http://www2.sbsun.com/news/ci_2977460

Migration weighs heavy on schools

Conor Fridersdorf, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun

What is the best way to improve one's lot in life? Education is the answer for most Americans it's the primary means through which people gain the ability to succeed in our economy, fully enjoy the fruits of our culture and achieve greater success than their parents did.
Immigration is the answer for most foreigners from Third World countries without any opportunity at home, a new life in the United States or Europe is often the only realistic path to significantly improve one's life.

But what happens when immigration undermines our educational system?

Beyond Borders Blog raised that question this week after examining data that showed dramatic increases in both the number of public school children who don't speak fluent English and the number of states in which those children are living. A few statistics from the Office of English Language Acquisition:

Between 1993 and 2003, the number of students in U.S. schools who don't speak fluent English has grown 84.3 percent!

In California, 1.5 million students were enrolled in limited-English-proficiency programs as of 2001.

18 states none of them in the Southwest saw the number of nonfluent students grow by more than 200 percent in the decade ending in 2002.

It isn't scapegoating immigrants to point out that this trend particularly if it continues unabated significantly impacts the education of countless U.S. students, disproportionately affecting those in poorer areas who mostly rely on the public education system to impart the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in life.



On the blog we've rounded up opinions from the Web on this issue, including dozens of Atlanta Journal-Constitution readers debating the topic at that newspaper's education blog.

"Most children of illegal immigrants are BORN HERE it's their parents, not them, who are illegal,' one person we quoted argued. "Poverty and lack of education breed crime it only hurts society when we do not provide education to these children.'

Others felt U.S. schools dedicate too many resources to educating the children of illegal immigrants.

"Our government will not address the problem by deporting these lawbreakers who are here illegally, and our schools are sinking under the weight of the federal requirement to educate children who should never be here,' one commenter wrote. "I throw my hands up in the air.'

Anyone who has personal stories about the impact of immigration on public schools, whether positive or negative, should e-mail the address at the end of this column.



As always we tried this week to notify readers about other interesting coverage of immigration issues. A news item from Lou Dobbs' CNN commentary show particularly caught our eye: "The Dallas Independent School District last night passed by 5 to 4 a measure that requires principals in majority-Hispanic schools to become proficient in Spanish within the next three years.'



Of course, we've covered much more than the impact of illegal immigration on education this week. For example, we've discussed whether the business lobby is opposing the enforcement of our immigration laws, we linked to stories about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger facing pressure to declare a state of emergency in California to combat illegal immigration, and we tipped off readers about a conservative newspaper t editorializing for higher levels of skilled immigration. More on all these stories and many, many more can be found at www.beyondbordersblog.com.