The Curriculum Testing and Innovation Subcommittee\npassed Tennessee Governor Bill Lee\u2019s school voucher program by a voice vote on\nMarch 19. This program allows parents to\ntake their children out of their current public school and enroll them in a\nprivate school or another public high school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Governor Bill Lee campaign ad asked \u201cWhy\ncan\u2019t politicians stop illegal immigration?\u201d and answered, \u201cAs a businessman,\nit seems pretty clear to me. It\u2019s about incentives. Driver\u2019s licenses and free\ntuition for illegal aliens, lawless sanctuary cities. All policies that would\nmake Tennessee a magnet for illegal immigration. I will oppose every one of them\nas governor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a much-debated 1981 decision, Plyler v. Doe<\/a><\/em>, the Supreme Court held that illegal alien children are entitled to a free public education as a matter of equal protection. As a result, public schools stopped asking about students\u2019 immigration status and began treating all children exactly the same as U.S. citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite his promise to\ndry up incentives attracting illegal aliens to the United States, Governor\nLee\u2019s Education Savings Plan will inevitably provide school vouchers for\nillegal aliens.\nVouchers use taxpayer funds and the Plyler<\/em>\nholding discourages school systems from asking whether students are illegally\nin the U.S. Therefore, taxpayer monies can and will be provided for vouchers\nfor illegal aliens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some might ask, why is this a big deal? If illegal aliens are here and entitled to attend public schools, how will this change anything? Here\u2019s the problem \u2013 as FAIR noted in its 2017 study<\/a>, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers<\/em>, most illegal alien households don\u2019t pay enough taxes to cover the services they consume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And, as FAIR found in its 2016 study, The Elephant in the Classroom: Mass Immigration\u2019s Impact on Public Education,<\/em> mainly due to unchecked mass migration, nearly one in every ten students enrolled in public schools are designated as \u201cLimited English Proficiency\u201d learners, whose first language is not English. That means taxpaying U.S. citizens and lawfully present immigrants are shouldering a significant share of the costs associated with educating illegal aliens \u2013 many of whom<\/a> require expensive English as a Second Language<\/a> instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n