The board voted unanimously to approve the rule aimed at helping President Donald Trump's immigration policies. It still needs to be approved by the Legislature and the governor.
Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the state’s education chief, said the rule is needed to help schools gather information about where to place staff and resources.
Our rule around illegal immigration accounting is simply that,” Walters said. “It is to account for how many students of illegal immigrants are in our schools.”
The proposed rule would not prevent students without legal status from enrolling or keep them from attending school but would require districts to keep a tally.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1982 affirmed the right of children living in the country illegally to attend public schools, although some conservative lawmakers have questioned whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education.
Walters has said he will support efforts by Trump to enforce immigration laws, including by allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Oklahoma schools.
“Schools are crippled by the flood of illegal immigrants and the Biden/Harris open border policy,” Walters said in a statement. “Oklahomans and the country elected President Trump and we will do everything possible to help put Oklahoma students first.”
At Oklahoma City Public Schools, one of the state's largest districts, Superintendent Jamie Polk said in a letter to parents and staff last month — after the rule was first proposed — that federal law guarantees every child's right to a public education, regardless of immigration status.
