Elmwood Park school funding reinstated
In a follow-up to this story, the Illinois State Board of Education reinstated state funding to the Elmwood Park school district, after the school district promised to stop questioning prospective immigrant students about whether they were legally permitted to attend public school there. It would have been nice if the case were allowed to go to court to see if the heavy handed tactics of the Elmwood School Board were legal, but the school could not afford to be without the 3.5 million dollars that was being denied to them.
The Illinois State Board of Education reinstated the Elmwood Park school district Friday, just hours after the district’s board caved in to demands that it stop barring some students based on their immigration status.
State education officials voted Thursday to cut off Elmwood Park’s funding — a move that threatened the district’s budget and left its sports teams ineligible to compete. But Friday, the Elmwood Park school board voted to change its immigration policy.
“Unfortunately, the children are being held hostage because adults won’t allow their legal dispute to be resolved by a judge,” said Elmwood Park school board vice president Angela Stranges, referring to a lawsuit between the district and the state board.
John Murphy, a lawyer for the district, said the Elmwood Park board still believed its legal position was correct but that the district had no choice but to surrender.
“The board is very reluctant to cave in to what the state board has asked,” Murphy said. “. . . But they need money to run the school.”
I still maintain that the parents in this district need to vote out the responsible school board members for jeopardizing their children’s education so that they could go on a damn power trip.
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