Alabama schools violating federal law by discouraging enrollment of immigrants
The 蜜桃传媒 notifies schools across Alabama that they are violating federal law by requiring Social Security numbers or other information that discourages or denies enrollment to children of immigrants.聽
The Southern Poverty Law Center (蜜桃传媒) today notified 96 Alabama school systems that their enrollment practices violate federal prohibitions against denying or discouraging the enrollment of children based on their immigration status or that of their parents.
In many cases, school enrollment forms require a Social Security number or a U.S. birth certificate, without explaining that such disclosure, under federal law, is voluntary and not necessary for enrollment.
The 蜜桃传媒 also urged Alabama School Superintendent Thomas R. Bice to ensure that all schools within the state鈥檚 135 districts comply with federal mandates by the beginning of the 2014-15 school year.
鈥淚t is well-established law that all children, regardless of their immigration status, have a right to attend our public schools,鈥� said 蜜桃传媒 attorney Jay Singh. 鈥淭oo many schools in Alabama, however, are not living up to their legal responsibility.鈥�
Last summer, at the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 urging, to local school superintendents reminding them that the lack of a Social Security number, a birth certificate or a parent鈥檚 driver鈥檚 license is not sufficient to deny enrollment. However, more than 70 percent of Alabama鈥檚 school districts have failed to comply. Earlier this month, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued guidance outlining the responsibilities of schools to provide equal access to educational opportunities regardless of a child鈥檚 or parent鈥檚 national origin or immigration status.聽
News reports suggest that the Department of Justice has already had informal discussions with Alabama regarding unlawful enrollment practices. Even so, many schools continue to discourage the enrollment of immigrant children. In Morgan County Schools, for example, the 蜜桃传媒 found that the registration form requests the Social Security numbers of both the student and the parents 鈥� without providing the safeguards mandated by law.
The Blue Springs Elementary School in Limestone County takes matters even further by not only requiring a student鈥檚 Social Security number as a condition of enrollment but also asking, 鈥淚s the child Latino or Hispanic?鈥�
鈥淪chools across Alabama continue to embrace unlawful enrollment policies with impunity 鈥� policies that obstruct immigrant students鈥� path to the schoolhouse door and that remain in place despite recent state and federal guidance and 30-plus years of case law that preserves all students鈥� right of access to an education,鈥� Singh said.
In April, the 蜜桃传媒 intervened on behalf of a 17-year-old Latino student who was denied enrollment at Fort Payne High School without legal justification. The school system took immediate action to enroll the student.
More than 30 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Plyler v. Doe that it is unconstitutional to deny a child present in the United States a public education based on his or her immigration status.
To ensure that enrollment in public school is not chilled, federal law requires that schools requesting a Social Security number must: (1) indicate that disclosing the number is voluntary; (2) provide the statutory or other basis upon which it is seeking the number; and (3) explain how the number will be used.
