The Rutherford County Schools (RCS) Board of Education passed a resolution Thursday urging state leaders to “expedite the closure of the nation’s borders” as the county’s English learner population continues to grow.¶
According to the resolution, the district has “experienced a significant surge in its English as a second language (ESL) population, with an increase of more than 140 percent in the past decade.” The resolution said that in May 2023, RCS had 6,214 ESL students, which has grown to 8,373 ESL students in the current school year. It noted that this growth has necessitated dozens of new positions for the ESL program, which has “placed a considerable financial strain on our local revenue, primarily derived from our taxpayers.”¶
The resolution also asked the federal government to provide additional funding for Title III programs to fund the services the federal government requires school systems to provide to ESL students.¶
“All this does really is just identify a problem to bring it before our state delegation and our governor to advocate on our behalf, for not just Rutherford County, but really to advocate for the entire state of Tennessee, because we need more federal dollars,” board member Frances Rosales said.¶
Board member Tammy Sharp was the only board member opposed to the resolution. She said “this should be addressed at the federal level.”¶
“We don’t have anything to do with this. This is a federal level issue,” she said. “We should not be doing this. We are on the local level and we don’t have any authority over our General Assembly, and we don’t have any authority over our federal reps. Our federal reps should be talking to our federal liaisons at the D.C. level. This is going to send a message to our children, and not a good one.”¶
The resolution passed without any more discussion.¶
The move comes just days after President Donald Trump took office for his second term. According to the American Immigration Council, Trump issued “ten executive orders and proclamations seeking to change the face of U.S. immigration law and policy” on his first day in office.¶
To read the full resolution, visit www.rcschools.net.¶
