By a 6-7 vote the Education Administration and Planning Committee Tennessee legislators shot down a measure which would have granted eligible undocumented students the in-state tuition rate for (a state) college.
As a result, The Daily Beacon reports, the undocumented will continue to pay the out-of-state rate.
“I’m a Knoxvillian and a Tennessean,” [undocumented student Karla Meza] Cruz said in a press statement released by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
“Since I was five years old, I’ve driven by UT hoping I’d one day be able to enroll. I can’t understand why the legislature won’t let me pay my pay [sic] to go to college and follow my dreams.”
But you can, Ms. Cruz. Just not at the in-state rate.
“The committee room was filled with aspiring college graduates, dozens of students holding signs describing what careers they dreamed of having … It is unconscionable that legislators could look these students in the eye and opt to deny them a chance to fulfill their dreams,” [Co-Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Stephanie] Teatro said. “These hard-working Tennessee high school students are just asking for an opportunity to go to college. Who benefits when legislators close the door and limit their potential? Denying these students a chance to go to college is short-sighted, mean-spirited and a betrayal of our values.”
UT Chancellor Beverly Davenport said she had not yet read the bill that failed yesterday but said she would hope that students who desire to attend UT also have the ability to. …
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act allows undocumented minors to receive conditional residency, and then later receiving permanent residency and in-state tuition. While the DREAM act does provide an avenue for undocumented students to eventually receive in-state tuition, the failed bill would have made it easier for these students to attend school by not requiring them to become a resident first.
Teatro, in another paroxysm of exaggeration, added “Though the dreams of the students have been put on hold for another year, they won’t stop fighting for their education.
“Students will fight for college access until they win.”
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