Tennessee School District To Parents: Show Us Your Papers

There’s a requirement in the Shelby County School District, in Memphis, Tennessee, that says that parents or guardians have to show a driver’s license or government issued ID in order to enroll their children. According to a report in The Commercial Appeal:

They’re also required to show two additional documents, such as a check stub, car registration, voter registration or utility bill.

But many parents can’t obtain a driver’s license or government ID for various reasons, said Mauricio Calvo, director of the (Latino Memphis) nonprofit advocacy group.

I bring this up with a slow shake of my head. We’ve already been through this, it isn’t new. Asking parents to provide proof of ID is a veiled attempt to discriminate against undocumented children and the Supreme Court has already ruled against that. In the 1982 Plyler v Doe case the Supreme Court decided once and for all that children have a right to public education regardless of their immigration status.

The same Commercial Appeal report states that, according to the Department of Education, the school district has a 5% Latino population.

The excuse that’s given for the rule is that Shelby County authorities want to to keep children from neighboring districts out of their schools. Apparently kids from across the way are sneaking into Shelby County classrooms.

The policy gives the district’s department of student services discretion on enrollment practices, but Calvo said it’s still discriminatory and lacks transparency, though not intentionally.

“Whether it was intended or not, you can’t have a policy that has the effect of discriminating on a basis of nationality or legal residency,” said attorney Bryce Ashby, a Latino Memphis board member.

The Latino Memphis folks want to change the hard and fast rule and make it an option, and they’re taking their fight directly to the school board. Another option would be to file a complaint with the US Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office.  But that complaint hasn’t been filed.

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda