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[RIROCKHOUND...
"Do you punish them for their parents? "
Yes, denying these kids spots at public colleges is punishing kids for the actions (CRIMES) of their parents. However, what this proposed bill does is worse...it punishes kids whose parents ARE OBEYING THE RULES. Here's why. Illegals use the same services that we do, but they don't pay taxes, so that means the rest of us have to pay higher taxes. Some folks, as a result of those inflated taxes, cannot afford to pay full tuition at UMASS. And instead of helping those folks out, the state wants to penalize them FURTHER by using tax dollars to give tuition breaks to families that are here illegally, and also not paying income taxes.
In a perfect world, everyone could afford college. We don't live in that world. But it's indefensible and unbelievably stupid to punish law-abiding taxpayers, and reward law-breakers at the same time.
Finally, I'm not sure that telling illegals that they need to pay full tuition is "punishing" them. The facts are, they don't deserve tuition subsidies, because they avoid paying taxes.
Since you work in academia, what message does it send to all kids, if they see that lawbreakers get rewarded (tuition breaks) for breaking the law? Doesn't that create an incentive for others to dodge taxes? How about teaching kids the basics of citizenship and shared responsibility?
"1. What % of the total funding from a state university comes from the state (i.e. taxes). It may be less than you think, for example, URI is <15% now. I suspect UMASS is in the same vein. "
Fine, if that state contribution does not provide any benefit whatsoever to the taxpayers footing the bill, give that money back to the taxpayers. The professors can take a commensurate pay cut to offset it.
CA currently pays $300 million a year for tuition breaks to illegals. It's insane to spend 1 penny on that, particularly in this economy.
"2. The parents of the rejected students, if they were accepted/rejected on academic standards, i.e. SAT et al., High School GPA etc... then they should have worked harder, or go to a CC for a year and get all of those numbers up and reapply. "
But my point was that the parents who pay taxes are AT A COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE, compared to illegals,because of the fact that they have to pay taxes. If the parents of the rejected kids had never paid taxes in their lives, they could have had private tutors to help their kid boost his credentials, enroll their kid in SAT prep courses, etc.... But since those parents have to work an extra 4 months a year to pay their tax burden, those are significant resources (time and money) that illegals can dedicate to educating their kids, but taxpayers cannot. God, this is infuriating me as I type
it...
"Again, I do not support illegal immigrants getting instate tuition. I do think the legal children of illegals is a grayer area"
In my opinion, priority should be given to people who benefit all of society by killing themselves to pay taxes. If all taxpayers who want to go to UMASS get in and can afford it, and there's STILL money leftover, I'd be in favor of giving it to those kids.
But the fcat is, resources are limited, and I don't see how anyone can try to make a case that illegals (including their kids) have more of a right to those limited resources, than the people who provide the resources.
Keep in mind we're talking about college, which isn't a right. Kids of illegals should have access to healthcare and a place to live, things necessary to stay alive. None of them has a right to a college education, particularly not at the expense of those struggling to pay taxes.
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