This article "From in-crowd to out" by Maria Sacchetti is similar to the one by Eddie Ramirez. It talks about how the doors close for illegal immigrants when it comes to college. After graduation from high school, there is the big question that rises for illegal immigrants. What comes next? Those against illegals in college say that "students should not take spaces away from US citizens or legal residents. " They say, "resident tuition is a privilege that should be for US citizens or legal residents only." What some people may not know is that for these students graduation day is "like a funeral" according to a Stephania, a girl interviewed. There is nothing left to do. All their friends are gone and are now alone. There were so many opportunities for these students but because of their legal status they can never obtain them. Like I said in the other posts, that is why colleges need to change how they do things and open the doors for those students who want to continue to grow and learn. They become so much more. They didn't come here, their parents did but yet they still made the best of it by going and doing well in school. They should have all the reason to go to a college.
"From in-crowd to out: Illegal Immigrants often find the road to college blocked." Maria Sacchetti. The Boston Globe May 17, 2009.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
News Article: Should Congress Enroll Illegal Immigrants?
As mentioned in other posts, the DREAM Act (which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) “ would enable undocumented students who have attended U.S. schools and met other conditions to gain legal status and qualify for some student aid according to Eddie Ramirez in his article “Should Congress Enroll Illegal Immigrants?” So now what happens when these students have finished their high school education? Well, instead of accepting students into their schools, states like South Carolina ban illegal immigrants from attending their colleges and universities. Along with South Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma deny illegal immigrants in-state tuition benefits. “Supporters of these policies say that scarce education dollars should be spent on making college more affordable for U.S. citizens, not illegal immigrants… we need to worry about American students” is what was said by William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee. In North Carolina where the number of undocumented students is growing fast was considering to follow in the other states footsteps. They were concerned that “admitting unlawful residents conflicted with federal law.” California is facing a law suit because they are “favoring illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens” when it comes to paying tuition. U.S. citizens area paying higher fees than the illegal immigrants who pay for in-state tuition.
I feel that many successful students get punished for the parents’ actions for coming into the U.S. illegally. Once they have been educated and received a legal status, illegal immigrants would no longer be illegal and “pay taxes and make greater contributions as professionals and citizens.” Hopefully the DREAM Act gets approved by Congress but as of right now, it has not had enough support so the states have taken the issue into their own hands.
"Should Congress Enroll Illegal Immigrants? A new front line in the immigration debate:access to higher education" Eddy Ramirez US News August 7 2008
I feel that many successful students get punished for the parents’ actions for coming into the U.S. illegally. Once they have been educated and received a legal status, illegal immigrants would no longer be illegal and “pay taxes and make greater contributions as professionals and citizens.” Hopefully the DREAM Act gets approved by Congress but as of right now, it has not had enough support so the states have taken the issue into their own hands.
Subsidizing College Tuition for Illegal Immigrants is Unfair
The article “Subsidizing College Tuition for Illegal Immigrants is Unfair” explains the reasons why illegal immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to go to college. Focusing their attention in California, the article says that illegal immigrants would get charged less to attend a California public university than any other U.S. citizen who wants to come from another state. Citizens who attend UC for example pay around 4,000 dollars in tuition while out-of-state students pay about three times that for the same education. The article says “becoming illegal he or she can get a huge annual tuition cut of about 11,000 dollars.” Why do illegal immigrants get to pay less when paying less should be a privilege an American citizen should have is the question that gets asked. The article makes a point when it says, “[working families] have taken out a sizable loan to finance their children’s college education and many of whom will never be able to afford to send their children to college- how can we ask them to subsidize the education of those who should not be in our country at all?”
The article makes very good points but I think of it this way. Why do we provide ramps for those who are handicapped? We know that they cannot go up the steps easily so going on the ramp provides an easier and more helpful way of going up the stairs. It’s the same for illegal immigrants. They cannot make it to the top without help. We know their families make less money than an American who works here so they need this to afford a college education. This subsiding tuition costs acts like a ramp. It’s a help to get to the top. By not doing this, we should make all handicapped people walk up the stairs like every other person.
The article makes very good points but I think of it this way. Why do we provide ramps for those who are handicapped? We know that they cannot go up the steps easily so going on the ramp provides an easier and more helpful way of going up the stairs. It’s the same for illegal immigrants. They cannot make it to the top without help. We know their families make less money than an American who works here so they need this to afford a college education. This subsiding tuition costs acts like a ramp. It’s a help to get to the top. By not doing this, we should make all handicapped people walk up the stairs like every other person.
Subsidizing College Tuition for Illegal Immigrants is Just
Every year 50,000 to 65,000 illegal immigrants grow up in this country, attend a school here and graduate from high school. These students are the ones whose parents came to the United States illegally and brought them at a very young age. Regardless of their immigration status, these students are allowed into the public school system to get their basic education. But what happens after high school is what creates problems. Because these students are illegal, they cannot provide a social security number and cannot qualify for financial aid which means it makes it very hard to afford and attend a college. Federal laws governing financial aid exclude undocumented students. So many illegal immigrants do not go to college. To change this situation, the DREAM Act was introduced. The DREAM Act “would permit undocumented students who graduate from high school to apply for legal residency and allow these students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in their home state” according to the article Subsidizing College Tuition for Illegal Immigrants Is Just. If the DREAM Act is passed, illegal immigrant students can pay in-state tuition and go to college and apply for legal residency which means they can work legally in the United States. This can even help better the economy because then, they would be paying taxes etc. After working so hard in high school, these students can continue their studies and education in college if this act is passed. It is a great reward for the students “whom have over come the odds of growing up in tough neighborhoods and impoverished immigrant families to remain in school and succeed. These young people deserve to be rewarded for doing the right thing,” says the article. These students who are illegal didn’t choose to be illegal; it was their parents. So they shouldn’t have to pay for their parents actions. If they want to continue studying, they should be able to in my opinion.
If I worked hard throughout my high school years, I would want to go to college. Sleepless nights writing those papers, doing that math homework, studying for a test etc has to be worth something. If I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go to college like an illegal immigrant, then I’d say, “what is the point?” I think maybe that’s why the drop-out rate for Hispanics is so high. They don’t have a goal so they think what’s the point? This could all be changed. The dropout rate could reduce and those sleepless nights writing those papers could all lead up to something. Going to college... if the DREAM Act passes. If not, these students are hopeless. All that’s left is working, and then the pattern continues for generations. Because they don’t have an education and a legal status, their children won’t then either. The DREAM Act could better the Hispanics outlook. It can stop this by providing the illegal immigrants with a college education, getting them a good job plus a legal status which then they can later apply for citizenship. I believe everyone deserves an education beyond high school no matter what legal status a person may have. Everyone wants the same thing: success.
If I worked hard throughout my high school years, I would want to go to college. Sleepless nights writing those papers, doing that math homework, studying for a test etc has to be worth something. If I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go to college like an illegal immigrant, then I’d say, “what is the point?” I think maybe that’s why the drop-out rate for Hispanics is so high. They don’t have a goal so they think what’s the point? This could all be changed. The dropout rate could reduce and those sleepless nights writing those papers could all lead up to something. Going to college... if the DREAM Act passes. If not, these students are hopeless. All that’s left is working, and then the pattern continues for generations. Because they don’t have an education and a legal status, their children won’t then either. The DREAM Act could better the Hispanics outlook. It can stop this by providing the illegal immigrants with a college education, getting them a good job plus a legal status which then they can later apply for citizenship. I believe everyone deserves an education beyond high school no matter what legal status a person may have. Everyone wants the same thing: success.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Richard Rodriguez "Aria"
Richard Rodriguez short story Aria is about his experience as a child growing up in a "gringo" neighborhood. He writes about the challenges he faced while going to school and living in a community were he didn't belong. Richard rarely heard English being spoken to him; for Spanish was what was only spoken at home. The only English he heard was the English spoken without ease by his parents. Richard writes, "it was unsettling to hear my parents struggle with English. hearing them, I'd grow nervous, my clutching trust in their protection and power weakened." That is why at home, he was happy. He'd feel relieved and excited to hear the "sounds of Spanish." It was when Richard starting going to school that he felt nervous. When the Bilingual Education Act passed, teachers needed to use Spanish in the classroom for those students who didn't know English all the well, like Richard. But Richard's teachers take on that responsibility. When asked a question, Richard would mumble which then led the teachers telling his parents that he needed to speak English at home and not only Spanish. So, Richard and his family would practice their English together. He became a more confident English speaker who was willing to participate in class now. Now, Ricard feels that he has become part of society. No longer does he feel separated from society for not knowing the "public language." He belongs now. "gone was the desperate, urgent, intense feeling of being at home; rare was the experience of feeling myself individualized by family intimates. We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness."
The problem that bilingual education brings is the fact "that children lose a degree of "individuality" by becoming assimilated into public society." Now, Richard has begun to lose confidence in speaking Spanish and starts "forgetting his native society." Because Richard and his siblings are now more advanced then their parents, at home its very quiet. They no longer talked to each other in Spanish and had that family tie that bonded them all together. The good thing with bilingual education is that now Richard (who can represent others) now knows English. By learning the English language, people like Richard are given more opportunities, they become part and are accepted by society, and have friends.
So is bilingual education a good thing or a bad thing for someone that isn't English proficient? Richard's story shows the good and the bad. Is forgetting your native language worth being accepted by the public? In my opinion, it shouldn't be like that. It's up to the person to decide what they want to do with this great advantage. I grew up similar to Richard; Spanish was mainly what was spoken in the house and English well, only at school. But as I grew older and understood more, I starting mixing up by words. In one sentence I'd be using English then insert a Spanish word. So because of this, I started to practice more by English. But then, my Spanish would get weak. Unlike Richard though, I embraced both languages. Instead of choosing which one (I kinda felt he did that) I wanted to use, I expanded and learned more about both. School helped my English and because I wanted to be better at Spanish, I'd only try to explain and speak in Spanish at home. In middle school I took Spanish as the language of study. Everyone always asks why I did if I'm fluent in it. I want to be rude and say, "Why do you take English?" but instead I say to better by reading and writing skills. Yeah I may speak it but my parents never sat me down and taught me how to spell etc. The simple stuff yes but the complicated stuff no. A person shouldn't have to choose what they want to speak. It's great that a person knows two languages. There are so many advantages like helping people when they don't understand something. It's sad to me when someone loses their "Spanishness" I think bilingual education doesn't make someone lose their individuality... I think the student chooses to. The goal of bilingual education is make a student feel confident when speaking both English and Spanish.
Richard Rodriguez, "Aria" Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and Stories Ed. Harold Augenbraum and Ilan Stavans 1993
The problem that bilingual education brings is the fact "that children lose a degree of "individuality" by becoming assimilated into public society." Now, Richard has begun to lose confidence in speaking Spanish and starts "forgetting his native society." Because Richard and his siblings are now more advanced then their parents, at home its very quiet. They no longer talked to each other in Spanish and had that family tie that bonded them all together. The good thing with bilingual education is that now Richard (who can represent others) now knows English. By learning the English language, people like Richard are given more opportunities, they become part and are accepted by society, and have friends.
So is bilingual education a good thing or a bad thing for someone that isn't English proficient? Richard's story shows the good and the bad. Is forgetting your native language worth being accepted by the public? In my opinion, it shouldn't be like that. It's up to the person to decide what they want to do with this great advantage. I grew up similar to Richard; Spanish was mainly what was spoken in the house and English well, only at school. But as I grew older and understood more, I starting mixing up by words. In one sentence I'd be using English then insert a Spanish word. So because of this, I started to practice more by English. But then, my Spanish would get weak. Unlike Richard though, I embraced both languages. Instead of choosing which one (I kinda felt he did that) I wanted to use, I expanded and learned more about both. School helped my English and because I wanted to be better at Spanish, I'd only try to explain and speak in Spanish at home. In middle school I took Spanish as the language of study. Everyone always asks why I did if I'm fluent in it. I want to be rude and say, "Why do you take English?" but instead I say to better by reading and writing skills. Yeah I may speak it but my parents never sat me down and taught me how to spell etc. The simple stuff yes but the complicated stuff no. A person shouldn't have to choose what they want to speak. It's great that a person knows two languages. There are so many advantages like helping people when they don't understand something. It's sad to me when someone loses their "Spanishness" I think bilingual education doesn't make someone lose their individuality... I think the student chooses to. The goal of bilingual education is make a student feel confident when speaking both English and Spanish.
Richard Rodriguez, "Aria" Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and Stories Ed. Harold Augenbraum and Ilan Stavans 1993
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Where I am So Far...
While researching the topic of Hispanics, I've been more interested in education. I'd like to see how education has progressed starting with the Bilingual Education Act to present day today. I'd like to explore the changes that have happened towards education, how its has gotten better, how have the students been reacting/responding etc. Also not only looking at the education itself but also the life of the students and what they must go through. Looking at the importance of education and what it means to each the student.
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