The brief’s policy recommendations focus on three key areas concerning equitable access to education for immigrant and undocumented youth.
The City University of New York - Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE) at The City College of New York has released a policy brief that addresses the pertinent issue of Enhancing Educational Equity for Immigrant Students in New York State.
Authored by CUNY-IIE team members Tamara Alsace and Rachel Duff, the brief outlines policy recommendations to achieve equitable access to education for immigrant and undocumented youth. Such access remains elusive for this group, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Plyler v. Doe, which upheld the rights of undocumented students to access free elementary and secondary public education. The 1982 decision has been hindered by uneven implementation across states, resulting in persistent systemic disparities.
Other attempts to achieve parity include legislation such as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2001, which never passed Congress, and the 2012 executive order known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). In 2019, New York state enacted its own Dream Act.
The brief’s policy recommendations focus on three key areas: developing pathways to careers in education for undocumented aspiring educators; fostering educator and leader knowledge and skills around immigration issues and the education of immigrant students; and creating in-school supports for immigrant students. Each section provided an overview of the issues, potential solutions, and implementation strategies.
Overall, the policy brief’s broad recommendations encompass pathways for undocumented educators, pre-service and in-service educator and leader training and preparation, and in-school support for students. These recommendations serve the overarching purpose of creating inclusive environments, strong school-family-community partnerships, and raising awareness about immigrant rights. Schools should also provide mental health services and promote youth agency, the brief advocated.
These recommendations were developed by the CUNY-IIE Policy Team based on research and experience. The team included various focus areas of CUNY-IIE’s work over four years, encompassing Partner Schools, UndocuEdu, ImmLiaison, and CTLE, representing current research as well as information gathered in the field.
“This policy brief is the result of countless hours of work with and collaboration between advocates, educators, scholars, immigrant children and youth, and families,” said School of Education Dean Edwin M. Lamboy. “The CUNY-IIE team is deeply committed to raising awareness about issues that impact the educational experience of immigrants in New York State, and this work is a significant step in that direction. The brief also pushes for the creation of pathways for undocumented educators to work as teachers in the state, a measure that would help address the current teacher shortage crisis. I strongly support this recommendation.”
“As the incoming administration threatens the rights of immigrants, it is critical for state and local elected officials, as well as educational institutions and agencies, to implement policies that will guarantee equal access to PK-12 schools and universities for all students, regardless of immigration status,” said Daniela Alulema, CUNY-IIE’s project director. “At the same time, we must provide educators with resources and training to foster inclusive and welcoming schools that embrace immigrant, refugee, asylum-seeking and undocumented students.”
CUNY-IIE will hold a series of three webinars, one for each of the three areas. The first webinar, Pathways to Careers in Education for Undocumented Aspiring Educators, will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. EST. To attend, register here.
The other two webinars will take place in spring 2025.
About CUNY-IIE
Communities and schools are shaped and strengthened by the migration of people and ideas across the globe. The City University of New York - Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE) creates opportunities for educational stakeholders to learn from immigrant students, families, and educators directly impacted by restrictive immigration policies and educational inequality. We aim to develop multimodal and multilingual resources that center the strengths of mixed status immigrant communities that include undocumented, refugee, and asylum-seeking members. At CUNY-IIE, educators, researchers, families and local leaders work together to learn about, from, and with immigrant communities, act in ways that center our shared humanity regardless of legal status, and advocate for equitable policies and opportunities.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Syd Steinhardt
212-650-7875
ssteinhardt1@ccny.cuny.edu