The Truth on How Immigration Impacts American FreedmenEducation
By Eva-Marie Queen
In September 2022, Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C. once again asked
Congress to allow her to have the National Guard be deployed into the Federal City to
assist with the relentless onslaught of illegal immigrants sent on buses by Texas
Governor Greg Abbott to populate sanctuary cities. Because the District is a sanctuary
city that agrees to not cooperate with the federal government executive branch
Homeland Security I.C.E, Governor Abbott wants these sanctuary cities to experience
the drain on resources and expenses that border states have due to the daily influx of
illegal aliens.
Washington, D.C. and its neighboring counties of Montgomery and Prince
George’s in Maryland and Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax in Virginia, are all sanctuary
counties that refuse to comply with federal laws regarding immigration. (https://cis.org/node/8727)
Instead, these jurisdictions not only welcome illegal immigrants, but also provide
housing, employment training, English classes, and free public education.
The Supreme Court Case of Plyler v. Doe on June 15, 1982 ruled “ A state cannot
prevent children of undocumented immigrants from attending public school unless a
substantial state interest is involved”. In this 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that
states cannot deny a free education based on the immigration status of the children.
Although the Plyler v. Doe decision was 40 years ago, in 2022, the nation has altered and
morphed dramatically since this decision in terms of education.
In this article, we will address the effects on the education for American
Freedmen children when their schools are inundated with children who are non-citizens
and many times don’t speak English and learn it as a second language to examine the
state of public schools in 1982 demographics compared to the demographics of today.
Because Washington, D.C. is an anomaly that is subsidized by the federal
government, Prince George’s County, the wealthiest Freedmen-populated county in the
United States, offers more similarities to most sanctuary cities. County Executive,
Angela Alsobrooks presides over a nearly 1 million resident county with 62.01% Black/
African American compared to the 17.42% white residents as of 2022.
(https://www.pgchealthzone.org/demographicdata?id=1260§ionId=940 )
One must also keep in mind that racial balances do not convey the true demographic as
all “Black” people are not American Freedmen (those who descend from those
emancipated from chattel slavery in the United States).* In addition, “white” is a racial
identifier - not an ethnic identifier. For example, in the 1923 Supreme Court case U.S v.
Bhagalpur Singh Thind where East Indians were considered “white”, but were not
allowed to be citizens until 1946 by Congress.
Furthermore, most Latinos classify themselves ‘racially’ as white knowing the
socio-political advantages of ‘whiteness’ in this country and throughout the world
according to this 2021 study in Pew Research.
(https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2021/11/04/measuring-the-racial-identity-of-latinos/ )
The “People of Color” moniker is another social construct created to confound the American Freedmen
into thinking of
everyone with melanin as allies with the similar goals.
In Prince George’s County, Maryland in 1982, according to the Washington Post,
the Black population was 52% while the number of Black teachers was 1 in 4. Close to
45% of the students were white, non-Hispanic. The NAACP filed a lawsuit to force Prince
George’s County to hire more Black teachers to educate its burgeoning enrollment of
Black students.
((https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1982/05/03/prince-georges-school-desegregation-trial-begins-today/ca0d37a2-ddad-4121-b3a7-ffa
2abb939f0/ )
Today, forty years after the landmark Supreme Court decision of Plyler v. Doe, the
same Prince George’s County, Maryland schools have 55.32% Black or African American
student population, while 36.46% are Hispanic and a mere 3.67% are White/
non-Hispanic. A little over 20 percent are English Language Learners (ELL) while 66.46%
receive Free and Reduced Meals according to PGCPS.org. (https://Pgcps.org/about-pgcps/facts-and-figures )
Based on the percentages, Black enrollment in public schools increased by a mere
3.32% in the past 40 years, while Latino enrollment increased dramatically. as white
non-Hispanics enrollment plummeted. The major difference between now and forty
years ago is a growing white Latino population.
The true findings are in the details of the FY2023 $2.66 billion budget for Prince
George’s Co. Public Schools (PGCPS). Next year’s budget will have an increase of
$286.3 million or 12.2% over FY2022. Over thirty thousand students were English
Language Learners with an average allocation of $2368.50 per student based on their
English proficiency level. It costs around $72,300,831 to educate ELL students in Prince
George’s County in FY 2022. (www.Pgcps.org UNDER .pdf fy-2022-approved-operating-budget )
Education is about politics and control of resources; which programs, books,
teachers, staffing and monies are being implemented for which group. Currently,
American Freedmen children receive fewer benefits in public schools today than they
did forty years ago. Although the demographics have shifted over time, still, the primary
ethnic group enrolled in PGCPS descend from those whose ancestors built the nation -
Freedmen. But why, with the limited resources we possess each year, continue to
channel the most funding to the non-primary ethnic groups, according to the statistics?
In addition, the fact that ELL students are learning English as a second language
further denotes that the students may not be citizens of the United States or perhaps
even illegally here. At what point are American Freedmen parents going to take a stand
to demand specific resources and programs for their children? Freedmen kids will one
day compete with the ELL students who greatly benefit over American citizens by being
bilingual, for example, amongst other skill sets which, in turn, are paid for by American
citizen tax dollars?
The misnomer is that the education system and politics is all about “making
nice”. In reality, it is about getting and controlling the resources that contribute to
Freedmen children’s future opportunities. Parents and guardians need to pull the
budgets for their children’s respective schools and school systems from their
corresponding cities and counties. Each line item will indicate not only the cost of each
program, but also the most costly line item denotes the school board and education
CEO’s priorities.
Parents should also attend the local Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA)
and school board meetings to discuss budget findings with other parents and the
school board. Advocate for programs and policies that not only facilitate your child’s
learning and skill sets, but also help keep them competitive in the near future. For
example, there are various immersion programs that will assist your child in learning
marketable languages such as Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish.
As Freedmen, with school curriculums, administrations and even budgets often
against us, parents must take an active role in securing our children’s future. Start your
family on a path to learning new and honing existing skills, so that you and your child
will be more prepared to compete for the resources of their future.
