Hard evidence that employer sanctions law is working
In two adjacent articles, the daily is engaged in a hand wringing frenzy over declining schools enrollments.
One article lays the blame on “changing neighborhoods and sinking housing prices.”
But the underlying reason for the declines according to the second article was…you guessed it: The state’s employer sanctions law is the culprit.
The upside of his phenomena is providing parents the smaller classes they have long desired for their children minus the intrusion of English language learners who hindered class progress.
As illegals self deport or move out of Arizona, some districts are losing elementary school age students. However, teens are reported to be staying behind when their families move, enabling the high schools to maintain consistent enrollment numbers.
Where those teens live and how they support themselves is anyone’s guess. Thoughts of bands of unskilled adolescents, roaming free without adult supervision conjures up far more disturbing images than declining enrollment.
Also of interest, it took 14 contributing reporters to get this story out. Remember when veteran reporters, working solo, could crank out a fact-laden news article in record time, minus grammatical and spelling errors?
April 21, 2008 at 6:38 pm
The Fair and Legal Employment Act, AKA HB 2779, AKA Employer Sanctions is having the desired effect of reducing the costs to society of caring for an entire underclass of illegal workers earning substandard wages. However, we have not yet seen the very first enforcement of the new law. This is very disappointing. Over 70% of Arizona voters approved the new law. It has stood the test of court challenges, and still no enforcement. Andrew Thomas what are you waiting for?
April 22, 2008 at 10:22 pm
He can start with the Arby’s just off Camelback and 20th. I went there for a quick bite before a class and it was nothing but Spanish. Insulting. Check them out , Andrew, and start making some headlines. Put the fear of God and the American Patriot into the illegals and watch even more leave.
April 25, 2008 at 4:28 pm
As the system goes into decline, people abandon the system when and where they can, especially if their concerns are not being addressed. It’s just that simple.
It was really idiotic of “our” federal government to mandate the public education of vast numbers of illegal immigrants. It was even more stupid to threaten Arizona with punitive fines for the shortcomings of such education as Arizona has been able to offer in the face of federal indifference and lack of local resources. As a consequence local public schools have increasingly become basic ESL centers by force of illegal immigration numbers all the way up through high school and local citizen parents have had to respond accordingly. Overwhelmingly, BASIC EDUCATION NEEDS are not being addressed through the high school level in Arizona’s public schools - and this has already been devastating to the state’s economic future.