Bill > A5233

Introduced Session

This bill, entitled the "Protecting Legally-Present Youngsters' Limited Educational Resources (PLYLER) Act," provides that the State's free public schools are for U.S. citizens. It further requires students who are not United States citizens, in the process of obtaining citizenship, or holding legal immigration or visa status to pay tuition to attend a public school. The bill requires a board of education to condition enrollment in the schools of the district on the receipt of documentation establishing a child is a citizen of the United States, is in the process of obtaining citizenship, or holds legal immigration or visa status. If the documentation is not provided, the child is required to be admitted to the schools of the district with the annual payment of tuition. Each board of education, with the approval of the executive county superintendent, is required to establish a uniform tuition amount. Under the bill, the uniform tuition amount is: · not to be less than $1,000 per school year; · not to exceed the actual cost per pupil as annually established by the Commissioner of Education and approved by the State Board of Education; and · required to be paid by the parent or guardian of the child in full prior to the first day the child is scheduled to attend a school in the district. The bill further requires the board of education to report through the School Report Card Program the number and percentage of students who pay tuition to attend a school in the district for failing to establish the citizenship requirement established under the bill, and amount of tuition collected each year. Additionally, the bill amends various sections of current law to comply with the citizenship requirement established under the bill. This bill directly challenges the constitutionality of the Plyler v. Doe decision. In Plyler, the United States Supreme Court held that illegal alien children living in the United States could not be excluded from a free public education if offered to legal resident children. The Plyler decision circumvents the states' authority over education and has cost the State billions of dollars as illegal alien children benefit from a free public education, but their parents often do not pay their full tax responsibility. It is the sponsor's intent to authorize the Legislature to exercise its reserved powers, challenge the outdated Plyler decision, utilize public funds for United States citizens, and remove the burden of educating illegal alien children from New Jersey taxpayers.

AI Summary

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Paul Kanitra (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 01/27/2025)

Official Document