NASDME Sees Positive Signs But Remaining Obstacles to Migrant Legislation

The Democratic majority in Congress has made education and minority issues a high priority, but that does not mean migrant educators will get everything on their wish list, NASDME Executive Consultant Roger Rosenthal told participants at the National Migrant Education Conference.

“We have to look at the reality of Washington, D.C.,” Rosenthal says. “We have many expectations, but we are not going to be able to do everything we were hoping to do.”

No matter which party controls Congress, “funding issues are very serious,” he says. “There is a diminishing amount of money available for discretionary funding.”

He cites expensive entitlements, such as Social Security, the War on Terrorism, and other budget items that restrict the federal budget.

“We will have a struggle getting additional money,” Rosenthal says, noting that since 2002 under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, “we have not seen an increase in Title I” funding for students facing poverty, mobility and similar barriers to education. “Indeed, for several of those years, we had a decrease.”

While there is a “glimmer of hope,” he advised migrant educators and administrators to plan on the same or possibly a little less funding.

The entire NCLB Act will be up for reauthorization in 2008, the NASDME (National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education) executive explained. But it is likely to be extended while the Higher Education Bill, including migrant HEP and CAMP programs, and the HeadStart reauthorization bills are completed.

“There is a backlog, so we are seeing and hearing that some committee work may be done but the NCLB Act will not likely face reauthorization until next year,” Rosenthal says.

The good news, he adds, is that there are “sympathetic people in key positions” who favor migrant education, and Rosenthal has frequent and positive access to many of the key players.

But what are the key issues for NASDME?

TOP MIGRANT EDUCATION ISSUES

He noted that at the 2006 National Migrant Education Conference, 1,300-1,400 people in attendance weighed in on the issues.

Some members of Congress have wanted to merge migrant education funds with other non-specific funding. Of those attending last year’s conference, 97 percent urged Congress to keep migrant funds separate.

“With 97 percent of you telling us that it should remain separate, that gives us a lot of leverage,” Rosenthal says.

Rosenthal said NASDME is also working to change the way families are qualified for migrant programs. There has been a lot of concern over the federally mandated re-interviewing process to determine if migrant families certified as eligible for special migrant programs three or four years ago really should have been.

Considerable disparity has been discovered, and while there has been some outright fraud, Rosenthal blames the system more than the recruiters.

“There are disparities that do not necessarily have to do with errors,” he says. “The Department of Education has made the process so complex that we need Albert Einstein to determine eligibility. It does not have to be that complicated.

“Our goal,” he says, “will be to clarify and simplify eligibility. We don’t want you to spend hundreds of hours determining eligibility. We want you to spend that time servicing migrant families.”

Rosenthal says the process discourages qualified families from seeking services.

“We are alienating the families we are supposed to be serving with all these questions,” he says.

One confusing issue relates to a migrant family’s “intent” when it moves. Did it move to pursue qualifying work? If they are indeed working at a qualified job in agriculture, fishing or forestry, that should be adequate, he says.

“We should not have to drill into the head of the parents to see why they moved,” Rosenthal says.

The “intent” question should only be necessary if a family wants to show that they did move to find qualifying work but could not do so. Weather and natural disasters sometimes eliminate agriculture and other seasonal jobs that families expected to secure, he says.

The NASDME executive consultant said just last April a federal contractor had requested a copy of every certificate of eligibility with accompanying documentation.

When state Migrant Education Program directors protested, the Department of Education said it was all a mistake.

PRIORITY OF FUNDING

Priority of funding is another issue NASDME is discussing with congressional members and staff. Decisions on priority of funding for migrant programs should be left more to the states, Rosenthal says.

“States should be allowed, if they choose, to include preschool, out of school youth and dropouts as a priority,” he says. “In some ways they are the most at-risk children.”

About 78 percent of last year’s conference participants said family income should not be considered in providing services to migrant families, and NASDME has proposed that change to Congress.

“The question does not need to be asked,” Rosenthal says. “That is the single question that has most alienated migrant farmworkers.”

The odds of finding a migrant farmworker who does not qualify financially is low, and children of families that exceed current limits still suffer disruption of services and might still need additional academic assistance, he notes.

NASDME is also concerned that the migrant records grant was awarded to a for-profit corporation with no experience or ties to migrant education, whereas strong records systems have already been developed by Washington state and some other states.

“We think that money should go through a non-profit, state agency or university that has a history of working with migrant farm workers to protect the needs of migrant children,” Rosenthal says.

In addition, while some minimal funding needs to be allocated to every state, migrant directors and 82 percent of those attending last year’s conference feel “the funds need to follow the children,” he says.

Of the 50 states and District of Columbia, 48 have migrant programs, Rosenthal notes. One small state cancelled its program last year because it felt the paperwork didn’t justify the small amount of funding received. But NASDME feels every state needs to be part of the network.

IMMIGRATION REFORM

At the time of the conference in April, Rosenthal was hoping Congress would pass an immigration reform bill favorable to migrant families.

He anticipated the biggest problem would be in the Senate, but it turned out that while the Senate failed to pass its compromise measure, some borderline supporters withdrew their support when they saw the House had actually become more conservative and less likely to support the compromise measure.

Rosenthal noted it has been 11 years since the last reform measure was passed. It now appears a comprehensive reform bill will not be passed this year, and Rosenthal says the likelihood of a controversial bill of this nature passing during the 2008 election year extremely unlikely.

One part of the failed compromise bill in the U.S. Senate might have some hope this year or next – and that is the part also covered in the DREAM Act, submitted every year for consideration since 2001.

The DREAM Act, originally developed by conservative Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and liberal Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), would give most undocumented graduates of U.S. high schools a chance to receive temporary legal status while attending college and then receive permanent legal status upon college graduation.

“It is a bill that would allow a student who has lived continuously in the U.S. for five years, is of good moral character, and has graduated from a U.S. high school access to federal loans to attend a university and a permanent green card upon completion,” Rosenthal explained.

In Washington State, Ricardo Sanchez, founder of the Latino/a Education Achievement Project (LEAP), has been promoting the DREAM Act (S. 774 in the Senate and HR 1275 in the House) among local school boards, statewide organizations and members of Congress.

“While attempts at comprehensive reform have failed,” says Sanchez, “we have faith that Congress won’t fail deserving students who have lived most of their lives in the U.S., have emerged as scholars from our high schools, and are ready for the rigors of college.”

Recently the boards of directors of the Sunnyside and Yakima school districts, and the Washington Association of School Administrators, have approved resolutions in support of the DREAM Act.  The Washington State School Directors’ Association and the Toppenish, Pasco and Mount Vernon school boards had previously approved resolutions or expressed support for the legislation.  Both of Washington State’s U.S. senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, also support the bill.

Meanwhile, the stymied comprehensive immigration bill is causing problems for the American economy. Undocumented residents are increasingly afraid to move freely around the country or across the border. Farmers and others requiring season workers are suffering the brunt of the labor shortage.

“The number of farm workers has gone down in many areas,” says Rosenthal. “Many are terrified to go to new places while they don’t know how the immigration laws are being enforced.”

Some crops, consequently, are not being harvested this year. That problem is not likely to be resolved until a comprehensive reform bill is passed, Rosenthal says.