Anonymous
11/03/2013 12:50
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
FCPS administrator here--yes, the affidavit is another alternative. If a child was born in another country and the document was lost or unavailable, the affidavit is accepted. As PP said, it is about determining age.
There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.
In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.
There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.
In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.
Anonymous
11/03/2013 12:36
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:At least I understand why AAP is so big in Fairfax. It seemed so strange to me and I didn't understand why it was so important. It's a way to get out of Gen. Ed., which sounds to have disproportionate numbers of ESOL students or FARMS. Now I understand. Interesting.
Let me guess -- APS?
Anonymous
11/03/2013 12:27
Subject: Re:Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:To all -- when we registered our DCs in FFX schools last year, we had to bring their birth certificates. I assumed that this document requirement meant that only US citizens could attend the public schools, or if they had foreign birth certificates they had to show resident status.
How would illegal residents be allowed to enroll in FCPS? Any one know?
You have to bring a birth certificate or affidavit as to date of birth when you register. They are checking for age, not citizenship or immigration status. FCPS cannot turn away children who are not here legally. There is specific Supreme Court precedent to this effect which binds public school systems.
If this requirement is indeed in effect for registration in the Fairfax County public schools it could have the (unintended) consequence of discouraging illegal immigrants from enrolling their children in school, and thus have the effect of creating de facto barriers to the enrollment of these children in public schools.
First, because illegal immigrants may equate/associate having to show a birth certificate with having to demonstrate legal status (like the non-immigrant poster did).
Second, because immigrants may not have ready access to the birth certificates of their children.
Also, because illegal immigrants may not understand what an affidavit (legal document) is, nor have access to someone who can explain this to them.
Again, I believe that this birth certificate or affidavit requirement, though ostensibly to demonstrate age, may also present an unintended obstacle to illegal immigrant children attending the public schools.
This would suggest, as a previous poster said, that most of the Hispanic/Latino children in FCPS are U.S. citizens, born here (even if their parents were not).
Anonymous
11/03/2013 12:25
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
At least I understand why AAP is so big in Fairfax. It seemed so strange to me and I didn't understand why it was so important. It's a way to get out of Gen. Ed., which sounds to have disproportionate numbers of ESOL students or FARMS. Now I understand. Interesting.
Anonymous
11/03/2013 12:20
Subject: Re:Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:I love the diversity in Fairfax and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, at least certainly not in this region.
What, exactly, do you love about the diversity? This just seems like something people say "Oh, I want diversity. But they can't really explain what they mean by that.
Anonymous
11/03/2013 11:29
Subject: Re:Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:To all -- when we registered our DCs in FFX schools last year, we had to bring their birth certificates. I assumed that this document requirement meant that only US citizens could attend the public schools, or if they had foreign birth certificates they had to show resident status.
How would illegal residents be allowed to enroll in FCPS? Any one know?
You have to bring a birth certificate or affidavit as to date of birth when you register. They are checking for age, not citizenship or immigration status. FCPS cannot turn away children who are not here legally. There is specific Supreme Court precedent to this effect which binds public school systems.
Anonymous
11/03/2013 11:01
Subject: Re:Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
To all -- when we registered our DCs in FFX schools last year, we had to bring their birth certificates. I assumed that this document requirement meant that only US citizens could attend the public schools, or if they had foreign birth certificates they had to show resident status.
How would illegal residents be allowed to enroll in FCPS? Any one know?
How would illegal residents be allowed to enroll in FCPS? Any one know?
Anonymous
11/02/2013 15:05
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:We NEED all these young people (ESOL or not) to pay taxes to keep our Soc. Sec. going in future years. The hispanic population and immigration is what fuels population growth in the US. The more workers there are, the more taxes are paid, the more benefits we get as old people.
Yeah for ESOL!
+1. The xenophobia on here should live in Russia - hateful of foreigners, hateful of gays, and losing out as their low birth rates ensure there won't be enough workers in the future to support the elderly.
Anonymous
11/02/2013 14:29
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
We NEED all these young people (ESOL or not) to pay taxes to keep our Soc. Sec. going in future years. The hispanic population and immigration is what fuels population growth in the US. The more workers there are, the more taxes are paid, the more benefits we get as old people.
Yeah for ESOL!
Yeah for ESOL!
Anonymous
11/02/2013 13:45
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:Sounds like us white people need to get busy makin' babies to offset the growth percentages. You want more non-Hispanics...procreate!
Ok , how will that increase tax revenue to pay for the extra kids
Anonymous
11/02/2013 13:38
Subject: Re:Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
I love the diversity in Fairfax and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, at least certainly not in this region.
Anonymous
11/02/2013 13:38
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:Are the article writers blind?? The increase is due to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Which is well-tolerated in this area because apparently people don't mind paying crazy taxes for all the things illegal immigration means, cost-wise.
Insanity.
Yes because obviously every Latino person is an illegal immigrant and should be shipped off (even though the Census estimates that only 11 million illegal immigrants and over 54 million Latinos are in the US). Moreover, one would certainly assume that a great proportion of illegal immigrants are located in California/Texas/Arizona/New Mexico such that only a small fraction of the 180,000 Latinos in Fairfax are illegal immigrants.
Anonymous
11/02/2013 13:35
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Sounds like us white people need to get busy makin' babies to offset the growth percentages. You want more non-Hispanics...procreate!
Anonymous
11/02/2013 09:24
Subject: Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Agree, PP. They can't possibly all be here legally.
These are people who I admire -- Criminals?? --- can you imagine having to leave your home/family/country and risking your life with the hope of finding a menial, back-breaking job in a country where people insult you and where you don't speak the language? That's courage in my book That's saying F You to another country's laws in mine -- and frankly, most of us are so soft we couldn't do the work or go the distance that these people have -- I did that work as a preteen and teen because I was raised in a farm community. Sorry you're so soft. . You say you support "family values"???? well, it's the essence of "family values" to put your life on the line by moving to a foreign country so that you can provide food for your children. Illegal activity=family values, really?
Go let your heart bleed somewhere else. We're in incredible debt because of these louts, and people like you who support their actions.
We just had an addition put on our house and we noticed that the Hispanic guys came early and left late, while the White (rednecks) came at 10:30 and left at 4pm, sometimes earlier, or not at all when there was <gasp> the threat of rain. Hispanics are hard-working, how can that be bad?
I worked construction, and I agree. As a general rule the Hispanic immigrants are extremely hard working. Of course, often their kids don't have the same work ethic since they've grown up in relative comfort in the US. These kids graduate HS at a MUCH lower rate than children of native parents and attend college at a much lower rate as well. Google MS-13; this is a problem brought directly from illegal immigration.
Someone brought up the lower wages that immigrants are willing to take for work and the positive effect is has on what we pay for goods and services. People also complain that these jobs pay so little that the people who have them are eligible for government services. Their kids generally need more help in school which also costs. This money for services is coming from somewhere, and it's not from the guys working for $6 an hour under the table at a construction site, so to say unilaterally that illegal immigration helps the pocketbook is untrue.
Someone also mention that these immigrants deserve the job more than the lazy Americans they replace. Great, all for a meritocracy, but what do you think these "lazy" Americans do? They generally stay unemployed. Would most people here be OK if corporations started illegally bringing in skilled workers from other countries to do your jobs for less, and the state/government turned a blind eye? It's all great when it's jobs that you don't want right?
Anonymous
11/02/2013 09:20
Subject: Re:Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Can't they put all the ESOL kids in the same class if there are enough of them?
My son starts kindergarten next year and his school has 4 k classes. It bothers me so much that his school is 30% ESOL.
No the county policy is to integrate all
But they get separated in 3rd grade for AAP.
I forgot how the county is trying hard to get more minority students into AAP/TJ because apparently TJ admissions are racist.[/quote]
yeah, it's based on merit. So naturally it has a huge negative impact on certain groups.