The Birmingham News (Editorial): The Birmingham Board of Education gets plenty of criticism from this newspaper for a lot of reasons we feel are warranted.
It's only fitting, then, that when the city school board stands for what is right, the action be applauded.
The school board last week voted unanimously to support a resolution against Alabama's draconian immigration law. Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said instead of adopting a pre-written resolution from the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice that the school district is writing its own resolution.
That makes sense. City school officials can offer their own perspective on ramifications of the immigration law and their own reasons for rejecting it.
The immigration law already has led to at least one complaint against a city school for violating the Civil Rights Act. A parent complained that his daughter, a U.S. citizen, was singled out in her classroom because she appeared to be of Hispanic origin. The office of civil rights with the U.S. Department of Education is investigating.
That's an unfortunate consequence of the law, especially when lawmakers didn't include resources for training those who are expected to enforce the law. As originally written, the law required school systems to check the immigration status of both students and their parents. A three-judge panel with the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals has stayed enforcement of that section of the law, but it could be reinstated after the court rules whether it's constitutional. Written briefs from both sides are expected to be presented to the 11th Circuit before the end of the year.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, is looking at enrollment figures for 39 school districts in Alabama to determine whether there have been civil rights violations, though Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is trying to stop the Justice Department's request for information.
Before voting to express their disagreement with the immigration law, city school board members heard from families directly affected by the immigration law.
"If this isn't racism, if this isn't Jim Crow, this is a disgrace before God," said school board member Emanuel Ford. "I can't believe that in 2011, we would do something so blatant."
There are emotional reasons to oppose the law. But there are financial reasons, as well. If the section of the law requiring schools to check the immigrant status of students and their parents is upheld, that will, in effect, become an unfunded mandate.
There is bound to be a cost, both in personnel and material, to gather the information the law requires. Even well-funded school systems are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. One would think that all school systems would oppose a mandate that has nothing to do with educating school children but, instead, puts an immigration enforcement burden on people who should be worried about teaching, not policing.
The Birmingham Board of Education gets a lot of grief, but it deserves credit for taking on this issue and not being afraid to take a stand for what's right.
It's only fitting, then, that when the city school board stands for what is right, the action be applauded.
The school board last week voted unanimously to support a resolution against Alabama's draconian immigration law. Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said instead of adopting a pre-written resolution from the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice that the school district is writing its own resolution.
That makes sense. City school officials can offer their own perspective on ramifications of the immigration law and their own reasons for rejecting it.
The immigration law already has led to at least one complaint against a city school for violating the Civil Rights Act. A parent complained that his daughter, a U.S. citizen, was singled out in her classroom because she appeared to be of Hispanic origin. The office of civil rights with the U.S. Department of Education is investigating.
That's an unfortunate consequence of the law, especially when lawmakers didn't include resources for training those who are expected to enforce the law. As originally written, the law required school systems to check the immigration status of both students and their parents. A three-judge panel with the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals has stayed enforcement of that section of the law, but it could be reinstated after the court rules whether it's constitutional. Written briefs from both sides are expected to be presented to the 11th Circuit before the end of the year.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, is looking at enrollment figures for 39 school districts in Alabama to determine whether there have been civil rights violations, though Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is trying to stop the Justice Department's request for information.
Before voting to express their disagreement with the immigration law, city school board members heard from families directly affected by the immigration law.
"If this isn't racism, if this isn't Jim Crow, this is a disgrace before God," said school board member Emanuel Ford. "I can't believe that in 2011, we would do something so blatant."
There are emotional reasons to oppose the law. But there are financial reasons, as well. If the section of the law requiring schools to check the immigrant status of students and their parents is upheld, that will, in effect, become an unfunded mandate.
There is bound to be a cost, both in personnel and material, to gather the information the law requires. Even well-funded school systems are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. One would think that all school systems would oppose a mandate that has nothing to do with educating school children but, instead, puts an immigration enforcement burden on people who should be worried about teaching, not policing.
The Birmingham Board of Education gets a lot of grief, but it deserves credit for taking on this issue and not being afraid to take a stand for what's right.
No comments:
Post a Comment