Submitted by Annette, Jan 8, 2008 09:44

I'm one of the ones who just "ran from Dalton" after living there for 18 years. There isn't one school in the area that isn't well over 50% hispanic, and most are closer to 85%....but here's the catch: the teachers don't speak Spanish. That 70% Hispanic class of kindergarteners....they don't speak English. Imagine what that is like for them, the teachers and the English speaking students. Nothing happens that even looks like education. I've been there: I know. It's nothing short of chaos. Look at any national statistics on the success of schools in the country...Georgia has always ranked in the last 10 for years - now it's even lower.

Like anyone else in the area that could afford it, we carpooled our children to Tennessee to independent schools that required the students to speak the language they would be instructed in. We pay the school taxes in our area as well as the private school fees.

The article says that some people think the illegal immigrants brought gangs and graffiti in. I watched that happen. Even WalMart made another store so that the English speaking customers would stop going out of town to other WalMarts.

I often hear from the illegals that "we pay taxes just like you do...it's taken out of our paychecks." While that may be true, they're taking all the deductions legally possible so that little or nothing is actually taken out.

So many pack into one house that the town is now dealing with legislation to limit this as the sewers and septic tanks can't handle the load.

Dalton can't handle the influx and the culture change...I don't know of a town that could. We left.

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