Bill requiring student citizenship verification passes key Senate committee vote

Senate committee room (Photo by Sky Arnold)

A bill to allow local school districts to charge undocumented immigrants tuition or remove them from school passed a key hurdle and now heads to the full Senate.

Senator Bo Watson, R-Hixson, presented the measure to the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee on Tuesday. It would require public school districts to collect documentation during enrollment proving students are U.S. citizens, in the process of obtaining citizenship, or hold a legal immigration status or visa. If students cannot provide that documentation, districts would have the option to charge them tuition and remove any students who do not pay.

Senator Bo Watson (Photo by the Tennessee General Assembly)

Watson told committee members his bill is meant to help gather information and ease what he calls a financial burden placed on local districts with English language learner (ELL) programs, pointing to a steady rise in the costs of those programs over the past eight years. Senator Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, questioned why ELL was being singled out and was quick to point out that most ELL students in his district are citizens or have legal status.

“Having schools with significant ELL programs, something like 80 percent of students in ELL are documented or citizens,” said Yarbro. “Also, there are people who are undocumented who aren’t in ELL. I don’t think the math tracks at all.”

“Since systems don’t collect any information regarding the actual number of documented or undocumented students, the only data I do have is the amount of resources being spent on English language learners,” replied Watson. “That’s why I have to use ELL and a continuing progressive investment in ELL as at least a correlation.”

Yarbro also wondered about the financial impact on districts to vet documentation from students. He says even though most Tennessee school districts already request birth certificates and other documents upon registration, most of the time they are used simply to determine grade level placement of students. He says the process of verifying them is much more intensive.

“We’re going to be creating an administrative regime that’s going to be really complicated to run and really expensive to run,” said Yarbro. “Schools might look at these birth certificates but they’re not doing citizenship analysis, they’re not trained to do that. We’re going to have to have people who can answer that at all 1,800 public schools across the state.”

Watson told committee members he believes the cost to local school districts to verify citizenship status would be insignificant.

But, Yarbro said potential costs to local districts were just one factor to consider, saying that the economic ramifications of having a group of people who are uneducated and unprepared for the workforce or society could be dire.

“What’s the long term cost of having a group of people who are, at the state’s direction, illiterate? That tends to lead to lots of bad outcomes that inevitably cost cities and states money,” insisted Yarbro.

Memphis Senator London Lamar refuted Watson’s assertion that the measure would not place an additional financial burden on local districts, telling committee members that Metro Nashville Public Schools officials have told her it would cost an additional $4 million dollars to verify student citizenship. She also worried about the impact it might have on Tennessee families who are citizens but don’t have copies of birth certificates and cannot afford to get them. She pointed out that the cost of an official Tennessee birth certificate copy is $15 dollars, an expense some local families simply can’t afford. Lamar wanted to know the possible ramifications if a student could not produce a birth certificate, even if they are an American citizen.

“If a teacher or school administrator across the state suspects someone is undocumented because of the way they look, their race, or if they cannot provide their birth certificate, you could potentially subject children to being roped up by ICE officials,” said Lamar.

Lamar and Yarbro also wanted to know how the bill might affect state funding for local districts if students were removed and enrollment numbers decreased. Watson pointed to the newly passed Education Freedom Act, which stipulates that districts are not penalized for any loss of enrollment.

“If there is a loss of enrollment for any reason, there is the base, the floor funding that would continue to exist in that district,” explained Watson. “If the students were to disenroll or not enroll, it would not have a negative impact.”

Yarbro then pointed out that also means there would be no per-pupil savings for the state if undocumented children were removed from school. Watson replied there would still be financial benefit for local students.

“The per pupil funding to the students that are documented is increased, which is what people have been screaming for across the state,” he said.

Ultimately, the measure passed in a 7-4 vote, with Republicans Ferrell Haile of Gallatin and Page Walley of Savannah joining Democrats Lamar and Yarbo in voting no.

 A companion bill advanced from the House Education Committee last week.