Dream Act

As many of you know, D and I are teachers in a school district that has seen extensive growth in the last ten years.  Much of this growth is due to the town's economy being linked to a packing plant.  This packing plant employs hundreds of workers, many of whom are immigrants from other countries.  This means that the classrooms we teach in are full of kids from a variety of backgrounds.  I've taught a student whose parents were a part of the original Vietnemese boat people who fled Vietnam after the War.  I've taught the children of white doctors, white farmers, and white factory workers.  I've taught kids who have literally told me how they walked across the desert to come to America.  I've taught kids who came to the US straight out of a Bosnian refugee camp.  I've taught kids who came to school not speaking a  word of English.  I've taught students who came to school with better English vocabularies than a lot of adults.  I've taught kids from Cambodia, El Savador, Mexico, and Guatamala.  And I love that part of where we work.  Maybe because it speaks volumes to me about how American is the land of opportunity and how our free public school system can be a great equalizer.

My husband also has a unique position as the boys varsity head soccer coach.  His team is the most diverse team in the school.  His team is often one of the most diverse in the state.  He does not just coach soccer; he coaches life.  Other coaches do too but it seems like he is always dealing with some unique situation that challenge him to love his kids in unique ways.  It's about ending a culture of mediocracy where if you're from a certain ethnic group, you shouldn't be getting good grades.  It's about getting kids to believe they can go to college and get a degree.  It's about getting kid to realize that there is more to life than themselves and making money.  And some days, it feels like a long uphill battle where he is pushing a 500 pound weight that keeps sliding backwards.

And now the political message...to the suprise of probably a lot of people, I am actually a registered Independent.  I am not a fan of the two party system and find myself wishing for a party that actually embraced common sense.  I am morally conservative and believe that a nation must have some standards of what is moral.  And I am a big fan of personal responsibility and dependence on community rather than government intervention.  But I also believe that in some ways, we need to be a country that reflects situational compassion and not just a rigid adherence to laws or a "too bad, so sad" mentality.  (If that makes any sense?)

Currently before Congress is a bill called the Dream Act.  (Actually I think the House passed their verson of the bill yesterday so it might just be before the Senate now.)  It is one way to aid kids who are making positive choices despite their immigration status not being legal.  I know people hear it and think it rewards people for illegal behavior or that it takes away money from American citizens.  If you're somebody who believes that, I would encourage you to look a bit deeper.  The rationale behind the bill is that there are many kids who did not have a choice to enter this country illegally and who are working hard to be productive members of our country.  The actual number of people whom it might affect is unknown but the actual number of people who would realistically be able to take advantage of it is comparatively small.  (I say that after personally working with many kids who are facing many struggles, who realistically are just not going to go to a 4 year college.)  The current situation is actually cyclic. Someone who came illegally as a child (without a path to citizenship that makes sense) may very well end up using false documents to gain employment.  They are probably not going to return to whatever country they came from.  Illegal parents/undocumented workers=illegal children/undocumented workers.

I'm not out to start an immigration debate only to encourage people to consider how this legislation might make a difference for some kids who really didn't have much choice in breaking the law and how it might impact some kids who really are facing a lot of issues in gaining a college education.  It's hard for me to think about some of the kids our family has invested in and not think of how this law might be the hand up that would help them be not just the first person in their family to graduate from high school but the first person in their family who has graduated from college.

Read what the the proposed law would do for kids.  Read the actual bill.  Do some research that involves more than a coffeeshop or family dinner table.  And if your heart comes to believe that it is beneficial for the legislation to pass, use this form to quickly email your elected representatives.