Posted on 06/09/2005 8:29:30 AM PDT by pabianice
WORCESTER, MA -- Juliano Foleiss got an A+ in English and finished at the top of his class, so he should be able to figure out that he has no reason to leave the United States. But the valedictorian of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School’s class of 2005 plans to do exactly that. Along with his parents and brother, he will return to Brazil to attend college.
Juliano’s story is one of triumph and disappointment. He came to the United States with his family several years ago, when he was 13. Like too many others, they did so illegally. In the time since, all have worked hard, and Juliano acquired a first-rate education at the expense of American taxpayers.
The fact that he did so well in school — Juliano is, by all accounts, a model student and pleasant young man — makes his impending departure that much more poignant for himself, his family, and his friends. The Foleiss family told Boston Globe reporter Megan Woolhouse that they cannot afford out-of-state tuition rates at Massachusetts’ public universities. They believe they might have been able to afford the in-state rates, if only the Legislature had acted in time.
Poignancy, however, has nothing to do with the law. Neither Juliano nor his family has, or ever had, any legal right to reside in this country. What they and so many others have done is walk through a giant loophole.
Massachusetts law provides that all children are entitled to a free public education. I suspect those who wrote the law didn’t think it necessary at the time to specify that education was intended for citizens. Still, it is true that the law nowhere states that illegal immigrants are banned from school. Neither teachers nor administrators demand that students produce a Social Security card before they take algebra or U.S. history.
In Juliano’s case, some teachers at Assabet Valley clearly knew months ago that he was an illegal alien. Apparently, they felt no legal or moral compulsion to inform the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Maybe they should have. After all, the hotel that employed Juliano’s parents certainly violated federal immigration law, as did the supermarket where Juliano worked. More to the point, taxpayers beset by the high costs of public education can be forgiven for feeling a little ticked off that there is no effective means of guarding the school door against those with no right to be there. If, as the Globe reported, Assabet Valley staff really do suspect “many of their students are undocumented immigrants,” taxpayers in the district might want to know just how many, if only to determine exactly how generous they have unwittingly been.
Barring the children of illegal immigrants from our schools might, as some fear, contribute to an uneducated, resentful underclass that the INS doesn’t have the time or inclination to deal with. But given that such an underclass already exists, perhaps we should stop treating the symptoms — illegal aliens flooding schools and the workplace — and find a rational means of stemming the causes of illegal immigration.
The seeds of sensible reform certainly exist. A Heritage Foundation study released last week, for example, calls for working with other nations to repatriate illegal aliens and establishing humanitarian programs to assist with those returns. The study rejects amnesty, which the authors argue would encourage further illegal immigration, but does advocate allowing those who are here illegally, but have no criminal records, to register with the U.S. government and apply for legal entry without prejudice.
Alas, our state legislators are considering nothing so sane. Instead, they are mulling bills that would further enshrine our dismal reality in public policy. The legislation states that any individual who has attended high school for three or more years in the state and has achieved graduation or the equivalent “shall be eligible for in-state tuition rates and fees at the University of Massachusetts, or any state or community college.” It gets worse, concluding that an individual who is not a citizen or permanent resident can provide an affidavit stating that he or she has filed an application to become one, or “shall file an application at the earliest opportunity the individual is eligible to do so.”
In short, if you find yourself residing illegally in Massachusetts, fear not. We may soon give you a tuition break unavailable to a resident of some distant, foreign land such as Connecticut or New York, and you may then enjoy the largesse of the Massachusetts taxpayer. Just promise you’ll apply for citizenship. We won’t even tell anyone you’re illegal, because that might be illegal!
Juliano, as we have seen, is a smart guy. Smart enough, obviously, to get a free high school education here. He’s probably smart enough to figure out that, with legislators like ours, he’s in little danger of deportation. Still, his decision to return to Brazil, where his college education will be free, makes economic sense for him. It’s the right thing to do, both for his future and ours.
I just hope he’s smart enough to realize that there is nothing noble about it.
Chris Sinacola can be reached at csinacola@telegram.com.
Amen! I'm tired of paying for illegals free medical and in-state tuition while US citizens don't have medical and can't get instate tuition. There's nothing noble about that. If we as a nation can't take care of our citizens, then we have no business taking care of the rest of the world. Charity begins at home.
In Massachusetts, if an American citizen goes to public school in a city that they are a nonresident of. Then the parent or guardian is billed for the entire tenure of that education.
Amen! Amen!
There should be expedited Naturalization for certain people that prove they want to be Americans. All non-citizens that serve the US in combat should be eligible. Also high academic acheivers should be put on the fasttrack to citizenship.
A family of leeches, moving from host to host.
Why not? Fat Teddy does.
And along with not glorifying illegal behavior, let's realize that the young man depicted in the story is an anomaly. Not only are most illegals not the valedictorian of their class, most do pretty poorly in school.
Here's some stats from a school south of Bakersfield in a rural area. (from http://www.khsd.k12.ca.us/arvin/reportcard/2001/new%20sarc%20word_04.htm) 94% of the students are Hispanic, 89% get free or reduced lunches, and 20% are on welfare. The average education level of the parents ends at the 10th grade, the median income is $23K, and most are in agricultural occupations. Ok, that's the background that leads me to believe that this school is probably full of either illegals or the children of illegals.
Here's how they did on the state tests. This is the percent of students that scored at a proficient or higher level on each test in 2004:
Language arts - 12%
Math - 4%
Science - 8%
History/SS - 11%
And the ESL students scored a 1%, 3%, 2%, and 1% respectively on the above tests.
Hardly as impressive as the Brazilian boy's scholastic record. And more representative of the results of billions of tax dollars at work educating illegals!
Although I'm not an advocate for illegals did his parents not pay property tax directly or indirectly thru their landlord? Property tax and local sales tax generally pay for public infrastructure.
Who paid for his High School education?
TS
To me, it doesn't matter. They're here illegally.
After all, if I rob a bank but pay the taxes on the loot, does that absolve me of the initial crime?
"There should be expedited Naturalization for certain people that prove they want to be Americans. All non-citizens that serve the US in combat should be eligible. Also high academic acheivers should be put on the fasttrack to citizenship."
Even if they come here illegally? Leave, go home and come here through the front door and I will consider it. In the case of non-citizens who join the military I will agree with you though....but NOT illegals.
First rate PUBLIC education? Is there such a thing any more?
And, once here, breeding just as rapidly.
I agree, but that's never going to happen.
ping
BTTT!!!!!!
At the moment neither scenario looks likely to happen, it's very disheartening to see the Republican majority completely wasted as it is now. It's liable to get worse if the Dim's get any form of power again.
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