Thread: Immigration crackdown adds challenge for Phoenix schools

Immigration crackdown adds challenge for south Phoenix schools

Posted: 02/21/2011
Last Updated: 1 hour and 24 minutes ago
By JOLIE MCCULLOUGH, Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX - Leslie Barnhizer teaches the only kindergarten class for English-speaking students at Balsz Elementary School in southeast Phoenix; the other three are English Language Learning classes.

With enrollment – and consequently, state and federal funding – dropping annually, the district was unable to hire another kindergarten teacher for native English speakers in 2010. So every English-speaking student who moved into the district was added to Barnhizer’s already long roster.

It is not a unique story.

School enrollment numbers have been dropping consistently since 2007 in many Phoenix districts with large Hispanic populations. Superintendents partially blame the economy for this decrease, but they say Arizona’s employer sanctions law in 2007 and SB 1070 in 2010 cracking down on illegal immigrants are also key factors.

But an unintended consequence of the crackdown is that in some school districts, there has been a noticeable impact on the education of children who are native born, English-speaking, U.S. citizens.

“One of the reasons why this class is so big is that the kids have to be separated by language ability, and since we have such a high population of kids learning English, the other three [kindergarten] classes are all ELLâ€

Since 2007, Cartwright, the second largest elementary district in the state with close to 18,000 students, has lost more than 2,000 kids, resulting in a funding cut between $11 million and $13 million and the loss of 300 teachers and a school, Martinez said.

Smith said Balsz, which is a much smaller district with fewer than 3,000 students, is down 147 kids this year and is losing $18,000 a day.

You mean resulting in a SAVINGS between $11-13 million for taxpayers. You are SAVING $18k a day. US TAXPAYERS are saving millions. Illegal aliens don't make enough to pay the cost of educating their children. They don't earn enough to pay the costs of living in the US, each and every illegal alien is a drain on US taxpayers and needs to be deported!

As revenge the Elitist decide to keep the level of education the same for the ILLEGALS at the expense of Citizen Students including the over crowding of Citizen Student’s classrooms.

This is from the SCOTUS decision in Plyer v. Doe:

(d) Texas' statutory classification cannot be sustained as furthering its interest in the "preservation of the state's limited resources for the education of its lawful residents." While the State might have an interest in mitigating potentially harsh economic effects from an influx of illegal immigrants, the Texas statute does not offer an effective method of dealing with the problem. Even assuming that the net impact of illegal aliens on the economy is negative, charging tuition to undocumented children constitutes an ineffectual attempt to stem the tide of illegal immigration, at least when compared with the alternative of prohibiting employment of illegal aliens. Nor is there any merit to the suggestion that undocumented children are appropriately singled out for exclusion because of the special burdens they impose on the State's ability to provide high-quality public education. The record does not show that exclusion of undocumented children is likely to improve the overall quality of education in the State. Neither is there any merit to the claim that undocumented children are appropriately singled out because their unlawful presence within the United States renders them less likely than other children to remain within the State's boundaries and to put their education to productive social or political use within the State. Pp. 457 U. S. 227-230.

http://supreme.justia.com/us/457/202/case.html

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

This is from the SCOTUS decision in Plyer v. Doe:

(d) Texas' statutory classification cannot be sustained as furthering its interest in the "preservation of the state's limited resources for the education of its lawful residents." While the State might have an interest in mitigating potentially harsh economic effects from an influx of illegal immigrants, the Texas statute does not offer an effective method of dealing with the problem. Even assuming that the net impact of illegal aliens on the economy is negative, charging tuition to undocumented children constitutes an ineffectual attempt to stem the tide of illegal immigration, at least when compared with the alternative of prohibiting employment of illegal aliens. Nor is there any merit to the suggestion that undocumented children are appropriately singled out for exclusion because of the special burdens they impose on the State's ability to provide high-quality public education. The record does not show that exclusion of undocumented children is likely to improve the overall quality of education in the State. Neither is there any merit to the claim that undocumented children are appropriately singled out because their unlawful presence within the United States renders them less likely than other children to remain within the State's boundaries and to put their education to productive social or political use within the State. Pp. 457 U. S. 227-230.

http://supreme.justia.com/us/457/202/case.html

What you are saying is that as in this case any law will be interpreted to result in LEGAL Citizen Students always receiving the remaining leftovers when it comes elementary and secondary education resources unless they can prove that they have special needs; however all the ILLEGALS will have to do is show up!

Originally Posted by lccat

What you are saying is that as in this case any law will be interpreted to result in LEGAL Citizen Students always receiving the remaining leftovers when it comes elementary and secondary education resources unless they can prove that they have special needs; however all the ILLEGALS will have to do is show up!

And that is why deportation and a little jail time for employers is the only thing that will create true economies and stable communities. When employers give jobs to illegals, they and their new hires benefit. But everybody else pays a price. When there's no money coming in, it's difficult to form stable families. Unstable families make for unstable communities and a sense that the government is not working for its own people.
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Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Originally Posted by vistalad

Originally Posted by lccat

What you are saying is that as in this case any law will be interpreted to result in LEGAL Citizen Students always receiving the remaining leftovers when it comes elementary and secondary education resources unless they can prove that they have special needs; however all the ILLEGALS will have to do is show up!

And that is why deportation and a little jail time for employers is the only thing that will create true economies and stable communities. When employers give jobs to illegals, they and their new hires benefit. But everybody else pays a price. When there's no money coming in, it's difficult to form stable families. Unstable families make for unstable communities and a sense that the government is not working for its own people.
************************************************** *****************************
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

You hit the nail on the head!

HEAVY FINES and FELONY JAIL time for the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS! Felony Conviction and deportation for the ILLEGALS!

Of course the more the Elitist Special Interest Groups financially benefit from the ILLEGALS the more money that is poured into the coffers of the Elitist Politicians to support the ILLEGALS but this is really not new, the Chamber of Commerce has always been working in support of the ILLEGALS. The ILLEGALS are comfortable with pushing ahead of everyone else including U.S. Citizens who do not receive the same preferential treatment in all areas. U.S. Citizens have already lost “entry levelâ€

Originally Posted by lccat

What you are saying is that as in this case any law will be interpreted to result in LEGAL Citizen Students always receiving the remaining leftovers when it comes elementary and secondary education resources unless they can prove that they have special needs; however all the ILLEGALS will have to do is show up!

Actually the part I highlighted I believe demonstrates why the matter should now be revisited by the court. It may have been true in 1982 but today it's a damn LIE!