about three years ago. After
all, Calexico schools didn't lose any money by accepting the students,
since the state of California reimburses the district for each student it
accepts. Also, Mexican students didn't necessarily stand out, since 95
percent of Calexico residents are Latino. And close relationships with
Calexico's sister city in Mexico the sprawling metropolis Mexicali made
cross-border trips easy.


Full story:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0523/p01s05-usgn.html



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