Legislation to require the state to biannually distribute a letter to school districts reminding them of the requirement to enroll resident students regardless of immigration status was released Thursday by an Assembly committee. The bill was sponsored by Assembly Democrats Ruben J. Ramos Jr. and Annette Quijano.
The bill is based on a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held that undocumented children living in the United States could not be excluded from public elementary and secondary schools based upon their immigration status.
“These children were entitled to an appropriate public education,” said Ramos (D-Hudson). “We’re talking about children who have no control over their immigration status, and we should want them to be enrolled in school and properly educated so they can become productive members of our society. When you think about it, this is just common sense.”
“It’s important to regularly remind school districts that a child’s immigration status does not affect his eligibility to attend public school,” said Quijano (D-Union). “We are rightly committed in New Jersey to educating each and every child, and this bill simply reminds everyone of that goal. This is the right thing for the children and our future as a state.”
The bill requires the Department of Education to biannually distribute a letter to each school district reminding the district of the obligation to enroll resident students regardless of immigration status.
Under the bill, the letter must be distributed by Aug. 1 and Dec. 30 of each school year and must include information on the documentation that may be requested pursuant to state board regulations to demonstrate a student’s eligibility for enrollment in the district.
The bill was released by the Assembly Education Committee. TLS.
Is the Supreme Court paying the bill? Is the Department of Education paying it?
Or is this being funded by you and me?
So MY property taxes should be used to pay for the education of a child whose parents snuck under the fence ilegally?
THANKS!
Most towns are set up in a way to minimize the impact on the taxpayer. This legislation, while compassionate for the child, is a burden on the taxpayer if the district has too many undocumented students. It would be nice if our senators and congressmen would promote a bill to help fund districts adversely affected by this law. It would also be nice if local politicians and boards would help guide their town toward proper growth and development that would minimize the impact of this law on our taxpayers.
Yes, and it would be nice if we had the Arizona Illegal Immigration law (SB1070), which brought down the number of illegal immigrants by 23%.
are we letting the illegal imigrants for free and expecting that to lower the amount that come
We live in a great country but there has to be some sachel. If they want to approve this, at least there should be some accountablilty of ‘legal or not’ and towns should get re-imbursed from the federal government for education non US citizens or non-documented illegals. Pure hefkairos.
Of course at the end of the day tax payers would fund it. (Just dont don’t tell it to all the ‘feel good’ politicians.
Yeah, four of those laws and the numbers go down to 8% of the total. Still too much
As long as we hire illegals they will be here. The fault is ours.
They are coming here for work and we are supplying it.
When we stop employing illegals the problem will be solved
To: # 4
While I’m not all that against the idea more aggressive enforcement, four of the law’s most contentious provisions were already suspended by federal courts. Sb1070 is pending a supreme ct ruling. You can’t credit the numbers to that law. The numbers are really improving thanks efforts to enforce the laws already on the books. Also to be fair, due to the poor economic environment, many of our friend south or the border are retuning due to a lack of work.
illegal immigrants kids get paid education WHY especialy seperarte Spanishclasses.
if that is ok i would want to have my childrens jewish education paid with VOUCHERS like in Cleveland and Milwaukee.
lock them up and send them back, sick of paying for them
Amen #8!!
How about these generous Democrats! Look at how they freely they spend other peoples money! Lets thank ALL the Democrats this November by voting them OUT of office and putting people into office that are NOT as generous with OUR money.
Did everyone see what Obama did today ….. he granted amnesty to all illegals between 16 and 30… Guess who they will be voting for this November, you guess it the people that invited the illegals to stay. This has to be the best political move Obama could think of to keep his job, he sure can’t run on his record.
Our Fault! says: JUNE 15, 2012 AT 11:47 AM is right on target. The Federal Government is allowing the undocumented to enter the country, but they would not come, if there was no employment.
Economics at it’s finest.
They come for a better life than can be had in other countries of origin. This is a natural instinct for all people of all origins. But it is we the people that provide the ability for the undocumented to stay.
It is a two way street, where we want the cheap labor, but not all of the issues that come with it.