Both the Oklahoma House and Senate have the choice of approving it or allowing Gov. Kevin Stitt to decide during the legislative session, which begins Feb. The administrative rule would carry the force of law, if enacted. The regulation is intended to collect citizenship information of both students and their parents, state Superintendent Ryan Walters said after the meeting.
Walters leads the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which proposed the rule, and the state board that approved it. Undocumented children still would be allowed to attend public schools, but districts would have to report to the state Education Department the number of students they enrolled whose families were unable to verify citizenship or legal residency.
The U. Supreme Court has ruled undocumented children cannot be denied a free, public education. A large crowd of students and concerned Oklahomans gathered outside the Education Department building Tuesday to protest citizenship checks in schools.
High school student Thomas Suarez criticized it directly to Walters and the board during the public comment portion of the meeting. Walters, stand here pretending to care about the students while at the same time advocate for the blatant discrimination of Latino students like me. Advocates of the immigrant community warned the rule, if approved, could deter undocumented families from enrolling their children in public schools. Walters said having an accurate count of students coming from undocumented families could give a clearer picture of the resources needed to accommodate them, including English learner programs.
Public schools currently provide English language programs to immigrant students without asking them whether they entered the country legally. The state superintendent said his agency will cooperate with federal investigators, even if that includes immigration enforcement entering schools. The rule now is in the hands of Oklahoma lawmakers along with a bundle of others the state Board of Education approved.
