BigBadBrian
03-29-2006, 09:39 PM
Truants Could Face Fines, Community Service
POSTED: 6:57 am PST March 28, 2006
UPDATED: 10:07 am PST March 29, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles law enforcement officials plan to crack down on students who leave campus Wednesday by issuing truancy citations. LA School Superintendent Roy Romer says students leaving campus will be automatically considered truant.
Truant students could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from certain school-sponsored functions. Students who are cited by law enforcement officers can face fines up to 200 dollars and 20 days of community service.
Despite school lockdowns and rainy weather, some 11,000 students from nearly two dozen Los Angeles County campuses skipped school Tuesday as immigrant-rights rallies continued, leading to some arrests.
About 8,000 students from the Los Angeles Unified School District and 3,000 students from other schools countywide took part in protests Tuesday, or at least did not show up for class, LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer said.
"It's one thing to have a spontaneous demonstration of free speech, but it's another to have continued absences," Romer said during a City Hall news conference Tuesday afternoon. "A parent has a legal obligation to have their youngsters in school."
"It's one thing to have a spontaneous demonstration of free speech, but it's another to have continued absences."
- LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer
"Our first priority is to keep our kids safe, that they need to be back in school," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said after meeting with Romer, Bratton and Sheriff Lee Baca this afternoon. "And it's important for parents to understand that beginning today we will be strictly applying our truancy laws."
The students have been marching in opposition to a House bill, passed in December, cracking down on illegal immigration, making it a federal offense to enter or remain in the country illegally. The U.S. Senate is debating immigration legislation this week.
Baca said adults were the likely masterminds behind the protests and warned they would be prosecuted if their identities are uncovered. Villaraigosa said it remained unclear Tuesday who coordinated the school walkouts.
The protests, led to some tense moments outside Carson High School, where about 200 to 300 students rallied and some clashed with sheriff's deputies.
Sgt. Nick Burns of the Compton Sheriff's Station said three juveniles were arrested. He said he did not know if they were Carson High School students or from other schools.
One was arrested for battery on a peace officer, another for resisting a peace officer and the third for disorderly conduct, he said.
In San Pedro, about 500 students marched along a stretch of the Harbor (110) Freewayleading toward the Vincent Thomas Bridge, Bratton said. Police managed to herd the youths off the freeway before they reached the bridge and cited about 100 of them for truancy.
An additional 2,000 students participated in protests in front of the Van Nuys courthouse, Bratton said.
"Their actions are causing a strain on the police department's ability to respond to emergency and non-emergency calls," Bratton said.
The student protests are also putting a strain on school district finances. Romer said districts receive state funding of about $28 per day per student who attends school. With about 8,000 students absent today, the protests cost the LAUSD roughly $224,000.
Walkouts Monday involved about 36,000 students from various districts -- a cost of about $1 million.
Tuesday's lesson plans were also adjusted to include a discussion of the immigration bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which would crack down on employers hiring illegal workers and people smuggling illegal immigrants into the country.
The class discussions also addressed freedom of speech, civil protests and events in U.S. history that have involved public protests, according to a district statement.
The Sensenbrenner bill, HR 4437, would require employers to verify Social Security numbers with the Department of Homeland Security, increase penalities for immigrant smuggling and stiffen penalities for undocumented immigrants who reenter the United States after having been removed.
Under the bill, approved last December by the House of Representatives, local law enforcement agencies would be reimbursed for detaining illegal immigrants. Refugees with aggravated felony convictions would also be barred from receiving green cards.
The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee softened the immigration reform bill yesterday by voting to create a path for some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without first leaving the country.
Under the version voted on by the committee, additional foreign workers would be allowed to enter the United States temporarily under a program that also could lead to citizenship.
Additionally, the committee adopted an amendment by Sen Richard Durbin, D- Ill., that would protect charitable organizations and churches from criminal charges for providing aid to illegal immigrants.
Link (http://www.nbc4.tv/education/8312992/detail.html)
POSTED: 6:57 am PST March 28, 2006
UPDATED: 10:07 am PST March 29, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles law enforcement officials plan to crack down on students who leave campus Wednesday by issuing truancy citations. LA School Superintendent Roy Romer says students leaving campus will be automatically considered truant.
Truant students could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from certain school-sponsored functions. Students who are cited by law enforcement officers can face fines up to 200 dollars and 20 days of community service.
Despite school lockdowns and rainy weather, some 11,000 students from nearly two dozen Los Angeles County campuses skipped school Tuesday as immigrant-rights rallies continued, leading to some arrests.
About 8,000 students from the Los Angeles Unified School District and 3,000 students from other schools countywide took part in protests Tuesday, or at least did not show up for class, LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer said.
"It's one thing to have a spontaneous demonstration of free speech, but it's another to have continued absences," Romer said during a City Hall news conference Tuesday afternoon. "A parent has a legal obligation to have their youngsters in school."
"It's one thing to have a spontaneous demonstration of free speech, but it's another to have continued absences."
- LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer
"Our first priority is to keep our kids safe, that they need to be back in school," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said after meeting with Romer, Bratton and Sheriff Lee Baca this afternoon. "And it's important for parents to understand that beginning today we will be strictly applying our truancy laws."
The students have been marching in opposition to a House bill, passed in December, cracking down on illegal immigration, making it a federal offense to enter or remain in the country illegally. The U.S. Senate is debating immigration legislation this week.
Baca said adults were the likely masterminds behind the protests and warned they would be prosecuted if their identities are uncovered. Villaraigosa said it remained unclear Tuesday who coordinated the school walkouts.
The protests, led to some tense moments outside Carson High School, where about 200 to 300 students rallied and some clashed with sheriff's deputies.
Sgt. Nick Burns of the Compton Sheriff's Station said three juveniles were arrested. He said he did not know if they were Carson High School students or from other schools.
One was arrested for battery on a peace officer, another for resisting a peace officer and the third for disorderly conduct, he said.
In San Pedro, about 500 students marched along a stretch of the Harbor (110) Freewayleading toward the Vincent Thomas Bridge, Bratton said. Police managed to herd the youths off the freeway before they reached the bridge and cited about 100 of them for truancy.
An additional 2,000 students participated in protests in front of the Van Nuys courthouse, Bratton said.
"Their actions are causing a strain on the police department's ability to respond to emergency and non-emergency calls," Bratton said.
The student protests are also putting a strain on school district finances. Romer said districts receive state funding of about $28 per day per student who attends school. With about 8,000 students absent today, the protests cost the LAUSD roughly $224,000.
Walkouts Monday involved about 36,000 students from various districts -- a cost of about $1 million.
Tuesday's lesson plans were also adjusted to include a discussion of the immigration bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which would crack down on employers hiring illegal workers and people smuggling illegal immigrants into the country.
The class discussions also addressed freedom of speech, civil protests and events in U.S. history that have involved public protests, according to a district statement.
The Sensenbrenner bill, HR 4437, would require employers to verify Social Security numbers with the Department of Homeland Security, increase penalities for immigrant smuggling and stiffen penalities for undocumented immigrants who reenter the United States after having been removed.
Under the bill, approved last December by the House of Representatives, local law enforcement agencies would be reimbursed for detaining illegal immigrants. Refugees with aggravated felony convictions would also be barred from receiving green cards.
The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee softened the immigration reform bill yesterday by voting to create a path for some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without first leaving the country.
Under the version voted on by the committee, additional foreign workers would be allowed to enter the United States temporarily under a program that also could lead to citizenship.
Additionally, the committee adopted an amendment by Sen Richard Durbin, D- Ill., that would protect charitable organizations and churches from criminal charges for providing aid to illegal immigrants.
Link (http://www.nbc4.tv/education/8312992/detail.html)