Education For All Campaign 

The Education for All campaign is dedicated to protecting access to K-12 public education for every child in the United States, no matter their immigration status.

What is the Plyler v. Doe Decision?

Over forty years ago, the United States Supreme Court ensured access to education for undocumented students in the landmark case Plyler v. Doe, which held that it was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution for a state to discriminate against undocumented children by denying them access to that state’s system of free public education. The court’s decision reinforced what we already knew: It’s in our collective interest to ensure that every child has access to K-12 public school, no matter how much money their parents have, what they look like, or where they were born. Access to education for every one of us is a cornerstone of a healthy society and a bedrock of our country’s democracy.

How have states and localities tried to circumvent Plyler?

Despite being a long-standing precedent, there have been many attempts to infringe on the rights Plyler provides by instilling fear, creating chilling effects, and even trying to overturn Plyler as we’ve seen with:

• State Legislation:
  • States attempting to bill the federal government for the cost of educating students by proposing legislation demanding the quantifying and reporting of undocumented students at their schools.
• School Districts:
  • School enrollment systems asking about citizenship and immigration status for parents/guardians and children.
  • School enrollment systems requiring citizenship or legal immigration status for parents and children to receive necessary education tools (Oklahoma State Department of Education’s proposed regulation requiring schools to determine immigration status of students).
• Public statements made by policymakers and others with anti-immigrant agendas:
  • TX Governor Greg Abbott’s comments to revisit Plyler  
  • The Heritage Foundation Report recommending collecting data on immigration status and charging tuition for undocumented students and students of undocumented parents forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit Plyler.
• Federal enforcement:
  • While schools have been declared protected areas and sensitive locations and therefore protected from enforcement activities, under the first Trump administration, parents were arrested when they were dropping their children to and from schools. For example, in 2017, a father named Romulo Avelica Gonzales was stopped by ICE agents while dropping his child off at a Los Angeles school.

How can we work together to protect Plyler v. Doe?

In response to potential threats, the Education for All campaign has worked to build the infrastructure and network to respond to threats at the state, local, and federal level. Since May 2024, more than 70 organizations have joined the Education for All campaign, including leading education, immigrant rights, and civil rights organizations aiming to ensure all children have access to a free K-12 public education, as mandated by law. We will protect education for all at the federal, state, and local level in state legislatures, municipalities and school boards, and the public sphere, so that we are in the strongest possible position to defend Plyler if and when it reaches the courts again.

We believe everyone in the U.S. should have the freedom to thrive—to be safe in our communities, to care and provide for our families, and to contribute to our country in our own unique ways. Parents work hard to give their children an opportunity for a better future, and a chance to provide for themselves. The foundation of that opportunity is access to education. Together, we are building a broad, deep, and powerful movement to defend the right to public education for every child.

For more information about the campaign and the current list of campaign partners, please visit our website at https://education4all.us/.