Colorado spends $7 million educating migrants but can’t ask about legal status

Article subtitle: 
A review of four years of migrant program checkbooks from Colorado shows substantial spending on food, conferences and catering.
Article CAIRCO note: 
School district financials (Checkbooks and Charge Cards) will show districts expenditures under their Migrant Student Department.
Article author: 
Arthur Kane
Article publisher: 
Colorado Watchdog dot Org
Article date: 
16 April 2016
Article category: 
Colorado News
Medium
Article Body: 

Colorado spends about $7 million a year tracking and supporting the education of the children of migrant workers, but federal law prohibits the state from determining whether the families who receive the services are in the country legally.

And while the tax money is federal dollars, some of the state’s spending raises eyebrows, including nearly $20,000 Colorado spent for parents of migrant children to attend a conference at a Breckenridge resort.

“I’m concerned about any tax dollars no matter where it comes from,” said state Rep. Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican who sits on House Education Committee ...

Before Watchdog.org contacted Lundeen for this story, he had posed questions to the Education Department to determine how much money was spent on the program and whether the tax funds were used for undocumented workers’ families ...

A review of four years of migrant program checkbooks from Colorado shows substantial spending on food, conferences and catering. Watchdog’s analysis of 2015-16 and 2014-15 fiscal years data shows $44,117.54 went to Marriott resorts, $19,779.79 to Beaver Run in Breckenridge, $7,457.93 for the Vail Corp.

In the two fiscal years ending 2013-14, the data shows the department paid $194,000 for official functions, usually catered events and conferences. There was also more than $60,000 in in-state and out-of-state travel ...


CAIRCO Research

Education degradation and school overcrowding - consequences of mass immigration

Colorado Dept of Education  Migrant Education Program-Vision: To provide equitable resources and outcomes to ensure that all migrant children/youth are postsecondary and workforce ready...

Colorado Migrant Regional Contacts -The Colorado Migrant Education Program coordinates and delivers services through five regional offices.


How to contact Colorado state legislators in your district / city / county
How to contact your US Senators and Representatives from Colorado

Representative Paul Lundeen
Capitol Phone: 303-866-2924
Email: paul.lundeen@state.co.us


SNIPS from PLYLER v. DOE, (1982)
United States Supreme Court

... While the State [Texas] might have an interest in mitigating potentially harsh economic effects from an influx of illegal immigrants, the Texas statute does not offer an effective method of dealing with the problem. Even assuming that the net impact of illegal aliens on the economy is negative, charging tuition to undocumented children constitutes an ineffectual attempt to stem the tide of illegal immigration, at least when compared with the alternative of prohibiting employment of illegal aliens...
[...] At the least, those who elect to enter our territory by stealth and in violation of our law should be prepared to bear the consequences, including, but not limited to, deportation...
[...] Public education is not a "right" granted to individuals by the Constitution ...