A Position Statement of National Council for the Social Studies
Approved by the NCSS Board of Directors November 2023

A central belief of the public school system is that all children have the right to an education. This is reflected in the writings of Jefferson and Franklin who argued that a free public education open to all children was a cornerstone of the creation of a thriving and sustainable democracy. A free public education for all is integral to the upholding of the United States’ democratic laws and traditions. Since its foundation, National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has upheld and sustained this core commitment. We believe that free and public education needs to be available to all children regardless of their status.

Unfortunately, in 1975, the Texas State Legislature changed its education laws to deny entry to any children not “legally admitted” to the United States and to deny funding to any public school that admitted these children (U.S. Courts, n.d.). In 1980, a United States District Court in Texas struck down these laws, noting that “the absolute deprivation of education should trigger strict judicial scrutiny, particularly when the absolute deprivation is the result of complete inability to pay for the desired benefit.” The Court also said, “‘The illegal alien of today may well be the legal alien of tomorrow,’ and that without an education, these undocumented children, ‘[a]lready disadvantaged as a result of poverty, lack of English-speaking ability, and undeniable racial prejudices…will become permanently locked into the lowest socio-economic class’” (Plyler v. Doe, 1982, pp. 207–208).

In 1982, the United States Supreme Court determined in Plyler v. Doe that the Texas law denying free and public education violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and was therefore unconstitutional. The Court supported previous findings that “education has a fundamental role in maintaining the fabric of our society”See Ambach v. Norwick 441 U.S. 68 (1979) (p. 203) and “provides basic tools by which individuals might lead economically productive lives to the benefit of us all” (p. 221). The Court argued, “The undocumented status of these children vel non does not establish a sufficient rational basis for denying them benefits that the State affords other residents” (p. 224). Justice Blackmun argued, “When a state provides an education to some and denies it to others, it immediately and inevitably creates class distinctions of a type fundamentally inconsistent with” the purposes of the Equal Protection Clause because “an uneducated child is denied even the opportunity to achieve” (p. 234), thus, violating the constitutional rights of children. Therefore, there is no rational basis for enacting policies that would close schoolhouse doors to any child. Next, citing a 1973 case,See San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez 411 U.S. 1 (1973) Justice Marshall concurred, arguing that there is a “close relationship between education and some of our most basic constitutional values” (p. 231). Marshall reaffirmed the beliefs of Franklin and Jefferson and an essential reason for the creation of public schools in the 1830s: Public schools are essential for preparing children for active, participatory citizenship.

Over the course of the last decade, local and state authorities have developed policies and legislation to once again circumscribe the availability of education to the children of undocumented people and other marginalized groups. These acts continue to have a deleterious impact on local communities, especially children. Furthermore, this undermines the primary purpose of the public schools—to prepare young citizens for active civic participation.

NCSS opposes any and all policies that would result in the denial of free and public education. “The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (NCSS, 1994); thus, we are to teach all children regardless of their immigration status and prepare them for active citizenship. Next, the United States has an established legal history of providing free public education to all children; therefore, NCSS rejects any plan to deny free public education to undocumented children as illegal, cruel, and antithetical to the country’s democratic values.