No Visa, No School, Many New York Districts Say
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: July 22, 2010
Three decades after the Supreme Court ruled that immigrationviolations cannot be used as a basis to deny children equal access to a public school education, one in five school districts in New York State is routinely requiring a child’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants can provide.
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
The State Department of Education in Albany. The Constitution guarantees a public education even to children here illegally.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which culled a list of 139 such districts from hundreds of registration forms and instructions posted online, has not found any children turned away for lack of immigration paperwork. But it warned in a letter to the state’s education commissioner on Wednesday that the requirements listed by many registrars, however free of discriminatory intent, “will inevitably discourage families from enrolling in school for fear that they would be reported to federal immigration authorities.”
For months, the group has been pushing the StateEducation Department to stop the practices, which range from what the advocates consider unintentional barriers, like requiring a Social Security number, to those the letter called “blatantly discriminatory,” like one demanding that noncitizen children show a “resident alien card,” with the warning that “if the card is expired, it will not be accepted.”
But the Education Department has resisted doing anything to address the issue directly, in contrast with several other states — including Maryland, Nebraska and New Jersey — where education officials have taken strong steps in recent years to halt similar practices.
“It is the responsibility of each local school district to ensure that it complies with all laws and decisions regarding student registration,” Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the
Failure to Communicate
By ABIGAIL SULLIVAN MOORE
Mark Kegans for The New York Times
THE ODD COUPLE Ryan Melson, left, and Matt Blumenreich in their room at Grinnell College in Iowa. Mr. Melson is the neat one.
A masking tape line down the middle of the dorm room? Texting beats talking.
Slide Show: Earned Housing
Despite Ruling, Many School Districts Ask for Immigration Papers
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Civil liberties advocates have unsuccessfully asked the Education Department to stop localities from imposing enrollment barriers on immigrant children, intentionally or not.
Documents: Back to School, but Only With a VisaOakland Schools Struggle, but Emeryville May Point a Way Up
By GERRY SHIH
Superintendent Tony Smith of the Oakland schools has a five-year plan to turn the system around, and it’s based on his success in the nearby Emeryville district.
A Tougher Conflict Policy at Harvard Medical School
By DUFF WILSON
Professors will now be prohibited from giving paid speeches for the makers of medical devices or drugs or accepting gifts, travel or meals.
Many States Adopt National Standards for Their Schools
By TAMAR LEWIN
States that accept the standards by Aug. 2 win points in the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition for a share of the $3.4 billion to be awarded in September.