Utah Latino group files complaint on audit of students

A legislative audit examining the cost of educating undocumented students in Utah's public schools has prompted a Latino advocacy group to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights in Denver.

Legislative Auditor General John Schaff has made it clear the audit will not single out any student or group of students.

But the complaint against the auditor general, submitted Tuesday by the Utah Hispanic/Latino Legislative Task Force, stems from concerns that gathering the information would require schools to determine the immigration status of students.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled children have a constitutional right to a public education and that schools cannot ask a student's immigration status. The complaint also cites concerns about potential discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act.

"Under federal law, you cannot ask the question. And even if you do come up with the cost, you're still going to have to educate all the children," said Michael Clara, the task force's co-chairman. "We shouldn't be stigmatizing children."

The legislator who requested the audit wants it to identify the cost to educate a child, Schaff said. That lawmaker has asked to remain anonymous until the release of the audit.

Schaff said finding out exactly how many undocumented students are in Utah's public schools could be "an impossible question to answer."

"That's not the intent of the audit, nor is the audit going to do that," Schaff said. "We're just simply doing an audit on what is the cost of education."

The sponsor of a bill who seeks to hold the federal government accountable for the costs Utah incurs from illegal immigration said she didn't request the audit.

However, Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights, said K-12 education is the biggest cost emerging from a list of federally mandated services. While the federal government does provide funding to states, Morgan said it isn't adequate.

"It's getting to be very expensive," Morgan said of HB320. "If they're going to mandate that on the federal level, they need to help us pay for it. ... We need some help."

The measure is one of several bills filed so far this session that deal with illegal immigration.

Schaff said the education audit would examine costs by grade and district for all students, and would consider whether there are other "mitigating" factors, such as special education or English language instruction. The average cost per student was $4,860 in 2003, the most recent year for which Utah Office of Education data is available.