NO REPORT CARD FOR YOU

By CATHERINE KRUG

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Last week, a bill that would offer in-state (read: cheaper) tuition rates to undocumented immigrants faced another round with the legislative sausage-maker (it's an ugly process) for the third time in four years. The Education Parity Act would only apply to students who've graduated from a Massachusetts high school that they've attended for at least three years, and require they sign an affidavit stating they'd seek legal permanent residency or citizenship. Advocates estimate it would make college affordable for approximately 600 students in Massachusetts.

Chelsea resident Mario Rodas spoke on behalf of them. Rodas, who has claimed political asylum here, immigrated to the US from Guatemala with his parents when he was 12. He struggled to master both English and his coursework, but by his junior year in high school, he was enrolled in honors and AP classes, and became secretary of the multicultural club and a member of the National Honor Society. Though he's lived in Massachusetts since arriving in the US, he'd have to pay out-of-state tuition at a public university here. "This is my home," Rodas testified last week. "Chelsea is my home." He hasn't been able to attend college, but he quips that the experience of campaigning for the bill "is like my education in government."

The legislation has a history of failure stretching back to Deval Patrick's (spoiler alert) successful run for governor in 2006. As a candidate, Patrick (who is up for re-election this fall) distinguished himself from his then-opponent Kerry Healey by advocating immigration reform, and backing an earlier (but nearly identical) incarnation of the bill. In the 2005-2006 session, it was rejected by the House, and when it was re-filed in the last session, it never made it to a vote.

When asked about the bill, Patrick's re-election campaign spokesman, Alex Goldstein, stated, "The governor continues to support legislation that gives all Massachusetts students the opportunity to attend the state's institutes of higher education at in-state tuition levels, including the children of undocumented immigrants."

Rep. Don Humason, R-Westfield, was the only person to speak against the bill. "The first thing we try to teach to our children when they are very young is that America is a nation of laws and that you need to follow those laws," he said. "They are the rules that we need to abide by."

Aaron Spencer, who served as a member of the Board of Higher Education for 12 years, argued that hard-working students shouldn't be denied an education because of their citizenship status. "We're talking about kids who have studied for years in our schools," he said. "There is nothing in our country that suggests that we punish kids for the misdeeds of their parents."

Ten states, including Oklahoma, New Mexico, New York and even Texas, have already passed similar legislation.