Tennessee was one of a few Republican-led states that tried to challenge a ruling that all students, including undocumented students, have the right to an education. That effort has stalled.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A U.S. Supreme Court decision guarantees all students the right to an education. There’s an effort to end that federal right to education for undocumented students, but it has stalled. This year, Tennessee was one of a few Republican-led states that tried to challenge the ruling. Marianna Bacallao of WPLN in Nashville tells us that Tennessee’s efforts may not be law but isn’t entirely off the table.
MARIANNA BACALLAO, BYLINE: The measure would have allowed K-12 schools to refuse students based on their legal status, or else charge their families tuition. That goes against Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The bill’s sponsor, Bo Watson, quoted from the dissenting opinion on the Senate floor.
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BO WATSON: Modern education, like medical care, is enormously expensive.
BACALLAO: Republicans have been looking to overturn that decision, arguing that it’s a burden on states to educate students without legal status. But those attempts haven’t panned out. A Texas bill failed to advance, and in Oklahoma, the state superintendent’s push for it was shot down by the governor. In Tennessee, the bill passed the Senate, but House leadership balked at the price tag. The measure could have jeopardized more than $1 billion in federal funding for violating the Civil Rights Act.
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WILLIAM LAMBERTH: At some juncture, I’d just run out of time.
BACALLAO: That’s the bill’s House sponsor, William Lamberth. He sent a letter to the U.S. secretary of education one day before the legislative session ended, asking…
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LAMBERTH: Will this endanger $1.1 billion or more of federal funding or not? Under the Trump administration, I anticipate that the answer is going to be that it will not endanger any funds.
BACALLAO: Lamberth didn’t hear back before the end of session, so the bill is dead for now – something opponents are taking as a win. Like immigrant advocate Lisa Sherman Luna, who helped organize protests against the bill.
LISA SHERMAN LUNA: Tennesseans showed up and sent a message loud and clear – education is for all children, no matter where they’re from or where they’re born.
BACALLAO: Meanwhile, this year, Illinois enshrined the right to a public education for students without legal status. But Tennessee’s bill may not be dead for long. Depending on how talks with the federal government go, Lamberth has plans to bring the legislation back next year.
For NPR News, I’m Marianna Bacallao in Nashville.
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