Over lunch in campus cafeterias along North First Street and across the cities of Santa Clara and Palo Alto, young dotcommers talk of stock options and Napster downloads and trips to Tahoe on the weekend.
Life is good.
It's the best of times in Silicon Valley. And once again, as in past years, they believe the status of children is not nearly as good as it should be. In five key categories, Kids In Common rates the situation of valley children as no more than average, and in one it is perilously close to failing. The report's narrative paints a dismal picture of a community that is busily rushing into the Internet Millennium while leaving many of its most vulnerable citizens in the dust, or in substandard care. Over 55,000 children in Santa Clara County live in poverty and many more live in families that, despite the fact they are working hard, do not make enough money to be self-sufficient.