The 1982 U. S. Supreme Court case of Plyler v. Doe, which made it
possible for undocumented children to enroll in Texas public schools,
was a watershed moment for immigrant rights in the United States. The
Court struck down both a state statute denying funding for education to
undocumented children and a municipal school district's attempt to
charge an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each undocumented student to
compensate for the lost state funding. Yet while this case has not
returned to the Supreme Court, it is frequently contested at the state
and local level.
In No Undocumented Child Left Behind, Michael A. Olivas tells a
fascinating history of the landmark case, examining how, 30 years later,
Plyler v. Doe continues to suffer from implementation issues and
requires additional litigation and vigilance to enforce the ruling. He
takes a comprehensive look at the legal regime it established regarding
the education of undocumented school children, moves up through its
implementation, including direct and indirect attacks on it, and closes
with the ongoing, highly charged debates over the Development, Relief,
and Education for Minors (DREAM) Act, which aims to give conditional
citizenship to undocumented college students who graduated from US high
schools and have been in the country for at least five years. Listen to
Michael Olivas on WYPF 88.1 FM, as he takes a look back 30 years to the
Supreme Court case that made it possible for undocumented children to
enroll in public schools and the highly-charged political and legal
battles that have ensued.
