The Push to Keep Undocumented Students Out Of School: Will It Succeed?

The Supreme Court's landmark 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision established that every child in America has the right to a public education, regardless of immigration status. For 43 years, that ruling has kept schoolhouse doors open to undocumented children. Now it's under serious attack.   In this episode of Education on the Line, Louis Freedberg talks with two guests on the front lines of protecting Plyler at a national and state level. Tom Saenz is president and general counsel of MALDEF, which argued the original Plyler case before the Supreme Court. Lisa Sherman Luna is executive director TIRRC Votes, the political arm of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.  The Tennessee General Assembly, controlled by a Republican supermajority, is attempting to pass legislation designed to keep documented children out of school. It is one of a half dozen states trying to do the same thing. The Heritage Foundation, author of the controversial Project 2025, recently launched a campaign to encourage states to challenge Plyler. Saenz believes that despite these efforts, the Plyler decision is secure. Sherman Luna says that organizing along the lines of the so-far successful Education for All Tennessee campaign will be needed. Sign up here so we can keep you posted on future podcasts on how education leaders are responding to the mounting threats against public schools In the United States.