Trustees Seek to Bill Mexico for School Costs

The Anaheim Union High School Board of Trustees voted this week to have its attorney draw up a resolution billing Mexico for the education of students from that country who are illegally in this country.

At a meeting in which public sentiment ran strongly in favor of the proposal, board members also expressed support for the largely symbolic resolution but postponed voting until the idea receives legal scrutiny.

The original resolution, submitted by board President Harald Martin, proposed to bill Mexico $50 million for 10 years of back pay, and an additional $10 million yearly for an indefinite period.

Martin said he proposed the resolution out of frustration with the state’s inability to implement Proposition 187, which called for illegal immigrants to be removed from schools.

Representatives from anti-immigration groups and conservative associations from across the county spoke in support of his idea. Others vehemently opposed it.

Benny Hernandez, president of the Anaheim City School District, a separate school system that oversees elementary education, told the Martin and the trustees that although he used to laugh off Martin’s proposals targeting illegal immigrants, now he cannot.

“This time I’m angry and even sad for your discriminating message,” he said.

And some questioned how the board arrived at the $50-million figure.

School districts do not keep information on students’ citizenship status and there is no sure way of knowing how many illegal residents from Mexico attend Anaheim schools.