Morris County freeholders want new CCM tuition rules
CCM asked to reverse vote
7:39 PM, Feb. 26, 2011

Morris County's freeholders say they will ask the County College of Morris to repeal a policy, made just one week ago, that allows illegal immigrants to attend the school while paying in-county tuition rates.

"Our feeling is that we shouldn't have to subsidize people who are illegal aliens," Freeholder Director Bill Chegwidden said this past week.

He said freeholders are asking for a meeting with CCM officials to express their concerns about the policy, particularly about allowing undocumented students to pay in-county tuition. Several freeholders said they want CCM to come up with a new policy after considering their input.

This comes less than a week after the college's board of trustees voted 7-1 to reverse a policy that barred illegal immigrants from being admitted to the school. The board went further, allowing undocumented students who live in Morris County to pay in-county tuition rates instead of higher rates.

Chegwidden and several other freeholders said last week that they didn't know the board was about to take such a vote, and said county officials should have been apprised because they supply almost 21 percent of CCM's budget. CCM will receive $11.6 million from the county next year.

CCM officials responded by saying the freeholders had been told the issue was being considered. However, the freeholders said they didn't know about the vote.

"We knew they were talking about it," said Freeholder Margaret Nordstrom, a freeholder liaison to CCM, who added that she happened to be in attendance when the vote was taken. "In terms of the timetable of the voting, we had absolutely no idea. . . . It was a surprising evening."

Nordstrom said she began texting people during the vote, saying, "Can you believe this?"

CCM President Ed Yaw said he estimates the new policy would add 30 or 40 students to the college's enrollment of 4,196 full-time and 3,841 part-time students. It applies to students who came to the U.S. before they were 16 years old and who have lived here for at least five years. Yaw said adding those students would not take any other students' slots at the college and would raise revenues, even at in-county tuition rates.

But he acknowledged the college had not done a "detailed study" on the policy's economic impact.

Chegwidden and other freeholders last week said they want such a study. Several freeholders said they don't want taxpayers to pay for decreasing the tuition burden for undocumented students.

"There should be a benefit to being a citizen of the United States," Freeholder Gene Feyl said.

"My position is "citizens' first,' " Freeholder Tom Mastrangelo said.

CCM officials said it costs them $7,433 a year to educate one student, with in-county students typically paying $3,795, out-of-county students paying $6,795 and out-of-state students paying $9,795. In addition to money from the county, CCM will receive $6.8 million from the state next year.

A proposed federal law called the Dream Act, which would allow children of illegal immigrants to become citizens by attending college or serving in the military, passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year but failed to come up for a vote in the Senate. A New Jersey proposal to allow in-state tuition for undocumented students failed to pass the Legislature.

Public four-year colleges in New Jersey typically require undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition, but most county colleges don't check immigration status, according to officials with the New Jersey Council of County Colleges.

Kathleen Serafino, Morris County's executive superintendent of schools and a state employee, voted in favor of CCM's new policy as a board member. She declined comment last week, as did a spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie, her boss.

"We want to take a look at it," Michael Drewniak, the governor's spokesman, said of CCM's new policy.

Chegwidden said he's not against allowing undocumented students to attend CCM, as they did before a policy change made after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as long as they don't take slots from other residents. But he added that he wants undocumented students to pay "out-of-state tuition."

The freeholders have no plans to withhold money from CCM to force a policy change, Chegwidden said, but they have some leverage because they appoint eight of CCM's 11 trustees.

"We can take (their vote) into consideration when it comes time to make appointments," he said.

Elaine Johnson, chairwoman of CCM's trustees, said the board is autonomous and followed its regular procedures.

"We set our own policies and vote on them," she said. "We've been working on this since last year. We had been keeping them (freeholders) abreast that we were discussing this. . . . We did the right thing for the school and the students of the county. It will increase our enrollment. I don't get what the negativity is."

Stuart Sydenstricker, board president of Morristown-based Wind of the Spirit, an immigrant advocacy group, said undocumented workers often pay taxes in the form of rent and money taken out of paychecks. He also said educating young people has an economic benefit for the entire society.

"I don't know who could make the argument that an uneducated person is better for society," he said.

Chegwidden said he is "all for someone trying to better themselves." But he and other freeholders said they don't plan to sit back and do nothing about CCM's change of policy.

"They need to understand there is no support on the freeholder board for using tax dollars to support undocumented aliens," Nordstrom said.

Abbott Koloff: 973-428-6636; akoloff@njpressmedia.com

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/2011 ... tion-rules