Image Credit: Senator Bo Watson / Facebook
The Center Square [By Kim Jarrett] –
The Hamilton County Principals Association is opposing a bill that would give Tennessee school districts the authority to ban students who are in the country illegally.
The association said Wednesday it is asking the Hamilton County School Board to pass a resolution that says it will give all Hamilton County children access to school.
“As educators, our mission is clear: we are dedicated to creating safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments where all students can thrive,” the association said. “Efforts to exclude children from school due to their immigration status undermine this mission, threaten the well-being of vulnerable communities, and harm the future of our nation.”
A coalition of Tennessee pastors, Christian faith leaders, and faith-based nonprofits are also encouraging lawmakers to defeat the bill.
“Access to education creates paths of opportunity and enables the dreams of children – regardless of their country of origin – to come into reach,” the group said in a letter to lawmakers. “We are calling on you to consider the impact of your vote and steward the influence you have to create welcoming communities for the neighbors Christ commands us to love as ourselves.”
Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, tied his bill to the increased cost of funding English learning programs, known as ELL.
“While ELL incorporates both documented as well as undocumented students, it is difficult or impossible to tease out the difference between the two,” Watson said. “And so I use ELL funding as a correlation as to what may be happening with the undocumented community.”
The House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth, passed the House Government Operations Committee on Monday. It now goes to the Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
2 Responses
Hamilton County Principals Association=dimmercraps. Dimmercraps love illegal whatever.
I thank the Hamilton Co. principals for recognizing this flawed bill that does more harm and no “good” to the people of TN nor the targeted communities of undocumented immigrants and their children. This is a racist bill that inflects unnecessary pain to the Hispanic/Latinx communities. TN Republicans have nothing better to do than bully vulnerable people. Not one bill has been passed or even drafted to address homelessness, opioid addiction, crime rates, poverty, traffic congestion, unaffordable housing, expanding Medicaid or other issues that affect millions of Tennesseans on a daily basis. The LGBTQ (trans) and immigrants are the new “boogeymen” of the GOP. Instead of finding solutions to real problems they waste taxpayer dollars intimidating young children from getting an already subsidized education paid for by state funds. If they honestly believed (which they don’t) that certain students were using more resources or that there were budget concerns in ESOL that would be a state call to assess funding needs and not shift that responsibility to individual residents of the state. I have yet to read any proof of their “claim” that undocumented children are breaking the bank for public schools yet this is where their energy is. Gun violence that actually kills innocent children get no attention in this state, but to deny kids the right to a FREE education in a public school, Republicans can’t write bills fast enough.