Reply to Moderate conservative immigrant family moving from Fairfax VA to Mountain View CA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
There are many families just like yours in MV. I haven't heard of any teacher obligating asking of pronouns, but some kids probably offer them. The population is very diverse. This $1k obligatory donation PP is talking about is completely untrue. I do not think they say the pledge of allegiance in the classrooms but I think that has been true for many years afaik (like since the 90s). There aren't rainbow flags in classrooms by policy, but it is possible individual teachers may have one (I have no idea why you would be so triggered by that, though, and I'm doubting the resiliency of you and your kids with that comment). 
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I don't want to reply to that "resiliency" comment, but what I do want to know is if I get a teacher putting the rainbow flag besides the American flag in the classroom, will I be able to report this to the principal and have the flag taken down? At least here in Fairfax, things are somewhat moderate and we are generally ok with the public school system.
Again I don't want to discuss about my family's values and beliefs, we are who we are. I just don't want to get my kids into an ultra-progressive public school system which is not consistent with our values.[/quote]

PP who suggested you go to the eastern and inland areas of the BA again. I'm not interested in arguing with you about your politics. I am an expert on California's political climate though and have written many papers and books on the state and on Silicon Valley, in particular. I have lived in the Bay Area and in DC for over three decades.

Based on what you just stated, the places where you would want to live in California will be mostly in the inland, north, and far southeast areas of the state. (Santa Cruz, which you suggested is literally the opposite of the kind of community you seek.) The southern portions of San Jose/Gilroy will be more in your price range, but they aren't especially safe areas and the politics there aren't as conservative as you would like. To the extent they are conservative, at least some portion of that conservatism is anti-immigrant, which would not really help you.

Also, FYI - you say you consider yourself a moderate conservative, but in California most moderate conservatives embrace LGBT rights. By California standards, you are not moderate. You are conservative, full stop. I'm not saying this to insult you, but to help you understand how to find what you want.

FWIW - There are very few places in the Bay Area where even the conservatives would freak out about the presence of a rainbow flag in a classroom. (Frankly, I think that your views aren't even as accepted as you might believe in Fairfax.) I can't think of a single community in the Bay Area where a parent could demand something like that - e.g., take down a rainbow flag - without it turning into a major fight that you would most likely lose.

That said, I think you can find communities here where the liberal politics aren't as "in your face," where the schools are excellent, and where immigrants are welcome. For that, I repeat my recommendation to go through the tunnel to the Lamorinda area (Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Danville, etc.). The other place you could go would be outside Sacramento, but that's way too long for commute. You'd also find a similar fit in the Bakersfield/San Joaquin Valley, but that commute is also brutal.

The easy way to do this is to get out a map and look at the counties and cities where Trump won. Those places are where you will most likely find people with views similar to yours, though they may also be anti-immigrant, which is just something you'll have to navigate.[/quote]

OP here. Thank you for your reply. Yes I don't want to end up in an unsafe, anti-immigrant community. But at the same time, I don't want to end up in a school with the liberal politics "in my kids face" as you stated. And I consider the rainbow flag part of it, as well as BLM etc. I don't care about lgbt rights, I just don't want my kids brainwashed with these stuff.
Not sure about if such area exists there. But all I care is about schools. And I don't want to be part of a "culture war", I just want a quiet and safe life for me and my family.

A 1hr commute would be acceptable for me, as I will be only going to SV twice per week or so. I've been to Sacramento and it's a very nice city, although I'm not sure if it satisfies my standards..
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If you are so sensitive to the mere sight of a rainbow flag that you would immediately run to the principal, you are indeed looking to be part of a culture war. Rainbow flags are all over this state, including in deep red, state of Jefferson areas that usually hate immigrants. You are in for a rough time.

I am positive you will find occasional classrooms in the Sacramento area with rainbow flags. [/quote]

I'm talking about such flags in the classroom. So far haven't encountered such a situation in Fairfax, and haven't heard about such things from other parents here.

Sorry just saw Sacramento is 2hrs, so that's a bit too much.[/quote]

Yes, I understand, and I'm telling you, you are too sensitive to flourish in California. [/quote]
+1  I have to agree.  I'm not progressive uber liberal, but if a rainbow flag in a school to show support for lgbtq is going to trigger you, I don't think liberal areas like SV is for you.

What if OP your kid turns out to be gay? Will you disown them?

I'm also an immigrant, conservative family, but my family would never disown a family member for being gay.[/quote]

OP here. I never said that I will disown a gay or anything like that. But I consider having a rainbow flag or a BLM flag in the classroom not appropriate. Only the American flag should be in the classroom. If I had a teacher bringing liberal political symbols into the classroom, I would send  my kid with a MAGA or an all lives matter T-shirt at school (never voted for Trump, after all I don't have voting rights in the US). I never got into such situations in Fairfax schools. If I am guaranteed to face this stuff in CA, I'd rather pass the offer.[/quote]

Do us Californians a favor and just don’t come. [/quote]

We moved to DMV area a little more than a year ago from the Peninsula. My kids are at MoCo schools and I don't find the political school politics all that different. My child's middle school teacher here asked for the whole class to use their preferred pronouns whereas in our old elementary school near where you're considering living we had several same-sex families.

Overall, the Bay Area in general will be much more progressive than here and you'll be surrounded by that bubble. Conservatives usually keep it very quiet there. I'm sure your kids will get exposed to gender fluidity etc. in school in the Bay Area just by virtue of living in that culture, not necessarily because anyone will indoctrinate them. But  I mean, how's that all that different than here? I see rainbow flags here in any DMV suburb as much as I saw them in the Bay Area. Your kids are already exposed to all these ideas you don't want them to be exposed to. No one will force them to identify as a liberal in the Bay Area, but they'll just be liberals anyway.

Also, just so you know, Danville/Orinda will be far from your work - terrible commute and also they are pretty white. Walnut Creek is more diverse, but again far. San Jose might be closer to what you're looking for, but honestly, since you're so worried about this, I think you'll feel like it's all over the place.[b] The Bay Area is overall more liberal as a society. [/b]

For what it's worth, my reasons for moving out of the Bay Area were purely financial. It's way too expensive there and on your salary, even though it's a decent salary, you'll just feel like you're never making enough. There is an absurd level of wealth in the Bay Area, and there's a lot of it everywhere, so your small apartment will soon make you feel like you're poor, even though you'll know you're not poor, but still. It'll feel like it. Can you work virtually?? Maybe that's best of all worlds for you![/quote]

Used to be liberal, now it's woke, which is anti-liberal.[/quote]

WTF is that even supposed to mean? [/quote]

Classical liberalism was all about the free exchange of ideas. Now, expressing a wrong idea gets you labelled with an epithet and excommunicated.[/quote]

+1. Peninsula here.  There is absolutely nothing liberal about a society that requires accepting the party line and offering only approbation and disapproval to those that don't.  Those of us old enough to remember the world before 1989 know what we used to call it.  FWIW OP, there are a lot more people in the Bay Area who agree with you than you might think.  But beware, we're all too afraid to say anything.[/quote]

PP.  If you're an immigrant family who come to America for our ideals, you are welcome here.[/quote]

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