[quote=FlyerInHi]Doesn’t seem practical, time wise, to commute everyday from Tijuana for school in San Diego. They would have to get up at 4:00am, endure delays at the border… missing school days, etc..
The border agents do ask questions to see if entry is legitimate (shopping, tourism… ).
My friend was recently turned back because he didn’t have his credit/debit card and didn’t have enough money for shopping. The border agent actually asked to see the money.
We probably have more problems with kids who live in bad areas attending school in better areas without residency.[/quote]
The parents are coming up to the US early, anyway, usually to work an early shift (many work in hotels, restaurants, landscaping, etc). The SENTRI lane isn’t that slow. And as I stated before, some of the parents ARE US citizens who are choosing to live in TJ because its housing is so much cheaper than SD and they can afford hired household help in MX. I also had several “professional” coworkers who chose to live in TJ with their families. All were bilingual and the ones who had kids had them enrolled in private schools in SD County. Back then, my co-workers DID put their kids in the car at 5:00 am but I hear it is a little faster now in the morning with the SENTRI lanes. Some had relatives on the US side whom they took their kids to in the mornings to dress for school and get taken to school later.
And yes, families living in areas where they don’t like the local school are forever utilizing any way can to transfer their kid to another school. The simplist way seems to be to use the “after-school care ruse,” whereby your after school caregiver is your relative who lives in LJ, etc and so your kid needs to attend school there so it will be convenient for your relative to pick them up. This doesn’t always work (and it doesn’t work well for HS/MS) but the parent doesn’t need to enter the kid in a lottery or complete an interdistrict transfer which has little chance of being admitted.
The families who live in attendance areas where one or more their schools are on the current NCLB list have more options. In this case, a district will even offer a student free bus transportation to a “better” school if their family qualifies for it.
