That's messed up.

that's just insane to think about the lengths that people will go to in order to get into a school. it's like in NYC where parents will train their children to do all sorts of things to get into the best schools. teaching them too many languages and trying to make sure that their skill set is up there. it's too much pressure on a kid i think.

That is beyond ridiculous. That's like me getting fired or quitting my job on purpose so my son can qualify for full financial aid at a highly regarded private school in my neighborhood.

I applaud the parents in Spain doing anything they can to help their kids get a "leg up on the competition". This should also be a warning for our educational system. End all programs that give others an edge based on situation. In the end, people will only find a way to abuse what you considered a helping hand.

I thought you're supposed to stay together until the children in are in school and then get divorced.

Who is saying the divorced parents aren't living together?

It the hustle.

this is really weird...what is wrong with people? what kind of role models are they being for their children?

They are implying "Do whatever you can to get ahead in the world." This is too extreme, and I don't agree with it. Those kids are going to be incredibly selfish and geedy, unless they meet someone who turns them around. It's just sad.

My child has been on a private school waiting list since before she was born. The public school system here is terrible and I would rather home school her than send her to public school here. I would pretty much do anything to get her in the best school because a quality education is the key to her future. I don't begrudge these people for doing this for their children's education.

Can you home school in Spain?

Hm. What I got out of this was "Well, at least they care about their kids' educations."

That is just too crazy, but it doesn't surprise me. American parents will sometimes use addresses of friends or relatives in order to enroll their kids in so-called "better" school districts. My inlaws did that...but when a kid pulled a knife on the teacher they took her back to the so called "bad" school.

I think a lot of you are missing a BIG point. This is talking about parents in Spain trying to get their kids into good State schools... in other words... the better public schools. Not Private. Spain has a socialist government, and this is the type of government that is coming soon to an America near you! Prepare to divorce to get your kids what passes for just a decent education now.

socialism. what a wonder.

And yet it's the next great thing, according to liberal elitists.

On a side note, my wife just came home and told me I need to get a life and start paying more attention to her. At least, that's what I think she said. She talked so fast, and I wasn't really listening.....

Congrats on being linked from Yahoo!

OK. I'm an American living in Spain. It has nothing to do with "socialism" as the schools were run the same under 2 term conservative Aznar. Public schools in America are determined by zones and in Spain they are only determined by "points". You get points for proximity, for financial (really poor) needs, for special physical needs, for siblings already in same school and lastly for single status. Actually most parents mentioned in article are lying about marital status and are not actually getting divorced and that's why many are getting caught up when being asked to submit documents. And to be honest, most parents are not looking for the best school (as in NYC) but rather are trying to get their kids in neighborhood schools. My 12 year old daughter was assigned to a "good" school but it was several blocks away from home and an unsafe (crossing major streets with no crossing guards) walk for her. Only in the big towns and cities do you have parents worrying about "bad" schools. I teach in a private school and kids are there for the English and the discipline.

Where I live, my children go to a public charter school. Parents are so involved in their children's education that they even sign contract to help their children with everything necessary for them to succeed. Our school requires students to wear school standard clothing. They are expected to come prepared with homework log signed by parents. They study with their children. Teamwork between school and home is important. To me, the setting is almost like a private school. They have the best curriculum- even one year ahead of the other existing public schools. The smart kids are not dragged behind and the slow learners are learning faster compared to other schools. It's a hard work but it is so fulfilling.

The administration hire the best teachers possible. Those who help the teachers are also highly qualified. All because a group of parents decided to start a charter school. I think every community could benefit if parents are involved in their children's education and not wait for the state or the private schools to dictate what opportunities their children could avail.

I don't know about Spanish government but I pretty should once they catch on, that loophole will close soon enough. I can understand getting your child in a good school, but it's too much wear and tear on the family.

You know, all you are saying the parents are bad becuase they are doing this, but why would a school system make it more likely for you to get in to a good school because your parents are split? I think the parents are doing what they can there, that isn't the only thing that gets you in so your child still has to qualify elsewhere, but if someone else gets in over your kid becuase their parents are split, I would do the same thing just so that isn't a deciding factor with mine.

I don't understand why everyone is surprised. In the US you get "points" depending on your race, family income, etc. when applying for state and city jobs, as well as schools. Two people of equal intelligence in the US can apply for the same city job and the person of "disadvantage" will aquire more points on the exam and therefore be given the job.

It's very common.

It is used to keep everything a level playing field. LOL

Yet another example of why socialism is an utter failure.

We will see the rapid fall of the EU due to a failed socialist system.

Of course, the socialist elite (Teresa Heinz-kerry and her ilk) will be fine not matter what happens. Its the peasants that will suffer as usual.

I agree with wtgrl, what really needs to be looked at is why the schools are giving kids from "broken homes" a better shot than anyone else. True, the money your family makes shouldn't give you a better or worse shot at a public school, but I speak from experience that coming from a married family affords me many less opportunities than if my parents would have been divorced. When applying for colleges (in the US) I was turned down for grants and scholarships because my parents were still married. I think it's unfair that parents have to go to these lengths in Spain for equal opportunity for their children. It's essentially punishing a child whose parents are still together by giving preferential treatment to the child of divorced parents.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeello. This has been going on for years in the United States. Check the statistics in high asian populated areas and you will quickly discover that spouses are divorcing and creating single mothers with kids. Take Fremont, CA for example, huge numbers of asian owned houses are being sold at extremely high prices and the husbands ship the money out of the country. The single mothers than live at or below "poverty income level" driving their BMWs and Mercedes, get subsidized housing and the added benefit of their kids getting "extra" points when applying to college. This is an outrage that our system is being abused this way. I worry about the future of the law abidding parents who believe that if you work hard you get rewared..not reward those that work hard to abuse the system.

By the way, home-schooling is not an option. I still must insist this has nothing to do with socialism as it has always been the way and Spain was under a fascist government for years..... As immigrants pour into Spain from eastern European, South American and African countries and the new (affluent) middle class is having more than one or two children, the existing schools have very limited space and students are being assigned to public schools miles from their homes. By the way, many schools do not assign free transport...

As a parent myself, I read this story and thought "These parents want to do anything they can to get their children a good education. I can understand that." What parent out there wouldn't do their best for their child to get ahead? If you are not a parent, then I think you wouldn't really understand. Just my opinion.

Not only does it totally diminish what we try to teach our children about family values, it also tells the child we'll do whatever we have to just so you can get what you want. (or what we want).. again it's that sense of entitlement that people have too much of. I want what I want when I want it.

This sort of behaviour is not limited to socialist countries. Here in the good ol' USA, the most capitalist folks are the ones who tell their kids to tell other kids not to bother to apply to the 'best' colleges. When you talk to the High School Counselors, they say your kid has a chance at X college and they should apply, but the kids trying to get ahead tell their fellow stuents that unless they have 800s on their SATs, don't bother.

One of my friends's sons was told, "my dad works at ___ University and they don't want a perfect essay. Be sure to make some little mistake in spelling or grammar." The same kids who give this advice, after years of doing well in school, suddenly are labeled dyslexic and therefore given extra time on the SAT.

I could go on and on. The parents give the kids an AP course in Backstabbing 101, all to get their kids into a big name college.

I am glad these parents did what they did to get their kid an advantage. If pretending to be divorce is what it takes, then do it. When did choosing the best school for your kid happen to be a bad thing? And for the previous comment about "too much pressure on a kid," I think that's total crap. I was brought up in a strict house hold where excellence in academics was stressed at a very very early age. Looking back, I don't regret any of that pressure. I love it. If you can't handle the pressure, then get out of f-ing way. I can thank my parents that I am not a liberal arts major flipping burgers at some dead-end job.
Congrats to these parents for getting their priorities straight. Let the force be with you.....hahaha suckas!

I Think it is great. Insane legislation can only result in cerresponding behaviour.

Socialist country? There is more freedom in Spain than in the US. Spain IS a capitalist country. Just because they have a "democrat" president doesnt make Spain a socialist country anymore than the US when Clinton was president. Anyway, back to the subjest:
First of all, the educations in Spain is MILES ahead of the US. MOST kids go to PRIVATE schools up to college. After that, the best colleges are public and it is VERY hard to get in and study what you want. Unfair? Not at all since college is FREE! You better work your butt off if you want to make it in college. There is no reason why the state is going to pay for some slaker to go to school. If you are a slaker and you dont want to work hard you can always pay for a private college just like in the US.
The downside of having such a GREAT education system is that you have WAY too many qualified individuals in the workforce. Unemployment is very high in Spain. Dont be suprise to find janitors with college degrees in Spain.
To clerify something, the placement test is not to get into college its to qualify for what you can study. Everyone gets in but not everyone can study whatever they want. If you have a low score you cant study to be a doctor or an engineer. If you score high, you get to do whatever you want. Again, everyone gets a chance its a matter of how hard you try. Isnt that how things should be? Not based on money and who you know like here in the US?
Too many of you are commenting on a subject you know NOTHING about besides what this person wrote on this very small uniformative article. Do some research or talk to people from Spain if you want to make a comment.

That's pathetic. If the kid doesn't qualify or meet the school's criteria, it's just not meant to be.

I'm so fortunate to be an intellectual American.

To say that the problem in Spain is socialism is ridiculous. First off because we have the same problem here in America with the wealthiest going to the best schools and breaking any rule they can to get their kid ahead of the next, starting at preschool all the way to college. And I can only hope that those of you who made the comments regarding socialism coming to this country are correct. I for one welcome health insurance for all, daycare and preschool for every family and the other things a socialist society provides. Our view of socialism is terribly amiss in America. As if capitalism is working so well.

The ironic thing here - is that child doesn't have a clue what some parents will do to give their child the very best...The child will then say we never did anything for them growing up and messed up their lives by forcing them to do something...

Btw - Isn't that how Britney, Paris Hilton & Lindsey Lohan was brought up....ooops I did it again

It's really funny when an american criticizes public education elsewhere. Actually it makes one wonder. And the ones who do so are mostly those that haven't been anywhere in their lifetime. They use buzz words like socialism, elite, liberals..etc..Words borrowed from Rush Limbough and Shawn Hannity. And if socialism is a problem, capitalism has not been all it's crafted to be either. Every system has it's own flaws, and we can talk about those till the chickens come home. I think we should be worried here in the US that for sometime now, most high tech firms have had to go abroad to recruit qualified personnel because our educational system is not holding up. That, to me, should be a high national security issue.

Coming to America? It's already here. My husband and I divorced because the ONLY preschool within 50 miles of us is a state preschool, and with the two of us working we made to much money for our child to attend. I love how the government tells us how important preschool is, then makes a maximum amount you can earn if you want your child to attend. For me, it wasn't a matter of not wanting to pay for private school (or even for the public one, because the preschool is on a sliding-fee basis), it is that there are no other ones available - period. Many of my neighbors have done the same thing. Do I feel good about it? No, but I would do it again.

Americans really are bleased. They can study in schools with standards below that of third world countries, go about their life without knowing whats the capital of their own country, get a High School diploma and go to college. Why would I want to work hard, learn about the world and fight for my future? I want to gilde through school, go out with my friends and not be prepared for the real world. Its not like I will ever leave this country anyway. As long as I am an intelectual in this country I dont care that I would be considered a moron by others.

I think many of you are missing the BIG picture, these parents are being dishonest and setting a horrible example for their children to follow. Is this the path we want future generations to follow, cheating and lying their way to the top? Granted, it is wonderful to have your child in the best of the best schools but to cheat another child out of that placement, is plain selfishness. They are doing what is easy not what is right. I would love to see what type of people these children turn out to be seeing the example their parents are setting for them. Hopefully, they have grandparents who can teach them right from wrong.

"We will see the rapid fall of the EU due to a failed socialist system."

That's funny, given the current strength of the euro as compared to the sorry state of the dollar, not to mention the sorry state of the American economy, which is suffering greatly in large part due to some rather shortsighted and unscrupulous practices of certain leaders of capitalism...

This is horrible. They're teaching their children that it's okay to lie and cheat to get what they want . . .not to mention trivializing the union of marriage.

It's stupid to give kids of single parents extra points anyway - talk about discrimination against your average family!

It's amazing to me that people want to look at the parents and say "what kind of example are you setting"? How about the program set-up? Why are we rewarding single-parent homes? Why is the system punishing children of parents who did "all the right things" by today's standards (ie, marry, stay together)? I, for one, am tired of being punished because I chose a path that would lead to a healthy life for myself and my children.

Whoo hoo for single parenthood! Here's a BIG plus for NOT staying together because of the children.

I agree that you shouldn't be punished for doing what is healthy for you and your child(ren), but why should your child get an advantage just because my wife and I were able to stay together? The point of the article wasn't that parents were leaving bad marriages. They were loving families "splitting" only so their child(ren) would have an equal playing field with all the parents who split. The more I look at it, the sadder that is. It spawns all kinds of other questions like: "Should we make marriage more difficult to obtain, so more people would stay together?", "Should we require more intentional counseling/preparation for couples wanting to get married, so that they know what they are getting into?"

This is not a sign of bad parenting but an example of but laws and politics. First of all, the parents are not lying, cheating or doing ANYTHING wrong. They are LEGALLY getting divorced in order for their children to get extra points to go to a better school. After their child is in the school they reconcile which is again LEGAL. They are following Spanish law and they are not cheating or lying. CHEATING would be if they said they were divorced and they werent. Divorce is just a peace of paper and a status in the federal eyes. They can still be together and live together. These parents are not doing anything wrong, whats wrong is the goverments STUPID law.

Forget about divorce in Spain. This article deals with a much larger problem that is becoming increasingly more threatening for all candidate processes, in all countries. Let us discuss the underlying philosophy of the "point system".

In theory, the point system is designed to give candidates of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities an equal chance of being approved for a job position, school admission, etc. However, along the way, the point system has become a mechanism whereby lesser qualified candidates are taking jobs and being accepted by schools, simply because they are of a different race or have a single parent, not because of their merits.

To keep it short, why do we not have "blind applications" which ask no questions about your race, ethnicity, marital status, or parent's marital status? Our applications should focus only on YOUR MERITS that will make you successful in the role for which you are applying. Let me pose a quick example: 2 applications are in the dean's hands for acceptance into Harvard.

1. Sam Jones; SAT:1350; Essay:5/6; GPA:3.75
2. Roy Clark; SAT:1370; Essay:6/6; GPA:3.85

We have to assume that Roy would be chosen for admission.

Now let's say that he finds out that Sam is Puerto Rican. Does this change his opinion of the two? Why? Shouldn't the two be judged the same as they were before? On their qualifications???

One more example: Let's say you're going to a new doctor named Dr. Smith. You show up for your first appointment and see that he is African-American. 15 years ago, I would think nothing of this. This man made his way up through undergrad and med school like anyone else did.

But now, I have to wonder: was this man accepted to school because of a point system that awarded him points based on his color? Even worse, was the hospital obliged to hire him because of affirmative action quotas? Was there another, more qualified doctor that deserved this position, but was passed on because he had less points?

Chances are that Dr. Smith is perfectly qualified for his position. But the fact that I am forced to wonder is a shame, both for me and Dr. Smith.

"Not only does it totally diminish what we try to teach our children about family values, it also tells the child we'll do whatever we have to just so you can get what you want. (or what we want).. again it's that sense of entitlement that people have too much of. I want what I want when I want it"

I agree 100% Kim

ok what's going on here, was this article published somewhere else, I'm noticing a lot of "member" newbies on here.

Since it made Yahoo, I'm sure it's attracting a lot of new posters.

(How dare they invade our little club)