Recent California in-state tuition case

A friend recently forwarded me an article from the Sac Bee asking my opinion on a recent US Supreme Court decision to not review the case Martinez v. Regents of the University of California. The California Supreme Court found the law valid.

Currently, there is a law that any high school student that has attended high school in the state for at least three years will be charged in-state tuition upon entering a state college or university. The residency of the student's parents is not relevant as to whether the student gets in-state tuition.

According to the article, this law benefits not only children of undocumented parents but students in boarding schools and those whose parents have moved out of the state. For these students, the law encourages them to stay in the state.

My friend was more concerned about the implications of allowing undocumented individuals to pay in-state tuition. I explained that the children of undocumented parents do not have capacity, in my opinion, to break the immigration laws. These children were brought here by their parents and could not make the decision whether to immigrate from themselves. And thus, they should not be punished when they are just as much residents of California as other students.

Also, I think that the argument for allowing undocumented students to have in-state tuition is even stronger than for boarding students. Because their parents live in California, they pay property taxes, either directly by owning a home or indirectly through renting. By paying property taxes, these parents are contributing to public education. This contribution is the basis for in-state tuition. Those from out of state have not paid taxes and thus pay higher tuition. Boarding students' parents are not paying California property taxes.

Overall, I think the law is very wise and am glad that it has been upheld by the judicial system.

Here is the link to the article.
href="http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/08/3684470/court-refuses-to-punish-kids-of.html">