School Officials Call Leaflet ‘Misleading’

Oxnard school officials have condemned a leaflet that blames school overcrowding on illegal immigrants and urges people to vote against a $57-million bond measure next week, calling the document “unconscionable” and “misleading.”

The five-paragraph unsigned letter alleges that the 14,200-student Oxnard School District has one of the state’s highest percentages of enrolled illegal immigrants. California school districts do not inquire about a student’s immigration status during registration.

The anonymous author contends school districts use illegal immigrants to “pad” their enrollments to receive additional state and federal funds. It calls for a “no” vote on Tuesday’s ballot measure “until Proposition 187 is validated and enforced and the school districts stop spending your tax dollars to benefit people who have no right to be in this country.”

If approved by two-thirds of the city’s voters, the measure would be used to build two elementary schools during the next decade in a district that is experiencing 2% to 3% annual growth.

An area resident is apparently distributing the leaflet in north Oxnard’s upscale River Ridge neighborhood.

“I have received a number of calls from people in the community who were outraged when it was just dropped off on their doorstep,” said Supt. Bernard Korenstein. “I find it unconscionable. . . . It seems to me that what this person is doing is punishing all the children.”

Members of the “Yes on J Committee,” which has raised about $13,000 during the last month and registered 1,000 new voters, said they are ignoring the leaflet and don’t believe it will hurt their cause.

“[The leaflet distributors] are trying to raise an issue that they can’t support, but one that they feel plays well to the public,” campaign chairman Armando Lopez said. “It’s all about fear. . . . This [election] isn’t about how many classrooms we’re going to have; this is about what kind of a city we’re going to have.”