State board: Schools cannot collect immigration status
Frederick commissioners says decision is ‘flawed'
by Margarita Raycheva | Staff Writer

"Flawed."

That's how Frederick County Commissioner Charles A. Jenkins describes the state Board of Education's ruling against checking the immigration status of students enrolled in public schools.

"I think the state board made a predictable decision," said Jenkins (R). "I also think they made a flawed decision."

The Maryland State Board of Education on Tuesday released its ruling that Frederick County commissioners have no "valid public purpose" in asking Frederick County Public Schools to collect information about students' immigration status.

Commissioners asked the state board for its ruling last fall after Commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson Jr. (R) proposed the count to ask the federal government for reimbursement. He reasoned that the federal government is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, so it should reimburse school systems the cost of educating students who are in the country illegally.

Frederick County Public Schools spent $10,157 per child in 2006-07, the most recent year for which figures are available. Thompson did not return messages by The Gazette's deadline on Wednesday.

Jenkins said the decision was "flawed" because the state board assumed that commissioners wanted to withhold money instead of seek reimbursement from the federal government.

The state board's ruling pointed to the 1982 Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court case in Texas, after that state tried to withhold funding from a local school system so that it would not be used to educate students who were in the country illegally.

The court ruled that municipalities must pay to educate all their residents, regardless of their immigration status. So the state Board of Education ruled that "the County Commissioners' budget and management rationale cannot justify collection of immigration status information."

The ruling also stated that collecting immigration status information could intimidate families to such an extent that they may decide not to send their children to school.

"As the head of the public education system in Maryland, we cannot risk nor abide such a result," the board wrote in its ruling. Frederick school officials applauded the decision, which supported their argument that Frederick County Public Schools is required to educate all students regardless of their immigration status.

"That was such good news for us," said Jean Smith, president of the Frederick County school board.

Smith said she couldn't see how an alternative decision could have had a positive impact on the school system.

"It doesn't matter where they come from. They are here," Smith said. "They are just children. They don't need to be treated differently. That is one reason why our country is so great. We give everybody a chance."

Smith said she doesn't believe that the county would have been able to receive federal funding based on the number of students who are illegal immigrant. "If Lennie wants state money, he should lobby the state for special education funding," she said.

Jamie Cannon, legal counsel to Frederick County Public Schools, said in an e-mail that state board feels "strongly about the issue, and the protection afforded to students; [Board members] also recognize the chilling effect and fear that would be generated if families thought we were going to gather information about their immigrant status."

Now that the board has made a decision, it is not clear what Jenkins and Thompson's next step will be. "There is always the possibility of an appeal," Jenkins said. "We haven't talked about this yet. The information is still too new."

E-mail Margarita Raycheva at mraycheva@gazette.net.


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