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Deadline:
Essays must be received by April 30, 2012.
Rules:
Arkansas students in grades 7-12 are eligible. Essays must be no more than 750 words and should be typed.
Essays will be judged on soundness of reasoning, clarity of writing and understanding of the subject matter, not viewpoint.
Prizes:
1st Place: $500
2nd Place: $300
3rd Place: $100
Each essay must include: 1) complete name, 2) mailing address, 3) home phone, 4) grade, 5) school name, address and phone, and, if possible, 6) e-mail address. (Putting the information just on the outside envelope for several essays is not sufficient.)
ESSAY TOPIC:
Should immigrants who do not have proper documentation to be in the United States but who attended the state's schools and graduated from high school be allowed to gain in-state tuition in a public institution of higher learning?
NOTE: Even though the Bill of Rights does not grant foreigners a right of entry into the United States, it does prohibit discrimination based on race and national origin against citizens and non-citizens alike. When referring to someone’s rights, it uses the term ‘person’, not citizen.
Before you begin to write:
Find and consider a few arguments for and against allowing those students in-state college tuition rates.
The Arkansas Legislature has recently debated whether students in the U.S. who are undocumented immigrants should be allowed to attend state colleges for in-state tuition cost. Some states have already barred students who can’t provide social security numbers from paying the lower ‘in-state’ tuition rate and some have banned undocumented immigrants from public colleges even if they pay out of state rates.
Find and consider the Bill of Rights and information on immigrant’s access to higher education.
Please provide justification of your thoughtful analysis in response to the Essay question above, considering how concepts in the Bill of Rights should or should not apply to access to higher educational opportunities.
Write an essay either supporting equal educational access for undocumented immigrant students, or opposing it. Give specific reasons for your opinion and support those reasons with evidence and examples. Convince your classmates that your opinion is reasonable.
Some places to start researching your essay are the websites:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/illegalrights.htm
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/illegalrights.htm
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=12849" http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=12849 http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/DREAM/DREAM-justfacts-2010-11-23.pdf
http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/DREAM/DREAM-justfacts-2010-11-23.pdf