Schooling illegals costly

It cost somewhere between $54.9 million and $85.4 million in state and local funding to educate undocumented children in Utah last year, according to a new legislative audit.

And the Senate Education Committee chairwoman hopes that the audit by the Utah legislative auditor general could help Utah gain some leverage in dealing with the federal government.

The costs were about 2 percent of the $3.1 billion the Utah Office of Education reports was spent on education by state and local educational agencies in fiscal year 2006.

The audit is timely given that lawmakers in Washington are discussing a bill that would revamp the nation's immigration system and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has asked for Utah lawmakers' input, said Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, who requested the audit.

"Since (Hatch) asked for input, I'm glad he's got some information," Dayton said. "We needed to know what it really costs to educate all the children in our state."

During a Legislative Audit Subcommittee meeting Tuesday, state lawmakers voted to send the audit to the interim Education Committee.

Dayton said the state is in a "lose-lose situation," saying that while the federal government should pay for the costs of "failed immigration policy," federal funds typically come with strings attached.

She added that this information would help state lawmakers evaluate their own spending on education, saying "maybe we're not charging enough income tax."

The audit estimated 10,714 to 16,667 undocumented students comprised roughly 2 percent to 3 percent of the public school system's 505,185 children.

That number was derived from the Pew Hispanic Center's estimate that there are 75,000 to 100,000 undocumented immigrants in Utah, and that the K-12 student population is estimated to be one-sixth or one-seventh of that population.

"It seems like a lot of guesswork," said Richard Gomez, the state's coordinator for educational equity.

Gomez pointed out that U.S. Supreme Court rulings require public schools to educate all children regardless of their immigration status and prohibit schools from asking a student's status.

"These kids are supposed to be treated like regular students regardless of their immigration status," he said. "Finger pointing is not appropriate."

If the state is looking at targeting enhanced federal funds, it would be better to emphasize all students eligible for those funds, such as Title I funds for low-income students, he said.

"Those are federal funds designed to help all kids whose families meet those poverty thresholds."