FIRST TAKE A fire is spreading across America. At both sides of the front are impassioned pleas to either
strengthen, if not re-define, the enforcement of anti-immigration laws or to protect civil liberties. At this writing, even as the United States government and Arizona face off over the issue, several states and communities were expected to enact their own tough laws aimed at catching and de- port the undocumented, that is, after a legal traffic stop and with probable cause. Te Obama Administration argues that states cannot supersede federal law when it comes to set-
Immigration Law and the Effect on Students,
Transportation By Ryan Gray
ting immigration policy. For some in Arizona, and in other states, it’s an issue of states’ rights that opens up old Civil War wounds. Truth be told and politics aside, the debate falls squarely on the shoul- ders of economics. Unemployment remains stuck at about 10 percent. Yet, few are talking about the effect this war of words, ideology and legislation could have on the nation’s school children. Let’s take Head Start. Immigration is putting much pressure on the quality of the 45-year-old fed-
eral program designed to provide better educational opportunities for the nation’s lowest-income children. Agencies across the country are, privately, mind you, expressing great concern over how a crackdown on illegal immigration could affect their operations. By federal mandate, the Head Start Act states that all “income eligible” families qualify for the service. Since, there has been federal guidance, as recently as May 10 of this year, which further defines when a family qualifies. It states that Head Start agencies must review a family’s “1040, W-2 forms, pay stubs, written statements from employers, or documentation showing current status of recipients of public assistance.” While the legal status of parents could possibly be ascertained from these documents, it’s not
a given. So it’s also not outside the bounds of reality or reasonable doubt to conclude that many Head Start agencies, especially those that serve communities of migrant farm workers, already are providing educational opportunities to children who may have been born in the United States, and hence are legal residents, and have parents who may or may not have their papers. And some students, themselves, might be undocumented. Head Start agencies now find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. It can be mighty hard to provide a service to, for example, legal migrant workers indigenous to Mexico and parts of Central America when there is an air of dis- crimination that can make these people very distrusting. I recently spoke with Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, the director of the federal Office of Head Start
in Washington, D.C., about a new “road map” that lays out an action plan for improving the quality of service. This also means more guidance from her Office. And, of course, the immigra- tion issue came up. “One of the things that we know is that programs have to be accepted by that community. We need to get back to basics,” she said before the July 4 holiday. “Whatever programs need to do to build relationships with families in the community, to figure out what the needs of those families are, and to ultimately get them into Head Start programs, they have to do that.” School districts are also on notice. Te Supreme Court ruled in the 1982 case Plyler v. Doe that
undocumented students have the same right to public education as U.S. citizens. A student’s immi- gration status is irrelevant, and it is illegal for schools to inquire about immigration status, request immigration documents or take any action that might prevent immigrant students from enrolling in and attending school. Tis also applies to the McKinney-Vento Act. In June, the U.S. Department of Education reported a 41 percent increase in the number of
homeless students nationwide since the Great Recession began nearly three years ago. Depending upon who you ask, schools face an increasing burden to serve these students. Or is “opportunity” a more apt word? Te transportation industry seeks to increase ridership, and here’s a group of kids and parents who need, want even, these bus rides to and from school. Meanwhile, Congress is working through its reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which in- cludes several key transportation requirements regarding regular and pre-school transportation of homeless students. Yet, changes in state law could conflict with that goal. Unless Plyler v. Doe is overturned, which well
could be the emerging legal fight, schools must pay close attention to this immigration issue. Te battle lines are drawn. What will be transportation’s role or voice in this historic conversation? ■
12 School Transportation News Magazine August 2010
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