Caught Between Two Countries: A Border School Crisis

Well, I like to see all kids get an education, but I think that charity begins at home. Early this morning, these students crossed an international border. They are traveling from Paloma, Mexico, where they live, to Deming, New Mexico, where they go to school. It's the first day of a new school year, but this first day may be different. This day of school in America may be their last. This is the first day of school, and we're not sure whether or

not we're going to have to disenroll students. We're right now on the books beyond our capacity. Our capacity here is 850 students, and right now on the books, I think we have 867, and plus this is a stack still process. All we want is the best for these kids, but at the same time, we're not willing to sacrifice the quality of our children's education for somebody from another country. The scary thing is, it's not knowing what's going to happen to these kids. In our taxes, they're over there, they're not paying taxes, and we are. For more than 40 years, the small agricultural town of Deming, New Mexico has allowed children

from Paloma, Mexico, some 34 miles to the south, to attend its schools free of charge. It is part of a unique relationship between these two border communities, but this year there may be a break in tradition. We do know that our facilities are now so overcrowded that we have classrooms, under stairwells, and behind stages. We want the best for everybody, but when it comes down to it, we need to think of our children first. If we don't have enough room, why do we bring people from outside our school district and give them an education? Although many Deming residents blame the overcrowding on the students from Palomas, other factors are involved. Deming has recently enjoyed a modest level of economic prosperity, and with it has come a fast-growing population. Because we do have a tremendous amount of growth in the district, we have reached 4.7 per year for seven consecutive years in student growth, and that is not coming from Mexico. As

a matter of fact, our numbers from Palomas, Mexico, have decreased in the last three years, from a high of 600 through this year we are educating them approximately 380. Deming Middle School was built in 1942. Like many schools in the Deming School District, its overcrowded facilities have led in recent years to a series of bond proposals to build new classrooms. But the community is divided of whether the expansion is warranted. As a result, each bond proposition has failed. I am talking to the people in Deming and in Columbus and around that are going to be voting for these bond issues. They are just saying no. If we got room to educate the children from Mexico for nothing, then take them out and we have room.

In New Mexico, a school's day-to-day operating expenses are paid for by a statewide general fund, which is fed primarily by sales taxes. However, residents pay for the construction of school facilities through local property taxes. School officials justify enrolling the Mexican students because the state of New Mexico provides funding to cover their day-to-day expenses. We pay locally is for the buildings through bonding and things of this nature. The state of New Mexico actually pays us per pupil for every student coming across, and the state of New Mexico has paid us for all the students that have been coming across from Columbus, Mexico. Some residents, however, believe that the parents of the students from Columbus should pay the school district for their education, just as they do themselves through their property taxes. This is the only place between Brownsville and Imperial Beach on the Pacific Ocean that

they don't pay tuition to come across. Other residents note that it's not that simple. Many of the parents of the Mexican students work in the agricultural fields on the U.S. side of the border and say they also are entitled to some benefits. For example, the chili pickers and the onion pickers and not, they work in the United States but they live here, and they pay their taxes in the other states. The parents that have kids here and are taking them to be educated in the other states are paying their way because they're buying food, they're buying groceries, they're paying taxes. So if a Mexican buys something in dimming, he's supporting our schools. We're at California, Arizona, and Texas, other border states. It's almost entirely supported out of property taxes.

Further complicating things is the fact that for years, the border area had very limited medical facilities, and many children from Columbus were born in the U.S. Many of these kids are dual citizens. Not only has the border had a tradition of educating people, there's a border tradition of medical care. Many of these kids were born right down the road in the hospital over here. Because many of the Paloma students are U.S. citizens, some residents feel that eventually they will legally immigrate here. And they're going to be here either working and they're going to be here producing or they're going to be here unable to speak English, nothing about the culture, but they can't be kept out because they're U.S. citizens. While the political and philosophical debate carries on, dimming schools are overcrowded,

and the Mexican students' future is uncertain. But for the students themselves, the debate is more than politics. When you see a student show up at your school, who's 12 years old, you throw politics out of the window. You want to educate that child. But facts are facts and we are maxed out in just about every building in the district. But do we want to educate every child to show up at our door? Yes, we do. And we'll do whatever we can to do that. And we thank you for listening to KOTS and the Kingdom of the Sun. We're known as the home of the world's richest duck race, and also the purest water here in Denny. Back to more country on the station, you depend on. Demming was settled in 1881 when the eastbound and westbound railroads met in the Chihuahuan desert. Unlike most of the nearby southern New Mexico communities, Demming was one of the few settlements that began as neither a Spanish colonial town nor a Mexican settlement.

Today, Demming and the surrounding area is an ethnically mixed agricultural community supporting nearly 15,000 residents. Columbus, Mexico is a growing community of just under 10,000 people. This town is like many ports of entry along the border. It is a place where Mexicans working in the agricultural fields to the north live and raise families. And it is a place where American consumers come to buy inexpensive goods and services.

Three miles north of the border between Palomas and Demming, along State Highway 11, lies the small community of Columbus, New Mexico. With barely 900 residents, it is part of a Demming public school district. And it was in Columbus 40 years ago that the tradition of allowing Mexican students to attend U.S. schools began. I had children show up at school wanting to enroll in school and they were from Palomas. And I had no reason not to enroll them, so I did. And it was one of the wisest choices I have ever made. Phoebe Watson was principal of Columbus Elementary School 40 years ago. Toward the end of her career, a roving reporter for NBC News was struck by the unique educational system in the area, he did a story on Miss Watson.

Although the United States and Mexico share a long, common border, they really are separate worlds. But not these two towns, thanks to the outstretched hands of a remarkable woman, NBC's Bob Dawson. Lunch has been made of borders lately. This one connects our rare friendship. When folks in Palomas, Mexico need a fire engine, say hello. In light of the events that are coming up when I watch this, all I can think is, let's turn back the clock because it was so good then. And people were so satisfied with what was going on. Demi is experiencing an influx of retirees moving into the area from other parts of the US. They move to Demi for its mild climate and relatively inexpensive cost of living. They have brought with them their disposable income, which the town has welcomed. But they also have brought with them their own set of concerns for the future.

The retirees built their roads and schools and their infrastructure during their working years with their own children in some place like Michigan. School bond issues never do well where there are a lot of retirees. Where is this going to stop? You know, if we have 600 children today, how many are we going to have a few years from now? We're having trouble today. What are we going to have tomorrow? You know, I think that's what has a lot of people concerned. We've opened up a gate and then now what do you do? How do you stop it? You've opened up Pandora's Box and how do you stop it? You cannot, you know, you can't be that generous if you're taking money on your own family's grocery bill. And I think that's what we're getting to. I think that's where a lot of people in the community is getting to. I mean, you can't, there's a limit to what you

can spend on taxes and bond issues, et cetera, so on. We can't jump back and forth across the borders without paying a tuition. If we desire to send our children to a different area, we pay for it. And basically, maybe that should be the same. If they want to do it, then they should pay for a tuition. And you've got to stop someplace. And if you've got students coming in from out of district, they're going to disenroll out of district students. It doesn't matter whether they're Mexican, Hispanic, or Asian, or as long as they're out of the district. And Mexico is out of the district. School facilities in Columbus are very limited. The elementary school is forced to operate on two shifts because of overcrowding. And as of now, there is no public high school. Educators in Columbus say they understand why parents send their children to schools in Denver.

While the public debate centers on taxes and school board policy, inside people's homes, the debate becomes much more personal. It comes down to the children. Whose children are going to get what, and at whose expense? Before they split, right? Uh-huh. That's why they line up in this split-up. Are you just copying this whole page? Are you just copying this whole page? Uh-huh. When you see a dollar at school tomorrow, I'm going to make sure that she's going to be there, and I'll tell you she has to be there every day. We have a student at the mid-high. They don't get enough materials. They don't get enough attention from the teachers. Things are rushed. It's just not enough money for everything. Leo Gallegos, an immigrant from Mexico, and his wife Cindy, won several small businesses

in Deming. They are married and have three children. There's programs that aren't available because of the fact that there's not enough money for all the kids that are in school. And if we continue to include more and more kids, it's just going to make it that much more difficult to be able to offer a quality education. The Viosana family has lived in Paloma for 16 years. When their daughter Lara reached the sixth grade, she transferred to Deming Middle School. Lara translates for her father because he speaks very English. He says that his dream is that I, that he wants to me to finish the college, have a career

in that his dream for me. During the second week of classes, school officials struggle to find solutions. Deming educators do not want to disenroll the Mexican children. Many of them are among the best students. In a last-ditch effort, 20 children are moved up a grade level to another school with more room. By the end of the week, teachers and administrators realize they are in trouble. Then we'll add up the points, put in the folder. Once we're all done with, with all of the folders, then we'll rank the kids according to the number of points. We have 26 kids,

we have to disenroll. And then hopefully on Thursday, we'll call the kids in and we'll let them know. We'll give them their letters and we'll let them know that we've had to disenroll them, which is the pits. And any semesters in the number of points here are the rest of the students. Well, but they have some nice kids too. Here it is right here, alomas. Mailing to dress Columbus, but physical street address, well, Democ, alomas. Very possible. Very possible. No, the kids have fun on this. Yeah, well, huh? Well, you've been here. You know what we have to do, huh? And you know why we have to do it? It didn't, Mrs.

O'Reilly explain it to you. I'm sorry, baby. You didn't do anything wrong, okay? You didn't. It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with anything except that we don't have any room anymore. And so we had to look at grades and attendants and how long you've been in school here, but you need to know something, okay? You need to know that if we have room next to you, you can come back and we want you back, okay, Meha? Do you think you'll be able to go to school in Columbus? Maybe? Maybe? Okay. I hope so, Meha, okay? And I'm going to give you a letter that's in Spanish and in English, okay? So your parents can understand, okay? What's going on? Meha, we're very sorry. It's not, it's not something I want to do, but we're going to have to do it and it'll have to be starting tomorrow. You won't be able to come back. Okay, Meha? I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive us, okay? You think you'll be okay? I'm sorry, baby.

You're taking too many for you to close me. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. You won't be able to come back. Dyes are red, they're already crying, they know what's coming and you can't fix it. And most things you can fix, but this you can't.

At days end, 22 students are disenrolled. Though the problem appears solved, neither side of the debate is happy, and neither side believes it is over. I think many times when we're being publicized, it looks like either people that are compassionate or people that are not, and that really isn't the case. I believe that the compassion comes from both sides. It's just the way we look at practicalities. Take two. Some teachers here say this could be the saddest day in education. For the first time in 40 years, they will have to disenroll students from Mexico. When the children were disenrolled, a lot of us talked about it.

We'd get together at lunch and talk about it in the evenings, and it was something that a lot of us didn't think would ever happen. But when the school board meeting after the disenrollments was going to be held, we started getting together and talking about what we could do to find a solution, to see if they're one somewhere to get these kids back in school. I got up, and I think another person got up, and we said, we want you to take these kids back, we want you to amend your motion and allow these kids to come back to school. We have some good news to share with you about a Q13 story. We first told you about last week. Remember when the Mexican students were disenrolled from theming schools? Well, they're going back to school. You could talk disenrollment, but when you see people thrown out of school, it's different. And so a lot of people who had been indifferent, see them barred at the school room door, they became upset.

When you graduate from college. Though the disenrollment policy has at least been temporarily reversed, repercussions are being felt throughout the schools. On nurse? Our kids who have come back from Mexico are scared to death to miss school. They want to make sure their grades are as high as they can get them. We've had children right after we brought them back. We had several children coming to school sick because they knew attendance was one of the keys to disenrolling them when we disenrolled them. And so that was very, very sad. How many people in here had friends that were disenrolled? Today the 400 kids ride the bus from Columbus to Deming once again. They say they are happy, but they are unsure of what the future holds in store for them.

For Laura Villasana and other Columbus students like her, the future is uncertain. For Laura, whether or not she finishes her studies in Deming, is not about taxes or school board policy. It is about her future and fulfilling her potential. For the Gallegos family and other Deming families like them, the future also is uncertain. Will class space be available so their son can enroll in the gifted classes he is eligible for? For them it is a matter of what resources are available and who pays for them. For the residents of Deming, it is the problem that won't go away. Can they rally their divided views to form a plan from which they can all benefit? And ultimately, who will pay for that future? Long run may be limited to U.S. citizens and residents, and for pennies a year for New Mexican population, to slam the door is a false economy. If you are asking me, do I think this program can continue indefinitely?

No. I think that we are at a breaking point now. Most of all, I hate to lose the children. Children are not expendable. We should not allow a single one of them to escape education. And we are the adults. We are the suppliers. And it's just simply up to us to find a way. All right. all right.

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