In Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982 AD), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute that allowed local school districts to deny enrollment to children who were not “legally admitted” into the United States.
Because of this ruling, public schools cannot deny admission to a student based on their immigration status, ask for a student’s or parent’s immigration status during enrollment, or engage in practices that would chill the right of access to K-12 education.
However, a notable security concern arising from these protections involves adults posing as minors to enroll in public schools, which has led to several high-profile criminal cases across the country.
The “unaccompanied youth” provision of the federal McKinney-Vento Act is often cited as a point of entry for this type of fraud. To ensure that homeless children are not barred from education, the law requires schools to enroll students immediately, even if they lack traditional documentation like official birth certificates, immunization records, proof of residency, or prior school transcripts.
In Texas, the Education Code requires schools to verify a student’s age and identity, typically within 30 days of enrollment. Acceptable documents generally include a birth certificate, a driver’s license or state ID, a school ID card or records from a previous school, a hospital birth record, or a passport. If a parent or guardian cannot provide these, the district may accept a sworn affidavit explaining the inability to produce the records. Because people who enter the country illegally wouldn’t lie, right?
The schools get paid by the state for EACH student. They don’t care if they are illegal. Special needs includes translators as necessary. Mentally retarded kids get an assistant and special teacher. It all adds up to the money they get from the state.
Now get this: here in Central TX they have cut the school days to 4 per week.
How does that make any sense? I think it’s just the teachers wanting 3 day weekends.