Informed Opinions on Today’s Topics : Undocumented Children and Education

Proposition. 187, the state ballot initiative to deny most government services to undocumented immigrants, entered a new dimension Tuesday when U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley stated that he would withhold federal funds from California school districts if it is approved by voters. This would result in the loss of more than $450 million in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s $4.2 billion budget.

Because the measure would require schools to disclose information from educational records, Riley said he considers the proposition to be in violation of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

In a statewide poll conducted by The Times before Riley’s announcement, 62% of registered California voters said they favored the ballot initiative’s objectives. Recently, the San Fernando City Council went on record against the initiative, while the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley voted in its favor.

Should undocumented immigrant children be denied public education?

Jerry Curry, United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley

“This is a way to beat our political leaders in Washington over the head in order to get them to do something about our immigration problem. We have to maintain our borders and the federal government has not done that adequately. This is not a racist issue, but a method to control the major influx of illegal immigrants to our state. Economically, the only impact that Proposition 187’s passage would have on our community, would be if the schools did lose that money. But I don’t think our government would allow that to happen.”

Doude Wysbeek, San Fernando city councilman

“I don’t think anybody is denying that we have an undocumented residents problem. But it is not humane to ban kids from school who are already here or to deny them health care. That is not the American way to solve problems. Being an immigrant myself, I believe that the American way is simply to protect the human rights of others. That is what we accomplished in World War II and we shouldn’t forget it. When you have a tight economy, people tend to look for a scapegoat to their own failures. I believe people will oppose this in the end.”

Juana Mora, chairwoman, Cal State Northridge Department of Chicano Studies

“If (Proposition 187) were to pass, fear would rise within the Latino community. Documented students would likely be targets of harassment. As it stands, the Latino community faces a huge dropout problem among its children. Undocumented students will leave school because they are afraid of being discovered and sent back to their country. They are afraid for their families. (Also), if the schools lost those federal funds, bilingual programs would suffer greatly.”

Grace Foster, member, State Board of Managers, California State PTA

“There is no simple yes or no answer. It’s a question of the federal government being responsible for resolving this problem that we’re all angry about, not an individual state. It’s a nasty situation that people are willing to revenge their anger on children. This initiative does nothing to resolve the issue. It doesn’t close the border. It doesn’t stem immigration at all. . . . Many of these kids may contribute significantly to our society. They’re in school and trying to stay there and are grateful for the refuge and the opportunity. Why take it away from them?”