Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, has doubled down on her commitment to transparency regarding the use of tax dollars for non-citizen students in Oklahoma schools, despite her amendment being tabled. In a statement yesterday, she expressed her determination to continue the pursuit of data collection that would account for the number of non-citizen students benefitting from education resources, reported OK House.
Jenkins, who is vice chair of the House Administrative Rules Committee, cited the fiscal need for the amendment; "The people of Oklahoma deserve to know how their tax dollars are being used," she stated on the Oklahoma House of Representatives, pushing back against critics who argued that such data collection could be intrusive or discriminatory. During her defense of the amendment, she dismissed the argument that collecting this data would be in violation of Plyler v. Doe, the landmark decision entitling undocumented children to public education.
According to the Oklahoma House of Representatives website, Jenkins believes the data collection would involve only an aggregate number of non-citizen students and would not require any personal information beyond their immigration status. She highlighted, "The rule would have required a simple headcount of non-citizen students in our schools. That’s not just reasonable, it’s responsible."
Blaming "Biden’s reckless open border policies" for an increased burden on Oklahoma's educational resources, Jenkins argues the state has the authority to keep track of the related expenses. "We have clear statutory authority to collect this kind of data, and we should," she argued as per the Oklahoma House of Representatives, suggesting that such measures would lead to a better understanding of the financial impacts on the state's schooling system.
Despite the amendment being sidelined for now, Jenkins sees this as only the beginning of a larger effort for what she describes as "full transparency, accountability, and a real look at the impacts of this border crisis on our classrooms." She asserts that Oklahomans have a right to this information and promised to represent their interests tirelessly. "Oklahomans sent me here to stand up for them, and that’s exactly what I’ll keep doing, loudly, clearly and without backing down," she told the OK House.
