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Central NY School District Sued Over Immigrant Education

New York's attorney general has accused an upstate school district of discriminating against older immigrant students by steering them into dead-end programs.

A.G. Eric Schneiderman on Wednesday announced a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Utica City School District, which says that for years, the district has diverted students over 16 with limited English away from Proctor High School. They were sent to attend alternative programs in separate buildings, where they couldn't pursue a diploma and missed out on gym, art, music and extra-curricular activities.

Justin Deabler is an assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Bureau.  "Our office began a statewide joint compliance review back in the fall of 2014 with the state education department to make sure that all districts were enrolling students, particularly young immigrant students, in accordance with the law. And around the same time we received a complaint specific to the Utica City School District. "

That complaint involved students lacking choices: "Not being given the opportunity to enroll in Proctor High School if they were over the age of 16. What we came to understand was a widespread policy, excluding those students from the high school."

Schneiderman's office found the district required any student it perceived to be limited English proficient to provide immigration documents as proof of age.  The district would then review those documents, and divert students over the age of 16 into alternative education services separate and apart from the general program offered at Proctor High School.  The district’s practices pushed out not only recently arrived refugees, but also individuals who had spent several years in U.S. high schools in other states and who had only recently transferred to Utica.

Superintendent Bruce Karam did not return calls for comment. He did tell the Associated Press that the A.G.'s claims are without merit and says more than 200 English-language learners between the ages of 17 and 21 are currently enrolled.

Schneiderman says Utica has one of the highest percentages of limited English households in the state. Again, assistant AG Deabler:  "The relief that we're seeking specifically is to make sure that all students who are eligible to enroll and want to enroll in the high school are enrolled, and to make sure that the district has appropriate policies, procedures and training in place to ensure that these problems don't happen again."

New York State Senator Joe Griffo, a Republican, calls the lawsuit "ridiculous."    "And it's a slap in the face of all the hardworking, dedicated teachers and school employees who have been taking steps to improve the education they offer their students.  Instead of attacking a struggling school like Utica, the Attorney General should be focusing on issues that really matter, like cyber-security threats and terrorism.

This latest legal action smacks of retribution by the Attorney General because the Utica School District was wise enough to join other small cities in suing the state for not providing its students with fair and equitable funding. I am involved in efforts through the Legislature to fix this problem so schools like Utica get the full funding they deserve to serve all of their students."

Utica's Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi tells theObserver-Dispatchthat the issue is the district has not received the funding it needs to provide quality education.     

Figures released by the district show approximately 1,700 English language learners presently enrolled, counting some 200 between the ages of 17 and 21 who attend the high school.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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