SPLC sues Florida county for sending immigrant minors to ESL classes instead of high school
The Southern Poverty Law Center has sued a southeastern Florida county, alleging it is violating immigrant minors’ rights by shunting them into adult English courses when they try to register for high school, the Naples Daily News reported.
In Fort Myers federal court, the SPLC accused Collier County, Florida, of sending immigrant teens who try to register at Immokalee High School to an English-language class at Immokalee Technical College. This violates the Fourteenth Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, the Florida Educational Equity Act and the equal Educational Opportunities Act, according to an SPLC press release.
The SPLC says that in 2013, around the time the “surge” of unaccompanied Central American minor immigrants began, the Collier County school district decided to lower the maximum age at which a student may register if he or she is not on track to graduate within two years. Using that rule, school employees allegedly turned down all English-language learners 16 or older, saying they were too far behind in school.
The students who were turned away were sent to a class for adults in English as a second language. According to the SPLC, the class does not give them a chance to complete a high school degree; teach them subjects other than English; permit them to meet English-speaking kids their age; or give them a chance to participate in school activities. The center noted that the Florida Constitution requires a “quality education” for all students.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys believe as many as 300 students may have been turned away since August of 2013. The three lead plaintiffs, identified by their initials because they are minors, were 15 or 16 when they were denied enrollment.
The Collier County school district declined to comment because the litigation is pending.
