Posted on 03/16/2011 7:39:11 AM PDT by Puppage
It's a dream for hundreds of Connecticut high school students, but it's out of reach because they are illegal.
Proponents say there's no cost to the state, and kids should not pay for mistakes made by their parents. Opponents say it's full of potential problems.
Lorella Praeli of New Milford is so smart she's been going to Quinnipiac University on grants and scholarships. She now wants to further her education at a state school, but has found a road block because she's illegal.
Her mother brought her here for medical treatment years ago, and stayed when the tourist visa expired. Lorella excelled in high school.
Tuesday, she was joined by dozens of other high-achieving students from around the state who are all here illegally, because they want the break on college tuition that Connecticut residents get at state schools.
Tuition at Southern, for example, for Connecticut residents, is about $8,000 dollars a year. Out of state residents pay about $18,000.
The students at the State Capitol Tuesday came in support of a plan to let them, even though they are undocumented, pay the lower amount.
"My name is Lorrella Praeli, I am undocumented, American, unafraid and unapologetic," she said.
"We would potentially be giving rebates to an individual to get an education who can not be employed in the State of Connecticut under current federal law," Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) said.
Lorrella, and everyone else who came Tuesday, hope to someday find a path to U.S.citizenship, and want to have a college degree to get a good job.
"Under federal law, there is exposure that we would be required to give every out of state student, in-state tuition rates," said Candelora.
Advocates say similar bills in other states have survived that kind of court challenge, and Governor Malloy has pledged to sign this bill that was vetoed by his predecessor.
"There is a simple argument of equity and justice surrounding this bill, and that's why we should pass it this year, and make it law," said Sen. Martin Looney (D-New Haven).
Undocumented students would only qualify for the in-state tuition rate if they graduated from a Connecticut high school, and had attended Connecticut schools for at least four years.
Ping!
Maybe they provide free lunches too
You should be smart enough to know that's no way to start a conversation, Lorrella.
I'd say that it is safe to assume you've got illegals in public schools in Missouri as well.
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Excellent potlatch
Who long ago brought in domestics and hid them under the guise of local churches and synagogues?
The NYC commuters in the la-la surburban towns of New Canaan and Greenwich
- And Zoe Baird who was the chief attorney for Aetna Insurance - who got caught with illegals as housekeepers, chaffeurs, and gardeners and was then bounced from becoming Clinton’s first choice as Attorney General
In 1997 Clinton selected Eric Holder to be Deputy Attorney General.....
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I love it! Thank you!
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