Parent Edith Ortiz was practicing how to pronounce “lose” and “lost” with classmates at the Corona-Norco Adult School. Ortiz, a Corona resident who came from Mexico two years ago, is studying English. “It’s important to my community and my kids so I can help them with their homework,” said Ortiz, who said she’s not in the country legally. Classmate Brissa Lechuga agreed that learning the tongue is valuable. “We live in a country that speaks English, and we need to communicate,” said Lechuga, a Norco resident who said she’s a legal immigrant. Helping immigrant students – and their parents – has long been routine for Inland schools, even as the spending of public dollars on noncitizens remains a divisive political issue. About three months ago, the immigration debate intensified when protesters from across Southern California came to Murrieta and blocked buses carrying Central American migrants detained in Mexico. The flood of new immigrants who illegally crossed into Texas swamped Border Patrol officials there, leading to migrants being sent elsewhere for processing. Demonstrations in Murrieta that followed also attracted immigrant supporters and became a microcosm of the national controversy. Yet in Inland public schools and beyond, teachers treat immigrants like any other student, regardless of whether their families have permission to live in the United States. Schools often run programs like language lessons to help parents, while educators in the Coachella Valley take tutoring, a bookmobile and other services to children whose parents work the fields. In fact, school districts don’t know how many immigrant students they have, much less their citizenship status. By federal law, schools are not allowed to ask. Statistics on immigrant students are hard to come by. Schools track the number of English language learners, but many are second- or third-generation Americans, California Department of Education spokeswoman Tina Jung said. Though most of these students speak Spanish, children in California public schools know 60 languages. Instruction for them is the same regardless of language: Teachers use English, pictures, gestures and other visual clues. The state has no estimate on immigrant students, legal or not, she said. “We don’t ask questions about their citizenship or immigration status,” Riverside Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Antonio Garcia said. “We’re in the business of educating all students, not just some of them.” In the neighboring Alvord Unified School District, longtime board member Greg Kraft said it’s good that schools don’t know how many immigrants, with or without the proper paperwork, they have. “We don’t want to turn our schools into a policing unit,” Kraft said. Illegal immigration foes say uncontrolled immigration makes teachers’ jobs harder by increasing class sizes with students who don’t know English. Public education dollars should be spent on teaching citizens, they say. The Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to improve border security, estimated illegal immigration costs California taxpayers $12.3 billion for education in 2014. Riverside resident Daniel Berghamer, 65, criticized laws barring school districts from asking about immigration status. “It sounds like the illegal immigrants have more rights than anyone else,” said Berghamer, who has two grandchildren in Orange County public schools. Riverside resident Brent Austin, 72, said illegal immigrants drain school resources. “The schools are not good enough and the schools can’t handle it,” Austin said, adding that he supports legal immigration but worries about border security. “They’re illegal,” he said. “Period.” Others say immigrant children are innocent, often enduring hardship in their parents’ quest for a better life, and need an education. “As a parent and person of faith, we value life, and every person should be treated with dignity,” said Sergio Luna, a community organizer for Inland Congregations United for Change, a nonprofit ecumenical organization. Whether they came from Central America, Mexico or China, “they’re here now, and we should embrace them as our own children,” Luna said. PRICE TAG UNKNOWN California recently set aside $3.5 billion to assist schools that see an increase in unaccompanied immigrant children this school year, including any recent arrivals from Central America. That adds up to about $94 extra per student, according to state education officials. It’s part of the federal money schools get for low-income students and English learners. The federation pegged the cost to educate children of parents in the country illegally at $57 billion nationally – up $761 million from last year. The group said 90 percent of that is borne by states. The group said California has 3,831 new students this year who entered the U.S. illegally or whose parents did, costing $64 million more. Some crossed the border last spring and summer to flee violence in Central America. Some are the children of people living in the U.S. without legal permission. Inland schools have not reported a significant jump in the number of apparent immigrant children, but those in some states have. Schools have always welcomed immigrant children, the U.S. Department of Education reminded states and districts last May. It’s the law. The United States has more than 840,000 immigrant students, regardless of immigration status, and more than 4.6 million English learners, according to the department. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, requires states to educate any student living in their area. School districts can ask for rent receipts or utility bills to show local residency but can’t request any information that would discourage students from attending school if they or their parents are in the nation without permission. BEYOND ENGLISH Inland schools have long taught English as a second language for students of any background. Many schools also have what they call newcomer classes for immigrant students. “They’re not all Hispanic. Some (newcomers) are Hmong and Vietnamese,” said Martinrex Kedziora, assistant superintendent of Moreno Valley Unified School District. “They’re from all over.” Schools often refer families to community or government services if they need, for example, health care or food. They offer parenting classes and English classes for adults. Those programs are for all students and parents, regardless of immigration status, family income, national origin or background. “Our job is the success of every child who comes in our doors,” said Michael Lin, superintendent of Corona-Norco Unified School District, Riverside County’s largest district. If a family doesn’t speak English, students are tested so they can be put in the right English language program. For new students, schools request transcripts from their last school to help place them in the right classes, but those aren’t always available, whether a child is from elsewhere in the nation or another country, Kedziora said. DESERT MIGRANTS Perhaps nowhere in the Inland area is the issue more apparent than the Coachella Valley, where a federally funded Migrant Education Program runs on an annual budget of $3.5 million. The program, operated by the Riverside County Office of Education, aims to fill in the educational gaps created when children miss school as parents follow crops, director Maria Deharo said. Many migrant workers move within the state, splitting the year between the Coachella and Central valleys, she said. Some work in Oregon, Texas and Florida. “Some may be undocumented,” she said. “Some may have been residents for many years.” The program has 4,052 students and offers services such as after-school tutoring, mostly in the Coachella Valley, Desert Sands, Palo Verde and Palm Springs unified school districts. Children of migrant workers are also in Hemet, Perris and Temecula, where migrants help pick wine grapes and avocados. Most of the region’s migrants work in the Coachella Valley from early October until June, Deharo said. “While they’re here, they’ll do whatever they can to make sure their children’s education is not disrupted,” she said. Other migrant education services include a 35-yearold high school credit-recovery program and a 30-year-old college-awareness program in which high school students spend eight days on a university campus in summer. An in-home summer tutoring and reading program served 735 students last year. For the past four years, a bookmobile with a teacher on board ensures students are reading and writing and learning basic math, Deharo said. Across the county, in Corona, Adult School Director JoDee Slyter takes pride in her classes and students. “Every parent in here wants a better life for their child,” she said. CONTACT THE WRITER: 951-368-9455 or [email protected]
KURT MILLER, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Estela Murrieta claps as she reads during an English as a Second Language class at Corona-Norco Adult School.
RODRIGO PEÑA, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Maria Reynoso instructs children inside the bookmobile, which is part of the Riverside County Office of Education’s migrant education programs.
KURT MILLER, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Brissa Lechuga, left, and Edith Ortiz listen in an English as a Second Language class at Corona-Norco Adult School.
THE LAW
What: Public schools cannot ask about the immigration status of students. Why: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that denying undocumented children the public school benefits of citizens violates the Constitution. When: 1982
BY THE NUMBERS
Number of immigrant students in the U.S.: More than 840,000 English learners in the U.S. 4.6 million Source: U.S. Department of Education