Immigration and Education Reform

Historical Overview

Policies of exclusion in the public sector have become popularized as anti-immigration sentiment has mounted against both the documented and the undocumented. On the one hand, policymakers have questioned incorporating and Americanizing immigrants into the dominant culture, while on the other hand there have been efforts to stem the flow of immigration and disenfranchise those who are noncitizens and deemed unworthy of the country's privileges. Following the enactment of the 1986 IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control [Page 455]Act), many schools found themselves overwhelmed by immigrants who requested documentation for U.S. residency through the school attendance of their children. Congress also authorized $4 million in funding through the State Legislation Impact Assistance Grants (SLIAG), which provided for coursework including English as a second language (ESL), GED high school diplomas, literacy, and other programs previously funded through the Adult Education Act. These provisions initiated a rush by immigrants to meet the education requirements of legal permanent residency, and the schools scrambled to develop and meet those needs. The state of California was quickly inundated with an enrollment of 121,000 in April 1989 for ESL classes in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the hub of illegal immigrants. Although several problems and issues arose throughout the United States in the administration of these efforts, issues too numerous to be addressed here, the amnesty education program of the IRCA can be judged to be one of the most massive adult education programs in American history.

Immigration Population Statistics

In order to better understand the magnitude of the issues and the impact of immigration on social services, including education, one needs only to examine the statistics provided by the Population Resource Center in an executive summary dated 2004. The Center's 2004 report stated that the immigrant population, both legal and illegal, has grown 7.2 times faster than the native-born population. According to the 2000 Census, the total foreign-born population of 31.1 million immigrants was unparalleled in American history. In order to add a comparison to these numbers, the foreign born now make up just over 11% of the population, which is still below the 15% recorded in the early part of the 20th century; however, the Center projects that, should this trend continue, the percentage of the foreign-born population will reach an all-time high and surpass the 1890 figure of 14.8%. These numbers have created a social shock due to stresses imposed on health care as well as public school enrollment. The Center reported 8.6 million school-age children from immigrant families in the United States attending public schools in 2000.

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