Drawing the Line

California voters passed Proposition 187 in November, enacting into law a controversial bill that denies illegal immigrants basic social services, including education. Now, educators and policymakers in that state are scrambling to determine whether and how to enforce the new law, a direct challenge to Plyler v. Doe , a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that asserts that public schools must provide all students an education, regardless of their immigration status.

The passage of Proposition 187 drives home the point that states like California have long been trying to convey: They're tired of footing the bill for education and social services to immigrants. And they're out of money.

Nothing affects today's schools more than the profound demographic changes in the nation's population. Projections indicate that by 2026, the proportion of minority students in our nation's schools will be the inverse of 1990's figures, when white students made up 70 percent of the K-12 public school enrollment. While immigrants have historically relied on their communities and religious institutions for education and socialization, this responsibility has fallen...