Segregation of Katrina Schoolchildren In the Works! (No Joke)

Submitted by PAAMember on September 29, 2005 - 7:00pm. ::

Okay folks, I found the bill introduced by Hutchinson
with Cornyn as a sponsor. aaahhhhh!!!!!!

Unfortunately, I cannot link directly to this, but if
you want to view it for your own eyes, please visit
the

Library of Congress
http://thomas.loc.gov/

and search for => s1683
be sure to click the button to search the bill
numbers!

Basically, this bill waives the requirements
established under the McKinney-Vento act to provide
school integration for HOMELESS children who are
victims of hurricane Katrina.

Get this quote from the Wallstreet Journal article
referenced below about teaching homeless children in
the ASTRODOME!

Mark Thimmig, chief executive of White Hat Ventures
LLC, which educates nearly 5,000 students in
Pennsylvania and Ohio via the Internet, said last week
that his company would be eager to educate displaced
students in the Astrodome...'

Bill text is here

S.1683
Title: A bill to provide relief for students affected
by Hurricane Katrina.
Sponsor: Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] (introduced
9/12/2005) Cosponsors (1)
Related Bills: H.R.3748
Latest Major Action: 9/13/2005 Read the second time.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General
Orders. Calendar No. 208. SUMMARY AS OF:
9/12/2005--Introduced.

Authorizes the use of any funds made available to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for
Hurricane Katrina relief to pay any education expense
related to students affected by Hurricane Katrina, if
the Secretary of Education determines such expense
appropriate.

Authorizes the Secretary to waive any requirement of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for
a state, local educational agency (LEA), school,
teacher, or student affected by an influx of such
students.

Makes school placement requirements of the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act inapplicable to
such students. Authorizes LEAs or elementary or
secondary schools to issue and require the use of
identification cards or other identifying insignia for
such students.

An article I found discussin the issue is here,
complete with references.

Segregation of Katrina Schoolchildren In the Works!
(No Joke)
by MrLiberal

http://media-in-trouble.mydd.com/story/2005/9/21/20133/0443

>From the annals of "Just When You Thought It Couldn't
Get Any Worse..."

One of the greatest costs of Hurricane Katrina has
been in human terms. We've all seen the footage, the
photos, the horror of it all. Now some 372,000
school-age kids from New Orleans and elsewhere have
been displaced, and many of them are settling in Texas
(assuming that the state survives Rita, too-God help
them all). The question: where will they go to school?
The answer, as supplied by US Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison (R-TX), IS TO SEGREGATE THEM. I kid you not.
Read on if you want to know how Brown vs. Board of
Education is being circumvented in the Lone Star
State...

Diaries :: MrLiberal's diary :: Wed Sep 21st, 2005 at
08:13:03 PM EDT

You see, Brown vs. Board of Education (the landmark
1954 ban on segregation by the Warren Court) did not
clearly state that schoolchildren could be integrated
with the possibility of their being homeless. The
McKinney-Vento Act of 1987 (fully enacted by 2001)
fixed that problem by allowing homeless students (such
as those affected by natural disasters such as
Katrina) to be integrated into the various schools of
their new settlements. The idea is simple; it may be a
slight incovenience at first for the school, but soon
enough the new students will settle in to their
community, and the school will be better for it in the
long run. In a state of over 20 million citizens,
adding some 150,000 children to the school systems
(assuming many move past Texas to settle elsewhere)
would consist of spreading families out and making
their children welcomed in different schools
throughout the Lone Star State.

What, then, is the plan to deal with Katrina's student
victims? The answer: segregate them! The Wall Street
Journal on September 14th ran the following article: