Hearing Recap: K-12 Migrants Edition

Today’s Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee hearing, led by Chairman Aaron Bean (R-FL), covered the consequences of Biden’s border chaos on K-12 education.

The flood of illegal migrants across the Southern Border is a lose-lose-lose situation—for the school districts stretched thin, for the taxpayers footing the bill, and for the young migrants themselves.

Chairman Bean opened the hearing by highlighting the financial strain placed on the education system by the influx of migrants. “The financial impact is staggering,” he said. “Educating illegal immigrant children requires substantial resources, altering the learning environment for all students. Overcrowded classrooms, the need for new facilities, and strained student-to-teacher ratios are just some of the challenges.”

Expert witnesses for the day included Mrs. Danyela Souza Egorov, Vice President of New York City’s Community Education Council 2; Ms. Sheena Rodriguez, President of the Alliance for a Safe Texas; and Ms. Mari Barke, Trustee of the Orange County Board of Education.

Of the many disastrous consequences of the open border on K-12 education, Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) emphasized the staggering reallocation of school resources to illegal migrants. To Ms. Barke, she asked, “Are you doubling, tripling [the number of translators in your district]?”

“At least doubling and tripling,” Ms. Barke replied. She later added, “When you have to accommodate for so many different languages, it is absolutely slowing [learning] down for all of our children. And the most vulnerable, our special needs children that need programs, they are really losing.”

Then, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) zoomed out to get a better picture of the huge financial costs of adding migrants to already-strained school systems. She asked, “New York City now spends approximately $4 billion in the city as a whole because of illegal immigration and asylum seekers. Can you put in context what a massive number that is?”

“This represents approximately now 5 percent of the budget of New York City. In terms of schools, NYC is now spending $39,000 per student,” responded Mrs. Egorov. For reference, the average public school in the US spends around $19,000 per student.

American schoolchildren and taxpayers are not the only ones impacted by mass illegal immigration. It also comes at a serious cost to the young migrants. “How have these children been used as tools or pawns to facilitate the illegal invasion of adults?” asked Rep. Bob Good (R-VA).

“They’re used as a meal ticket to come to the United States and to get and be eligible for additional resources that they otherwise would not be eligible for if they didn’t have a minor living in the household,” replied Ms. Rodriguez.

“There’s no humane or compassionate component to these policies are there?” asked Rep. Good.

“Absolutely not,” responded Ms. Rodriguez.

Whereas some may see the influx of unaccompanied minors into the United States as a policy failure, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) condemned the inhumanity in even harsher terms. He expressed his disgust with the political class perpetuating the chaos by concluding, “This is not an accident. We see an attack on our educational system. It has been on purpose.”

Finally, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (R-VA) prepared a gotcha question for the Republican-invited witnesses, only for it to backfire. In typical Democrat fashion, he viewed the problem through the narrow prism of funding, and asked if each witness supports increases in Title I and Title III funding.

“NYC spends $39,000 per child. We don’t need more resources … We are number one in funding but middle of the pack in learning outcomes for children,” responded Mrs. Egorov.

“I’m never going to advocate for more spending when it’s not going to solve the problem itself,” replied Ms. Rodriguez.

“I don’t believe it’s additional funding. We have good funding in Orange County as well,” added Ms. Barke.

Their answers resonated as a stunning rebuke of the very premise of the Ranking Member’s question. It’s not a funding problem. The problems in education almost never are.

Instead, it’s a problem of throwing good money after bad. If we don’t fix the magnets that encourage illegal immigration, and if the Biden administration continues to fail to secure the border, children will continue to be exploited and taxpayer dollars will continue to be abused.

Bottom Line: Republicans are fighting on behalf of schools, taxpayers, and unaccompanied young migrants against the chaos of Biden’s wide-open border.

This email was sent to michele@actionpde.org
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