Law could impact school enrollment
By Jeremy Redmon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Metro Atlanta school officials plan to closely monitor their enrollment figures over the summer now that Georgia’s tough new immigration enforcement law is about to take effect.

The reason: Many illegal immigrants could leave the state and pull their children out of public schools if opponents are unable to block the law in federal court.

It’s too early to cite trends in Georgia. But Arizona, which passed a similar immigration law last year, suspects it is the reason hundreds of children have left some of its schools.

A lot is at stake for Georgia schools. Student enrollment changes can affect state and federal funding schools receive per student, staffing and school construction plans and even how school attendance boundaries are drawn.

Proponents of the law say Georgia taxpayers will save money in the long run by reducing the state’s student population growth and the need for programming for non-English speaking students.

The immigration law is scheduled to take effect July 1. But a federal judge could rule as soon as Monday on a request by civil and immigrant rights groups to block the law. They argue the law is unconstitutional. State lawmakers deny that and predict the law will stand.

The measure doesn’t specifically address schools. But it does empower police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects and arrest illegal immigrants.

That provision is the one that most frightens those who say they are readying to flee Georgia.

The potential impact for schools is unclear. School officials say federal law prohibits them from inquiring about a child’s immigration status.

But the state does track students who receive special English language lessons. There were 82,112 enrolled across the state during the school year that just ended, according to the state Department of Education. Over half of them — 42,581 — were in Atlanta-area schools.

It’s unknown how many of those students are in the country illegally. Georgia spends $8,761 to educate each student on average — not including federal funds — meaning the potential fallout from a mass exodus could be millions of dollars in lost revenue for schools having to calibrate spending post-recession.

Gwinnett County had the most English-language learners in the Atlanta area with 18,834, followed by DeKalb County at 9,329.

DeKalb Area Assistant Superintendent Kenneth Bradshaw said he has heard anecdotes of families withdrawing their children from schools because of the new immigration enforcement law. He said he was going to discuss with other school officials how an exodus of students could impact staffing plans.

“There is just a feeling of being unsettled, just not knowing,â€