In the shadow of the omnicause
When immigration raids keep kids out of school, what does it mean for ed groups to "stay in their lane"?
All across the country, kids are staying home because of immigration enforcement raids. In California’s Central Valley, raids coincided with a 22% increase in daily student absences. Minnesota saw widespread reports of students missing school in the aftermath of the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. One study looking at administrative records in Florida even found that immigration enforcement has “reduced test scores for both U.S.-born and foreign-born Spanish-speaking students.”
Over at Schooled, ed reformer Michael Petrilli wrestled with the shadow of the omnicause:
“Haven’t we learned anything, I hear someone saying, about the danger of ‘getting out of our lane’ and engaging in political debates not clearly connected to our work? Don’t we remember what happened when some reform groups decided to go all-in on DEI? What plays out when universities decide to opine on the issue du jour?”
Then, he places this admonition in sharp contrast with an email from an ed reformer working with charter schools and private schools in Minneapolis:
I cannot fully describe how terrified many of the families and staff of color are at all of these schools. The vast majority are U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or legally entered the country through the asylum process, but the many credible reports and rampant rumors of federal agents detaining immigrants or people of color irrespective of (or without even requesting) identification has essentially trapped them in their homes.
I’ve heard multiple first-hand accounts from school leaders of their schools being frequently surveilled by federal agents, and of parents who have been taken as they arrive to pick up their children, staff taken in school parking lots, and students taken at bus stops. As a result, attendance rates have dropped dramatically (to as low as 35 percent) and all of these schools must now try to provide “remote learning” to many students and protect their staff who are unable to come to work.
