Libidiot, IA hugger Athens, Georgia newspaper defending expending tax dollars on translators for non-English speaking invaders:

Editorial: Translators aid Hispanic parent-teacher meetings
Thursday, October 11, 2007

There are 2,300 Hispanic students in Clarke County's public schools, and it's a safe bet that many of them are members of families who entered this country illegally. That's why it's almost predictable that in the coming days, this editorial page will feature a share of letters to the editor taking aim at a Thursday news story citing a need for volunteer Spanish translators to help with upcoming student-teacher conferences.

That's not to suggest those letters, particularly those from taxpayers whose dollars fund the public school system, won't have a legitimate point. It's undeniably frustrating to come to terms with the fact that the fiscal resources gleaned from property owners and others to operate the public schools are being used to educate young people who ought not be in those classrooms in the first place, or are in those classrooms only by virtue of their birth in this country. (Although it is, of course, important to note here that illegal-immigrant families do pay sales taxes, and also indirectly pay property taxes within their residential rent payments, and are thus helping to underwrite their children's education.)

However, those who would rail against the admitted unfairness of covering the cost of educating the children of illegal immigrants, and who would point to the Clarke County School District's call for volunteer Spanish translators as just another example of how those children need time and resources that necessarily take time and resources away from other children, are missing an important point.

Those Hispanic children who are part of illegal-immigrant families are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

It's true that this state's get-tough stance on illegal immigration is beginning to have some effect on their numbers in Georgia. A Sept. 26 story in USA Today on states that have passed tough laws aimed at illegal immigrants noted that "(i)llegal immigrants also are leaving Georgia, where a law requires companies on government contracts with at least 500 employees to check new hires against a federal database to make sure they are legally authorized to work."

But in a state with an illegal population estimated to be as high as 800,000, it's clear that the narrowly tailored state law regarding employment of illegal immigrants won't have a significant effect on that population.

Thus, as long as this county's schools include students from families who are in this country illegally, the smart strategy for this community is to do everything it can to ensure that those students are given every opportunity to succeed, so that they don't later become a drain on social-service providers.

That's particularly true when, as is the case with the Clarke County School District's current request for volunteer translators, that help can be given at no cost to the community other than the time given by volunteers.

Those who are interested in volunteering can and should do so by going to the Web site www.handsonnortheastgeorgia.org and signing up for service. Translators are needed in shifts at the county's elementary and middle schools from Oct. 23-25. As of Thursday afternoon, a number of shifts remained available.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 101207
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/101 ... 2001.shtml