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  1. #1
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    Dallas school board to discuss hiring illegal immigrants

    http://www.dentonrc.com

    02/07/2006

    Associated Press


    A Dallas school official said changing employment laws that restrict hiring illegal immigrants could help the district overcome its shortage of bilingual teachers.

    School board member Joe May said the Dallas Independent School District should be able to recruit college-educated illegal immigrants who qualify for its emergency teaching certification program. But federal law prohibits knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

    The school board was set to discuss May's idea at a Tuesday meeting, although some board members urged caution, The Dallas Morning News reported for its Tuesday editions.

    The Dallas district, which has about 161,000 students, currently recruits Spanish-speaking teachers from foreign countries and then helps the applicants obtain their work visas.

    May said laws regarding the employment of illegal immigrants who've been in the United States for years should be changed.

    "It makes sense if we set up shop over here," May said. "We can build an employment base in our own market."

    Board member Hollis Brashear said he wants to hear how the district's attorneys respond to the idea. "But I don't know if we can discuss something that involves not complying with U.S. law," he said.

    Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said he could support May's hiring proposal if it is done legally, adding that May's grass-roots effort is how laws are changed.

    Hinojosa also said he empathizes with young children who enter the United States illegally with their parents and then run up against employment laws when they become adults.

    "It wasn't their fault they were brought here," he said. "Their parents brought them here."

    Federal officials said May's proposal conflicts with the law. Getting a work visa isn't an option for illegal immigrants in the United States, said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, regional communications manager for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

    "While we empathize and sympathize with these individuals, there is an orderly fashion in which one can immigrate to this country," she said.

    School board member Jerome Garza said May's idea deserves consideration.

    "We as trustees can no longer solve problems like we did 10 years ago," he said. "We have to be innovative."

    But John Keeley, director of communications for the Center for Immigration studies, a nonprofit group that seeks to limit immigration, said May's proposal sends the wrong message to students.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member butterbean's Avatar
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    Same story, but with added CRAP!

    http://www.dallasnews.com

    Hurdle in using these bilingual teachers: U.S. law prohibits it
    09:34 PM CST on Monday, February 6, 2006
    By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News

    Dallas' school district has a shortage of bilingual teachers.

    DISD trustee Joe May knows where he can find a lot of people who speak Spanish fluently and are already in the country. And he'd like to put them to work.

    But there's at least one big hurdle: The school district cannot knowingly hire illegal immigrants because it's against federal law.

    Mr. May wants to amend that so the district can hire illegal immigrants who are college-educated and can qualify for the district's emergency teaching certification program. The issue will be discussed at the school board's policy briefing today.

    Mr. May believes that amending the law would help alleviate a shortage of bilingual teachers. DISD hopes to fill more than 400 bilingual teaching positions next school year.

    "We're paying for DISD people to go over" to other countries to recruit bilingual teachers, Mr. May said. "It makes sense if we set up shop over here. We can build an employment base in our own market."

    Some Dallas Independent School District trustees said they look forward to discussing the issue while others are treading cautiously. The district's attorneys will also participate in the discussion at today's meeting.

    "I'm open to listening to the legal points they might make," trustee Hollis Brashear said. "But I don't know if we can discuss something that involves not complying with U.S. law."

    Trustee Jerome Garza said it's an interesting topic that should be discussed.

    "We as trustees can no longer solve problems like we did 10 years ago," Mr. Garza said. "We have to be innovative."

    For Mr. May, no idea is too far-fetched. Last year, he successfully pushed a proposal, initially greeted with considerable skepticism, that requires some principals to become bilingual. The issue divided blacks and Hispanics and received nationwide attention.

    DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said Mr. May's kind of grass-roots effort is how laws are changed. He said the hiring proposal is something he could support as long as it's done legally.

    Dr. Hinojosa said he empathizes with young children who enter the U.S. illegally with their parents and find their job prospects limited in adulthood.

    "It wasn't their fault they were brought here," Dr. Hinojosa said. "Their parents brought them."

    But the proposal may become, even briefly, a lightning rod for the national debate over illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants number in the millions. A temporary worker plan proposed by President Bush recently has come under fire. The plan would grant visas to many undocumented immigrants, in hopes that it would stem the tide of people entering the U.S. illegally to work. It would also allow law enforcement to focus more on homeland defense.

    Federal officials responded Monday to questions about Mr. May's proposal by reciting the current law.

    "It's illegal to knowingly hire or continue to employ illegal aliens," said Carl Rusnok, regional communications director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Unless you're in this country legally, it's illegal for you to work."

    Under federal law, employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers face criminal prosecution and substantial fines.

    Some districts, including DISD, go abroad to recruit bilingual teachers and help applicants obtain their work visas.

    But getting a work visa isn't an option for illegal immigrants already here, said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, regional communications manager for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

    "While we empathize and sympathize with these individuals, there is an orderly fashion in which one can immigrate to this country," Ms. Garcia-Upson said.

    John Keeley, director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit group that seeks to have fewer immigrants in the U.S., said Mr. May's proposal sends the wrong message to students.

    "Within the education community, you expect a higher degree for the rule of the law," he said.

    But Joe Campos, executive manager of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said DISD should push to get the residency requirement waived.

    "They can be good productive citizens," Mr. Campos said. "Why not give them the opportunity?"

    Mr. May believes it's time to change laws to address illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for years.

    "They're basically American people when you get down to it," he said.

    E-mail tdhobbs@dallasnews.com
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  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnB2012's Avatar
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    This is insane that they are even suggesting this.

    "They can be good productive citizens," Mr. Campos said. "Why not give them the opportunity?"
    Because they are illegal aliens.

  4. #4
    Senior Member WavTek's Avatar
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    No wonder our children are failing; with role models like those in Dallas.
    REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!

  5. #5
    Senior Member moosetracks's Avatar
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    How disgusting!

    If they think the hispanic kid's need an education....even tho we do not...let President Fox build them a school and teach them.

    Better yet...start kicking them out of their State.....spineless politicians!
    Do not vote for Party this year, vote for America and American workers!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    And all this time I thought they were only doing jobs Americans won't do.
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  7. #7
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    I wonder if this idea is now dead?

    http://www.dallasnews.com

    Mercedes Olivera:
    May brought courage to Dallas school board

    10:15 AM CST on Saturday, February 18, 2006


    Joe May had one of the most stressful responsibilities in America – he was a school board trustee.

    He wasn't a bomb-thrower, even though some of his proposals were explosive.

    And he was always prepared for the questions that would follow.

    "He'd ask a question that he already knew the answer to, to see where your ethics were and what your commitment was," said Dallas school Superintendent Michael Hinojosa.

    And, gosh, how he loved maps. Having been involved with redistricting issues for more than 20 years, he saw them as the key to helping kids – all kids – get a good education and an equal chance in life.

    He didn't just see numbers and map markings. He saw opportunity.

    He knew every block in every precinct in Dallas and where all the voters were. Visitors encountered maps throughout his home – in the kitchen, living room, bathroom. He knew the numbers in his head and in his heart.

    And his heart was big, maybe too big. It finally gave out last week.

    His family said Mr. May died of a heart attack after having chest pains on his way home from a local restaurant. He was to be buried today in Laredo, where he was born.

    His death came after a tumultuous week spent fielding calls in reaction to his innovative idea to hire teachers who have a college diploma but not their U.S. citizenship papers. He thought it would help ease DISD's chronic shortage of bilingual teachers.

    Many bright young minds with a college degree can't get a teaching job because they are undocumented. But they didn't get a chance to pick their legal status because they were too young when they came to this country with their parents.

    Mr. May knew it would require trying to change the federal law that makes it unlawful to hire them. So he was willing to help change the law, even though he realized it involved changing people's attitudes, too.

    Trying to do that in this era of ugly anti-immigrant rhetoric was a mighty big task, but he didn't back down. No se rajaba, said his sister, Eliza May.

    If you can hire immigrants for the kitchens and construction sites, why can't you hire them for the professional jobs, Ms. May asked, echoing her brother's rationale.

    And even though it seems unlikely the proposal will go anywhere anytime soon, Mr. May showed much courage in introducing it.

    "Joe was ultimately very brave for being willing to raise issues that nobody else was willing to tackle," said state Rep. Rafael AnchÃ*a , who served on the Dallas school board with Mr. May. "And he was very focused on helping our low-performing students," mostly black and non-English-speaking Hispanics.

    Having been educated in public schools himself, Mr. May believed in them.

    "Joe believed that education was the great equalizer," said Lois Parrott, president of the Dallas school board. "The district was always on his mind."


    Dallas City Council member Pauline Medrano, who knew Mr. May for almost 30 years, said he would meet with young mothers in the school district who had been discouraged from attending PTA meetings because they didn't speak English. He would encourage them to stay involved in their children's schools and form partnerships with the teachers.

    He'd also encourage Latino parents to vote, if they could, and attend crime watch meetings in their neighborhoods. The future of the city and its schools was always on his mind.

    Many of his friends said his district must now focus on recruiting someone to run for his school board seat who will have the same dedication to the issues he raised.

    "The community needs to perpetuate his legacy," said Dallas lawyer Adelfa Callejo. "And we need to fill his seat with someone who has the same advocacy and vision."

    Finding someone with the same courage could prove to be harder still.

    Mercedes Olivera can be reached at molivera@dallasnews .com or at P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75267.
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