Reading and 'Riting and I'm a California dropout.

from the LA Times)
"Come to California! We have the sun all year long! And beautiful beaches! Lots of traffic and lots of people. All the illegal immigrants you could ever want. And the entertainment industry and beautiful people! Come! I'm dividing my living room into four equal spaces - you can sleep on a cot. Cheap - just $600 per month + utilities. Everyone wants to come to Californ-I-A!"

Deploying a long-promised tool to track high school dropouts, the state released numbers Wednesday estimating that 1 in 4 California students - and 1 in 3 in Los Angeles - quit school. The rates are considerably higher than previously acknowledged but lower than some independent estimates. The figures are based on a new statewide tracking system that relies on identification numbers that were issued to California public school students beginning in fall 2006.

For the state overall, it was 24.2%, up substantially from the 13.9% calculated for the previous school year using an older, discredited method. Even using the old system of measurement, the number of dropouts has grown by 83% over five years while the number of high school graduates has gone up only 9%. The three primary factors for these numbers: an increase in Latino immigrants, who are among the most likely to drop out; the raising of academic standards; and insufficient funding for public education.

Raise academic standards to what? 8th grade level reading skills in order to graduate high school? Raise'm higher. Funding? All our money's being poured into Iraq - who can afford to educate our own people when we're trying to educate the Iraqi's that democracy is best for their country? And why, pray tell, are illegal immigrants attending our schools? Because the law says they have a right to an education. Let me repeat that - we have a LAW in the U.S. that says illegal immigrants have a RIGHT to an education in our country and YOU and I are paying for their education. That law used to pertain to K-12 only; but it has seeped into the college level as well. Only last year did my home state of Wisconsin cut back on tuition aid to illegal immigrants attending college. CUT BACK???? Suck on that for a while - and local immigrant advocate groups bitched to high heaven over the cut backs.

Remember when it used to be that everything new, chic and trendy began in California and headed east?