At this point, I suspect that everyone has a lot of questions regarding the group blog project. The purpose of this post is to explain what it is I am looking for from you when you are writing your individual posts. Let us pretend I am a student in Modern Problems contributing to a blog about the issue of immigration. A broad issue such as this could be broken down into national issues or even looked at on a global scale. In this post, I will be focusing on the impact of immigration legislation on our educational system here in the U.S.
Educating Illegal Immigrants
Immigration is an issue that has received a lot of political attention in the U.S. in recent years. There is no doubt that there are millions of illegal immigrants in our country today. Politicians have debated over what should be done about this, with talks ranging from tighter border control to the deportation of millions of immigrants. What I find interesting is the impact this is having on our educational system, or rather the strong opinions from both sides of this issue. Should we be educating illegal immigrants? Like any issue, there are arguments for both sides.
By educating illegal immigrants, we are essentially rewarding families through the benefits of our educational system that they are receiving for free. Because of the importance of education, this could easily be seen as a motivating factor for families illegally entering the U.S. in search of a better future for their children. If this were to be removed, or if we were to start charging tuition to public schools for the children of illegal immigrants, the motivating factors to enter the U.S. illegally would be taken away and families would have to consider relocation. Paying tuition for public schools may not be as ridiculous as it sounds. After all, schools are funded by taxes that are avoided through illegal immigration. On a debate posted on helium.com, James Coles talks about this “contract” between U.S. citizens and education:
Therein lies the inherent inequity of the illegal immigrant’s demand for a ‘free’ American public education for his or her child(ren)…while illegal residents of this country make some contribution to the social-economic contract, they don’t come close to paying their fair share of the costs incurred in the contract.
If such a bill were to be passed requiring tuition to be paid or denying post-secondary education, who are the ones that would be affected? The children, of course. Children who were not responsible for making the choice to enter the U.S. illegally. Would it be ethical to deprive someone of an education based on an act of their parents that they had no control over? George E. Brooks of the Salt Lake Tribune believes this would be a horrible mistake, and discredits the economics behind such an idea:
The argument that resident tuition for these students puts any kind of undue strain on the state is false. In the 2003-2004 school year, the 117 students statewide who took advantage of this resident tuition cost the state about $300,000 in lost tuition, according to state System of Higher Education figures.
That same year 10,424 nonresident students paid $34 million in tuition and fees over the in-state rate. And when one considers the long-term benefits of having motivated, well-educated, well-integrated second-generation Americans, the cost becomes even more negligible in comparison.
As an educator, I believe the benefits of creating well-educated children for our future far outweigh the short-term costs of educating illegal immigrants. In our globalized world, having an educated society is more important now than it has ever been. I understand that illegal immigration in the U.S. is a very tricky situation to deal with because there are so many factors one must take into account when trying to formulate a solution. Both sides have valid arguments, but I tend to disagree, however, with the overall notion to deny children education based on matters that are completely out of their hands. Not only do I see this as unethical, but I think it makes little sense for the future of our country.
