\n<\/p>\n
Educators at Eastside Elementary in Chattanooga, Tenn., have spent years building trust with immigrant students and their families.<\/p>\n
That trust was tested last year when fears of immigration enforcement led some families to leave the community, and the school saw its enrollment decline, according to Greg Wilkey, the school\u2019s principal.<\/p>\n
Now, that trust could be further tested, if not derailed, Wilkey said, if Tennessee lawmakers succeed in passing legislation this year that would require schools to defy federal law and collect students\u2019 immigration status information.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we start tracking and recording and asking these questions, I just don\u2019t think the parents are going to be as open or always willing to trust us on other things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tennessee is one of three states where policymakers are currently proposing action to limit undocumented students\u2019 access to a free, public education by challenging tenets of the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, which granted these students that right. Four other state efforts launched since President Donald Trump\u2019s re-election win failed, according to an EdWeek analysis. Influential entities such as the Heritage Foundation, and Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, have supported such legislative challenges to undocumented students\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
These proposals come amid heightened immigration enforcement across the country, including near school sites. In January 2025, the Trump administration rescinded a policy memo that protected schools from immigration enforcement activity. Since then, schools nationally have reported related absences, mental health concerns, and drops in enrollment.<\/p>\n
As Tennessee educators wait to see if anything changes in state law related to undocumented students\u2019 rights, some have taken to public advocacy on their students\u2019 behalf, including the Hamilton County Principals Association, of which Wilkey is a part.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the ones doing the work, the teachers, the principals,\u201d he said. \u201cIf policymakers do all this, and we sit back and say nothing, then we\u2019re not doing our job to support and protect public education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier versions of the legislation would have allowed public schools to charge tuition or even deny enrollment to undocumented students\u2014actions that conflict with federal law under Plyler.<\/p>\n
The current version of legislation up for debate is narrower. It would require schools to collect immigration status information of all students enrolled in or seeking to enroll in public schools in the 2026-27 school year. That data would then be reported to the state in the aggregate. The current bill does not appear to specifiy what documents can be used to determine immigration status.<\/p>\n
Schools do not already collect such information from families, as doing so could discourage undocumented families from enrolling in school, potentially undermining their children\u2019s right to access a free, public education, experts say. That information is also irrelevant, they add, as under federal law, enrollment does not hinge on immigration status. <\/p>\n
It would also be a logistical nightmare for schools, educators say.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have almost 800 students, so going through asking this question about citizenship, and then the review of all that documentation as students register, I can\u2019t even imagine how many hours that would take, and we\u2019re not set up for that right now. We don\u2019t have the people to do it,\u201d said Jill Levine, vice president of the Hamilton County Schools Principals Association and principal of Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts.<\/p>\n
There are also concerns about how parents would be able to fulfill the proposed documentation requirements, whether citizens or not. Wilkey, for instance, said he doesn\u2019t have his own birth certificate on hand as a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n
Immigration advocates pushing back against Tennessee\u2019s proposed legislation have also cautioned that any school staff in charge of reviewing immigration documents would have to be trained to work as though they were immigration judges to understand the nuances of various visa and refugee programs so they could determine whether students have legal status.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not immigration officers. That\u2019s not our job,\u201d Wilkey said. \u201cWe are educators. We are here to teach children academic and social skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
State lawmakers have argued the legislation would provide transparency around the cost of educating undocumented students\u2014a rationale echoed by organizations such as the Heritage Foundation in its model legislation for states to use to challenge the Plyler decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaxpayers should know how much they\u2019re spending on education, on detention, or [on] any issue. And the fact that this data isn\u2019t collected is, frankly, irresponsible,\u201d said Lora Ries, the director of the Heritage Foundation\u2019s Border Security and Immigration Center.<\/p>\n
But school administrators like Levine say education funding is tied to enrollment\u2014not immigration status\u2014meaning the cost to educate students is largely the same regardless of a student\u2019s immigration status, and if students were to no longer enroll in schools out of fear, the schools would lose out on funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re public educators. We\u2019re built to serve every child, with no exception. It\u2019s what we believe in, but it\u2019s also the law,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As news of Tennessee\u2019s proposed legislation first emerged, the Hamilton County principals association surveyed its members about whether they wanted to speak out against these efforts, Levine said.<\/p>\n
An overwhelming majority said yes.<\/p>\n
Recently, the association met with a delegation of state lawmakers to outline their concerns with collecting immigration status and ask that legislators not vote on any school-related immigration legislation this year.<\/p>\n
One of the main concerns from educators is the potential impact on student learning from asking families about their immigration status, particularly now. Fear of immigration enforcement is already affecting students\u2019 daily lives.<\/p>\n
At Wilkey\u2019s school, students\u2019 family members have been detained during the school day, leading children to go home to a different person in charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot for children who are trying to learn, and they\u2019re also now concerned about Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, cousins,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s just a layer of stress that a child doesn\u2019t need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should other states take up efforts to limit undocumented students\u2019 access to free, public education, Wilkey hopes educators there reach out to their representatives and explain the ripple effects on schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important that principals and educators use their voice, because we have one. We have a powerful voice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Educators at Eastside Elementary in Chattanooga, Tenn., have spent years building trust with immigrant students and their families. That trust was tested last year when fears of immigration enforcement led some families to leave the community, and the school saw its enrollment decline, according to Greg Wilkey, the school\u2019s principal. Now, that trust could be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[5666,2081,15459,12114,5339,393,1889],"class_list":{"0":"post-48483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-decry","9":"tag-immigration","10":"tag-principals","11":"tag-proposal","12":"tag-status","13":"tag-student","14":"tag-track"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}