Introduction
The issue of the immigration impacts on the U.S. educational system has of late elicited heated debate within the public domain, educational leader’s forums, and to a higher extent, congress debates. The contentious issue revolves around the perceived burden that immigrants place on the already overstretched US educational facilities. What is evident from these debates is that majority of people have a biased view that doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground as far immigrants and education is concerned.
Main body
According to David Stewart, in his book, Immigrant and Education, “The level of immigration is so massive, it’s choking urban schools, its bad enough when you have desperate kids with U.S backgrounds who require massive resource, income kids with totally different need, and it creates crushing burdens on urban schools” while Stewart stand may reflect some truths, the negative impacts can not be attributed to the immigrants, but lack strategy to handle the rising number of immigrants seeking education in U.S. public schools.
Figures from National Centers for Education Statistics (NCES) indicate that the level of immigrants seeking education in the United States is on the rise. Currently, immigrants make 20 percent (1/5) of the total number of students in US schools as opposed the to early 1980s, when only 6 percent of students represented immigrants. While many education leaders acknowledge this fact, they fail to acknowledge the government failed to come up with strategies aimed at expanding education facilities to cater to the growing need for education.
Many argue that expanding education facilities requires state or federal funding, which means more taxation on Americans to educate immigrants. However, the fact that immigrants contribute to the US economy and pay taxes can never be ignored. The notion that immigrants do not pay taxes is misplaced and has no basis. According to figures from National Academy for Science (NAS) and Social Security Administration (SSA), immigrants pay between the US $90 and $140 billion per year in local, state, and federal taxes, with the additional US $20 billion from the so-called ‘illegal’ immigrant’s income taxes. As such, the government should at the state or federal level, utilize taxes collected to expand education facilities, employ more teachers and come up with programs that seek to accommodate immigrants and their children to the mainstream education system.
To understand the magnitude of the immigration and school issue, it is important to first understand the perspective that most people in the public domain, political and education circles, have on immigrants. To many people, immigrants are seen as a problem, not as an opportunity. Many believe that immigrants come to the United States to depend on welfare, take away jobs from Americans, send all money to their home countries without paying taxes and drain the economy. A close study on the immigrant’s patterns will show that all these notions have no element of truths.
Immigrants make up a larger labor force than the U.S population as they come to the US to work, not to depend on welfare. They earn an estimated $240 billion; paying an average of $90 billion in taxes and use a further $5 billion directly to cater for their needs and other household goods. In many parts of the US, immigrants have established thriving businesses that provide jobs to both US citizens and immigrants. It is a well-known fact that in Silicon Valley, California, Indians and Chinese entrepreneurs have established businesses creating over 90,000 jobs. In essence, immigrants do not necessarily take up jobs from Americans, they have the capacity to create jobs opportunities for both Americans and immigrants. It is from this perspective that one understands that immigrants are not a drain to the US economy or a problem, but rather are an opportunity.
To those who are complaining about how immigrants have ruined the U.S. education system, they may need to look at the issue of immigrants from a different perspective. They will need to understand that’s it the failure of the government, at State and federal levels, to design and implement strategies aimed at accommodating immigrants in the U.S. education system. There are those who believe that all immigrants come to the U.S. illegally, this group of people will benefit from the knowledge that 75 percent of all immigrants are in the U.S. legally and that they work and pay taxes. They deserve equal education opportunities, like other Americans just as the constitution guarantees.
Conclusion
Immigrants are an opportunity to the United States and it is only through the realization of this fact that the issue of immigrants and education can be solved. Many educational and political leaders tend to mislead the public with biased information on immigrants. Most immigrants are hardworking, pay huge taxes through and as such deserve to be given equal opportunities in all fields. The government should use the taxes to cater to the increasing need for education to alleviate the problem caused by the increase in the number of immigrants seeking education in U.S. public schools.
Reference
Illegal Immigration and Los Angeles Schools, 2008. Web.
Immigration and School Overcrowding, 2008, Web.
Immigration Myths and Facts, 2008. Web.
Susan N. Burgess (2003) Immigration the easy way, United States, Barron Educational Publishers.
William W. Brickman (1964) Educational Systems in the United States, New York, Center for Applied Research in Education Press.