While waiting to make my presentation on our property rights protection initiative at the CA School Board Association Convention yesterday I picked up a 26 page booklet entitled “Children in Immigrant Families” that contains some interesting facts, figures and charts that I thought may be of interest to Juice readers.
Before blindly accepting the data I checked out their web site and found that their Board Members do have some valid credentials. As they have indicated a desire for our governor to provide more funding for education perhaps they can suggest where we can cut line items out of the budget to satisfy that request.
Note: “Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, LA and Sacramento counties are featured in this report.” As such we can only speculate as to Orange County data.
“Half of the state’s children live in a family with at least one immigrant parent–two and a half times the national rate. Statewide, about 4.8 million children ages 0-17, live in an immigrant family. Following are most of the key data headings.
85% of children in immigrant families were born in the USA
54% of children in immigrant families live in low-income households
Three-Quarters of Children in Immigrant Families are Bilingual
1.4 million Children in CA Live With Adults Who Don’t Speak English
One-Quarter of CA’s Students Have Yet to Master English
English Learners Are Less Likely to Pass the CA High School Exit Exam
15-17 Year-Olds in Immigrant Families Are Slightly Less Likely to Be in School
Children of Immigrants Are Less Likely to Be in Good Health
Children of Immigrants Are Less Likely to Have Health Insurance
Immigrant Families Are More Likely to Live in Poverty
Their web site is easy to remember. www.childrennow.org
If we Drill down to the immigrants origin it’s clear, those who have a more difficult and formal barrier to enter the US (save money, get on a plane, fill out the paperwork etc.) end up exploiting the opportunities provided to them (education, scholarship, etc.), whereas immigrant populations that come here quickly, easily (cross the border) and for a short term goal of perhaps a “bigger” paycheck (that they send “home”)than in their own country never really make the leap to a 4 year school. This is an excellent report.
The report also explains why we should care about this… The American Economy will NOT support an excess of unskilled, uneducated, non-articulate labor in the long run.
http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=402