By Mario Castillo-Guido —
As we prepare to onboard yet another School District superintendent who we hope will finally address the dysfunction of our educational system, I would like to bring to your attention an issue that we all know exists yet generally choose not to talk about. That is the large number of children who attend our schools every day, whose parents are undocumented immigrants. The system has been failing both the parents and the students, whose achievement levels are among the lowest of any demographic group. By my calculation, a quarter to a third of the students in the Valley schools have undocumented parents.
Undocumented parents cannot vote or run for office, and for this reason they are not directly represented on the school board. If we truly want to fix our educational system, it is time that we acknowledge these people, their needs, and their contributions by giving them a voice.
Most children of undocumented parents are English language learners, and they often come from families who – despite being essential workers – live in extreme poverty. Though the education community doesn’t yet have all the solutions to these difficult issues, we need to at least get comfortable discussing them. We need to fully understand the unique challenges of undocumented parents and their children, challenges which often go unnoticed and unaddressed.
I’ve worked closely with many of the undocumented members of our community for many years. I’ve shared their joys, successes, and the challenges that result from not having a legal status. These can include the sudden deportation of a family member. Just think how that threat and reality impacts the everyday learning of students in the classroom.
No matter how you feel about it, the reality is that we have a large community of undocumented families – essential workers – living in this valley, in this county, in this state and nation. It would be better for everyone if we acknowledged and welcomed them fully. Here are a few suggestions:
– It is within the power of local government for the Sonoma Valley Unified School District to give noncitizen residents the right to vote. San Francisco has allowed noncitizen parents and guardians of children living in the city to vote in school board elections since 2016 when voters passed Proposition N. Immigrant parents who are not U.S. citizens have now voted in three SF Unified Board of Education elections.
– It is certainly within the power of the SVUSD to follow the lead of the City of Sonoma, which removed being a registered voter from the qualifications for serving on a commission. The Board could offer a seat on the Board for a Spanish-speaking parent in an advisory role, without regard for legal status.
– SVUSD should re-establish parent adult educational programs, including ESL, GED, and citizenship classes. In 2012 the Board, under Superintendent Carlomagno, shut down night school at the high school and Altimira, closing the door to many opportunities for the undocumented.
– The SVUSD Board should restore two valuable resources shut down by Superintendent Palazuelos, the district-wide Special Ed Parents Advisory Committee, and Parent University at El Verano. Undocumented parents benefitted greatly from both.
I hope Superintendent Rodriguez-Chien will be an active champion for the undocumented parents and their students of our district.
I agree, particularly about the need for Adult ESL, GED, and Citizenship instruction. Given the demographic of our school families, it was a grave mistake to discontinue these Adult School classes. I appreciate the efforts of Sonoma Immigrant Services and La Luz in this area, but the school district needs to serve its students and families.
Every SVUSD student should study and be required to pass the US citizenship test before they graduate.
This is totally on point and totally doable. I hope you hear from the new superintendent and she and the school board begin working on implementing these ideas.