Geneva schools kick out Swiss kids

SWISS families priced out of Geneva and forced to live just across the border in France are reeling from another blow: their children are now being elbowed out of Genevan schools.

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The Geneva authorities' decision to bar pupils who live in the Swiss city's surrounding French suburbs and villages has left parents angry, children worried, and French municipalities fuming at having to absorb more than 2 000 extra kids into their classrooms.

"We've become second-class Swiss citizens," lamented Joana, a 35-year-old mother of two, declining to give her surname for professional reasons.

Like many cross-border commuters, Joana, who works in health care, left Geneva due to the lack of affordable housing.

"We agreed to leave our sub-standard home in the city centre to move to the countryside - but crossing the border was conditional on access to Swiss schools," she said.