Teaching in an area teeming with immigrant families, people often inquire how many of my students are undocumented. I typically side-step the question because it requires me to admit that I lie to my students. I lie whenever I stand in front of my seventh graders, and say: "Work hard and you can go to college anywhere you want and be anything you want to be." The truth is that their education, their career, their life will be influenced by immigration status.
As a part of Teach For America, I believe that the Achievement Gap can be closed. However, in addition to schools and teachers, immigration status is another pervasive component of the Achievement Gap. Teaching students from undocumented families has convinced me that we must consider the DREAM Act not only part of immigration reform, but also part of education reform.
If my undocumented students manage to overcome all the typical challenges low-income students face -- elementary schools that have left them grade levels behind, additional responsibilities at home, violence in their communities -- they will still be undocumented. Immigration laws reinforce the achievement gap beyond middle and high school. Even the absolute best students, if undocumented, are forced to choose colleges that turn a blind eye to a lack of paperwork. The colleges the best students in my school system attend barely reach the levels that the middle 50% of students at excellent private schools attend.
Opponents of the DREAM Act continue to suggest that undocumented children should suffer from their parents' decisions. Most recently, the Texas Republicans noted in their 2012 platform that "non-citizens unlawfully present in the United States" should not be allowed to enroll in public schools. As a teacher, I do not know how to encourage students to be good community members when that very community desires to punish them for something entirely outside their control.
We waste public resources when we educate the children of undocumented immigrants then refuse those students the ability to contribute to society. We pave an impossible road for teachers working in difficult urban areas when they are not able to offer their undocumented students a "way out" through education. We hurt our communities when these students turn to gangs, violence, and crime. We reduce the amount of talent in the United States when we do not let brilliant, hardworking students pursue careers in our country.
It is my dream that by the time my seventh graders are seniors in high school, they will be able to attend whatever college they choose -- regardless of immigration status. They have five years, but the clock is already ticking. There are many students who do not five years. The passing the DREAM Act in the wake of President Obama's Executive Order is more crucial than ever. We must capitalize on the momentum of immigration reform. Only then will an excellent education at every level become a reality for all of our students.
Follow Alyssa Granacki on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aly_gran
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When teachers are bing laid off due to State Education funding being slashed to balance States' 2012-13 budgets?
400,000 teachers nationwide last year laid off.
How does this help the quality of K-12 Education for U.S. Citizen K-12 Students?
Why do you think there should be a loophole for illegal aliens who come here as children? Mexicans are sending children over the border by themselves.
How would you like to teach classes with 60 or 70 students and most don't understand English which will cost school systems even more money.
We have a mess because of the 1986 amnesty, just imagine what it will be like in 26 years after a amnesty for 20-25 million? We will have another 40-50 million illegal aliens here. They won't stop coming because there is no law enforcement. They will close down our hospitals, our social services, in crease labor pools, welfare rolls. The US is going broke.
China, Japan, Italy and Greece are cracking down on illegal aliens. They see what it is doing to the US.
I completely understand the compassion that people like Ms. Granacki express for those that she calls 'undocumented students'.
I totally fail to understand why these same people desire to punish citizen and legal resident families for situations entirely outside their control. To me, allowing these law abiding families to be forced into unemployment and poverty by illegal aliens underbidding them for jobs is beyond reprehensible, it is criminal and our leaders should be held responsible for their misfeasance.
The same party that would rather have a political football with the lives of these young people, because in their eyes they are worth less than trash.
I say deport all of them off the street.
Good idea but we don't need to make a difference. The Plyler right does not preclude the deportation of the parents or the student--the public education just can't be denied so long as the student is here. Since the Executive Branch is defying the intent of Congress' immigration law, the answer is new law which will deter the illegal presence, i.e., housing verification. The schools not being able to screen would not be fatal in that case although it would still be a good complement to housing and employment screening. The solutions are really quite simple it's just that the government is so corrupt and will now ethnic pander more and more.
When law enforcement comes into play and it will, it's going to get ugly fast. We can't afford these illegal aliens.
Are people bigots because they want our laws enforced?
Are people bigots because they are tired of supporting people from another country who come here and cost them huge amounts of money?
Are people bigots because they are tired of our education system being drained by non English speakers?
Are people bigots because non citizens are getting housing and scholorships which could have gone to a citizen of our country?
Are people bigots because they are sick of illegals taking jobs that could have gone to Ameircan citizens (and please don't use the bs excuse of how they only take jobs Americans won't do).
You need to check the definition of bigot.
I guess that you would feel compelled to intervene on behalf of a child whose citizen parent is being sent to jail for an extended period? I guess you feel it is OK for a swindler's child to keep the money or a thief's child to keep the stolen goods? And I guess that you have no locks on your car or any of the doors to your house, because I would like to come and put a big sign on your front lawn saying it is OK for people to take whatever they want from you because you feel that this is no problem??? If you have a problem with any of these things then you need to examine your own values and motives before trying to make a case that is fundamentally indefensible.
These children deserve some degree of sympathy, charity or empathy but do they have any "rights"in this matter - I think not since rights derive from laws and they are in clear breach of the law!
And to me - the harder these people scream for their "rights" the less inclined I believe people are going to be inclined to being charitable!
> Just get a Student Visa
> Just pay for out-of-state tuition
Problem with illegal DREAMers?
> Expect FREE U.S. Citizenship
> Expect the U.S. Taxpayer to pay their tuition
Those "pathways" have existed for DECADES.
But these ILLEGALS have chose to circumvent our letter of the law.
They have crossed our borders without proper visa permission.
They have secured and used FALSE American citizen Social Security numbers, LIED on I-9 forms and have stolen the identity of MILLIONS.
Is THAT really the country you want to live in?
I don't and I won't!