patrick.net

Illegal immigrants have to overcome far more obstacles to live an average lifestyle in the US. If we get to a state that every abled body will need to go out there scrambling for a job instead of watching reality shows, illegal immigrants will have no jobs to attend to and no means to sustain their residence. Immigrants, legal or illegal, come here to seek a better life than back home, not to seek a bare subsistence.

Many illegal immigrants can definitely lead an ok life in the home country, they just want to come out there to strike it rich, comparatively speaking. If you nip the hope of striking it rich, they will stay home.

If you nip the hope of striking it rich, they will stay home.

Horatio Alger is alive and well. At least most people in the US and in other places with immigration (illegal and legal) into the US believe this.

The problem with setting up any kind of blocked personal account for children is...the greedy people always seem to find a way around it. The Coogan Law is for child actors and only withholds 15% of that childs earnings. Many lovely"stage moms' have found ways of getting into these accounts early and claiming they're using the $ for the kids. I think it would be a great idea to make it mandatory to set aside $ for over 2 kids. What a great deterrent for irresponsibility. However, then we have our buddy, Uncle Sam, once again nosing into our business. And if they take away abortion...now that's a completely different topic.

Singporean government has incentives for college graduates to have more kids in terms of subsidy, tax write-off, and discourages under-educated people to have kids, openly. The government is so nosy that it engages in match-making business of college graduates, it runs a match.com entirely free for “qualified” population. But again, this is a country where you get fined for chewing gum or not flushing the toilet.

The Singporean system is not bad at all. They also hang death-row prisoners quickly. However, it is just too hot there.

Actually the only way to get the *right* people to have more kids is to lower the cost of *quality education*. Everyone I know who doesn’t want to have more kids because of the skyrocketing education-related expenses: nursery, pre-school, good school district (which translates into skyrocketing housing price), private college, graduate school, etc.

I agree. But the cost cannot go down if the welfare-takers keep overwhelming the system with more and more offsprings.

(apparently anxiety is a disability that qualifies you to go to a private school in Maine on Woodside school district’s nickel)

With all those excellent Maine lobsters, how can there be anxiety? :)

You can’t have any sort of real diversity if the most affluent and most able parents all flee. Neighborhood schools would be un-PC, so they’d (school board) rather they were all equally bad than pay attention to and actually do what needs to be done at the schools with high need children.

I believe political correctness is not the best way to encourage diversity. Problems must be explored and discussed. They should not be swept under the rug simply because some people may be offended.

I believe people of all races and social-economic statuses should be welcomed and accepted. But a society still needs one single clear and focused value system.

today there has been news talk about a living wage,

If the minimum wage is raised, we will soon find that the "living wage" will soar to a new height.

The only way to improve living standard across the board is to increase available resources through technology.

I believe people of all races and social-economic statuses should be welcomed and accepted. But a society still needs one single clear and focused value system.

Such has never been true of any historical or contemporary society with more than a few people in it I'm aware of -- except for those that stagnated and were quickly and easily destroyed by others.

Such has never been true of any historical or contemporary society with more than a few people in it I’m aware of — except for those that stagnated and were quickly and easily destroyed by others.

So should the system become less welcoming or should there be several competing value systems or both?

So should the system become less welcoming or should there be several competing value systems or both?

I don't claim to know what the system *should* be. I merely contend that value systems are always in competition within a functioning, dynamic society. Call it the economics of social existence if you will.

I merely contend that value systems are always in competition within a functioning, dynamic society. Call it the economics of social existence if you will.

You just described the one single meta-value-system. ;)

You just described the one single meta-value-system.

I'm afraid I did just that. Maybe I am a dreaded market fundamentalist after all, just operating at a higher level of abstraction: Life is a Market.

Someone wrote:

"“Why is CA’s public education so horrible? Is it due to the load of illegal immigrants?”"

Then SFWoman wrote:

"I personally think that education in California has become a ‘lowest common denominator’ system. Some schools have problems because the group that attends the school is impoverished or doesn’t value education?"

Illegal aliens drag down test scores (since the government gives the tests in a language that the kids don't understand), but most English speaking kids will never share a classroom with illegal alien kids since the teachers union keeps them in Spanish only classes as long as possible (usually until they are old enough to drop out of High School and become an illiterate day laborer or housekeeper). Bilingual teachers make more money (and get to practice their Spanish every day) so there is no incentive to teach the kids any English. About the only good public schools left in the Bay Area are the few real expensive areas (Ross, Hillsborough, Portola Valley) where most of the Mom's don't work. I've dated teachers who have told me that the "regular middle class" white kids are almost as screwed up as the hard core gang banger kids since so many come from broken homes and even when their parents stay married they are rarely around since they have to work so hard to make ends meet in the Bay Area.

Life is a Market.

I like this tagline, although I am not a market fundamentalist. :)

About the only good public schools left in the Bay Area are the few real expensive areas (Ross, Hillsborough, Portola Valley) where most of the Mom’s don’t work.

Where people do not send their kids to public schools?

Well, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to legalize 11 million illegal immigrants and to let them start the path toward citizenship. I guess we’ll see how this plays out. At least maybe they can demand more sanitary conditions and a market rate wage for migrant laborers now.

While I definitely think that the economy needs guess workers, unconditionally granting legal status will only incentivize more illegal actions.

IMO only those who have been paying tax and are not receiving welfare should be legalized. Illegal aliens who have evaded tax should be deported. Their employers should be forced to pay for the depotation. There are always new batches of guess workers who have never broken US laws. They should be welcomed instead.

I know a couple of people who moved out of SF to go to public school and they moved to Piedmont, Ross and Woodside.

Interesting. I have heard horror stories about schools in Woodside.

SFWoman,

Is there a spell check for this blog thing? It’s not on my toolbar!

Download the Google Toolbar. It is pretty good at spell checking anything you type into a text box on a web form.

http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/toolbar/index.html

Oops, don't use that link. Just go here http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/ in your favorite browser and click Toolbar and then Download. (The above comment will link you to the FireFox version, and you're probably using IE)

You can also use a newsreader. I use FeedDemon. http://www.bradsoft.com/ but it's not free.

From experience I've found the elite, wealthy Mexican immigrants don't associate with the poorer immigrants. I mean, they'll hire them to do their gardening but are very aware of a class distinction.
my 2 cents

The funny thing about her moving to Woodside to go to school is that she was the only one committed to a public school education, not wanting to be an elitist

So she uses her children to make a statement?

the two others I am thinking of were waitlisted at the private schools and just bought in Piedmont and Marin instead of waiting it out

Logical.

Yes, you see, they do come in handy from time to time.

LOL

But living in Woodside is less elitist than going to a private school?

Just curious, are private schools decisively better than public schools at elementary and junior high level? I know the public high schools are not as good as boarding schools like Philips Exeter etc. but is it worth the bang of buck for kids to attend private schools at an early age?

Woodside and Portola Valley have excellent public elementary schools. Once you get to junior high level, I guess you need to get back to the private route again.

Well, public elementary schools are affluent burbs like Woodside is NOT exactly a *public* institution by general standard. At least in Palo Alto, good elementary schools usually host a bunch of "events" where parents are expected to make thousands of dollars in donation, towards teachers' fringe benefits or what not. You can choose not to donate, just that your kids won't be very popular with the teachers and other kids.

Frankly I would rather go to a private school, at least I know what I am getting at what price, instead of trying to figure out the hidden rules of "expected donations" I am supposed to make towards schools.

USCIS uses the FBI for a name check and back ground check when aliens ( damn, which fool founded that name to categorize people who immigrate to this country.. must have been seeing a lot of star wars movie when they thought up that name ) apply for Residency or Citizenship. FBI is already back logged by a year on this. Pumping more of these illegal immigrants application for citizenship will give them yet another excuse for not getting their work done on time so that they could enjoy their starbucks on poor tax payers money.

Linda,

the elite, affluent immigrants of ANY ethnicity don't hang out with people from their own country of lower social classes.

Pumping more of these illegal immigrants application for citizenship will give them yet another excuse for not getting their work done on time so that they could enjoy their starbucks on poor tax payers money.

I thought they need six years before they can even apply for a greencard. So citizenship is more than a decade away. "Eventual" is the keyword.

I think the government should still find ways to penalize illegal behaviors. Why should someone rewarded simply because they have broken the law?

the elite, affluent immigrants of ANY ethnicity don’t hang out with people from their own country of lower social classes.

the elite, affluent people don’t hang out with people of lower social classes.

I wrote:

"About the only good public schools left in the Bay Area are the few real expensive areas (Ross, Hillsborough, Portola Valley) where most of the Mom’s don’t work."

Then Peter P. wrote (with a question mark):

"Where people do not send their kids to public schools?"

And SFWoman wrote:

"I know a couple of people who moved out of SF to go to public school and they moved to Piedmont, Ross and Woodside."

Very few people Ross, Hillsborough, Portola Valley, Woodside or Piedmont send their kids to private schools since the public elementary schools are outstanding (and if a teacher ever needs anything they just need to ask). Ross, Hillsborough, Portola Valley and Woodside don't have high schools (Woodside High is actually in Redwood City not far from the largest Barrio in the Bay Area outside SF and SJ). Piedmont High is an incredible High School and I would be surprised if any school in the nation sends more kids to Cal and Stanford.

Woodside High is actually in Redwood City not far from the largest Barrio in the Bay Area outside SF and SJ

Ah, this explains the rumor about drugs.

If you are resident alien, then after 5 yrs you can apply for citizenship. To become a resident alien is to get a green card. You can get that through your employer or by getting married to a US citizen or by amnesty. Legalizing illegal immigrants means they would be given amnesty which means they jump the line and become resident aliens while there are a lot of applicants in line waiting for the residency status. I hope this is not what is going to happen.
I am sure there will be a huge rally similar to the ones that we see now protesting against legalizing illegal immigrants if that is the outcome.

IMO, students should be divided into two groups at high school: vocational and academic.

It is useless to prepare academically-challenged kids for college when they can serve the society better with more vocational skills. Every student should be encourged to identify his strengths earlier. Why should we force-feed students with algebra and science if they do other things better?
(Everyone should be forced to take a personal finance course though)

Legalizing illegal immigrants means they would be given amnesty which means they jump the line and become resident aliens while there are a lot of applicants in line waiting for the residency status. I hope this is not what is going to happen.

Exactly. To maintain the deterrence at least a considerable portion of the illegals must be deported.

My wife once dated a guy who lived in PV and went to Menlo School. LOTS of drugs with those kids. They do after all have money and the profound boredom with life that comes from knowing that you will never have to work for anything.

I think drugs and affluent high school students are a common mix.

I do not understand. If they want an altered state of consciousness, why not try brainwave entrainment? If they just want to consume something exclusive, why not Beluga 000? (Thanks to the UN export ban, Caspian caviar prices have skyrocketed in the US :( )

My wife once dated a guy who lived in PV and went to Menlo School.

I heard from someone that drugs from Menlo come from Woodside. Again, this is only what I heard.

They do after all have money and the profound boredom with life that comes from knowing that you will never have to work for anything.

Why don't they just eat 9 meals a day? The boredom will go away.

If you send your children to a private school, do you, you know, actually have to make the donations? I can deal with disapproving stares from the other parents on PTA night. If, however, my boys will actually be ostracized/given lower grates/etc., I have a problem with that.

My eldest turns three tomorrow and I am starting to think about these things a little bit. There are some private schools near me that look really appealing. (I am in SoCal, so they probably aren't familliar.) Anyway, there is one that looks really great. It seems very traditional. The 3 R's all the way, no touchy-feely stuff. It's very expensive and is located in an extremely wealthy neighborhood, one we cannot afford to live in.

I can afford the tuition, but I am not terribly enamored of the idea of making thousands of dollars more in "gifts" each year to a school that doesn't appear to be in need of extra money. Also, I suspect that many of the other parents will have quite a bit of family money, and the same cannot be said about us. As was mentioned above, here even the public schools are always asking the parents to contribute money and I imagine the private schools are even worse.

I don't mind enduring the disapproval of people who are hitting me up for money. If someone asks me for $1000 for the building fund, I'll offer a much smaller amount, and if they disapprove and make snide remarks to the other parents that is okay. my kids will suffer for it, though, I do mind. Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject?

That’s what they do in the rest of the country to alleviate boredom. I know this because I fly economy.

LOL. Luckily I can still fit inside an economy seat.