Good Reading

Posted on Sat, Sep. 16, 2006
Court-created right to education draws illegals1982 case required states to let illegal immigrants enroll in public schools
TOM ASHCRAFT Special to the Observer

Soft headed liberal policies, often pushed under a rubric of "compassion," make folks in government feel good when they are adopted. Officials can pat each other on the back and tell themselves how much they care, how enlightened they are. Such policies, however, frequently lead to consequences the opposite of good government.
Take the issue of whether children not legally in the country ought to have a constitutional right to attend public schools. The issue was addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1982 case of Plyler v. Doe.
In the mid-1970s, enrollment in Texas public schools was growing rapidly because of large numbers of children of illegal aliens in the state, mainly Mexican nationals. In order to control rising costs, the Texas legislature passed a law which withheld state funds from local school districts for the education of children not "legally admitted" to the country and allowed the districts to deny enrollment to such children.
Even 30 years ago the U.S. government was doing such a dismal job of controlling the southern border that Texas was feeling the pinch in its public school budget. The state enacted what its leaders thought was a reasonable response: The education of Mexican children should be the responsibility of authorities in Mexico, not Texas.
With the support of the National Education Association and other liberal groups, a lawsuit was brought and eventually reached the Supreme Court. Opponents of the law contended that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment did not permit Texas, in providing public education, to distinguish between Americans and others legally in the country and those not legally here.
By a 5-4 vote, the court sided with opponents of the Texas law. Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan, a Democrat appointed by Republican President Eisenhower before the 1956 election, held that the Texas law was an irrational discrimination against the children in question and that it advanced no "substantial interest" of the state.
Chief Justice Burger, appointed by President Nixon in 1969, wrote a stinging dissent, joined by three other justices. Of the many points he made, two stand out a quarter century later.
First, Burger warned against "judicial legislating." The Constitution "does not constitute us as `Platonic Guardians' nor does it vest in this court the authority to strike down laws because they do not meet our standards of desirable social policy, `wisdom,' or `common sense.' ... We trespass on the assigned function of the political branches under our structure of limited and separated powers when we assume a policymaking role as the court does today." Burger found Texas' concerns perfectly rational. "By definition, illegal aliens have no right whatever to be here, and the state may reasonably, and constitutionally, elect not to provide them with governmental services at the expense of those who are lawfully in the state."
Second, Burger noted the dereliction of Congress in dealing with "the influx of uncountable millions of illegal aliens [coming] across our borders." He cited a Department of Justice estimate indicating there were between 3 and 6 million illegals in the country at that time. He said, "The failure of enforcement of the immigration laws over more than a decade [as of 1982] and the inherent difficulty and expense of sealing our vast borders have combined to create a grave socioeconomic dilemma."
What has been the effect of the 1982 Plyler ruling? It's hard to quantify, but common sense indicates that providing public education for children of illegals is a powerful incentive for folks to try to sneak into the country, especially given the dire straits many face in Mexico and elsewhere. Estimates of illegals in the U.S. today range from 10 to 20 million.
Because of Plyler, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools does not track the immigration status of students. It does, however, categorize some students as "limited English proficient," overwhelmingly Spanish speakers. Last October there were 12,493 such students, up from 11,510 the year before. For the school year 2005-06, over $15 million was allocated to teaching English as a second language -- in a school system where many native born are failing to meet basic standards.
As a free people, we can keep or change current immigration law. What we cannot change is that current law inevitably has future consequences. As to government action, the chickens always come home to roost.
Tom
Ashcraft