Justice Dept monitoring school enrollment data in AL for signs of immigration-related violations

[The Straight Story]

Justice Department now monitoring school enrollment data in Alabama for signs of immigration-related violations

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Justice Department warned Alabama public school leaders in writing Monday that the state's new immigration law does not allow them to deny children access to a public education.
In a letter to the school districts in Alabama, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez asks for detailed enrollment information to make sure the schools are not violating federal law. Some of the data must be updated monthly, including the race and national origin of students that withdrawal from school or have unexplained absences.

Perez wrote that the department had learned that Alabama's new immigration law "may chill or discourage student participation in, or lead to the exclusion of school-age children from public education programs based on their or their parents' race, national origin, or actual or perceived immigration status, or based on their homeless or foster care status and consequent lack of documentation."

http://blog.al.com/sweethome/2011/11/justice_department_reminds_ala.html