EDUCATION: Attorney's fees
for the resolution to charge for
teaching undocumented resident's
kids reach $16,000.
May, 12, 2000
By FELIX SANCHEZ
The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM - The immigration and
Naturalization Service has notified the
Anaheim Union High School District
by letter that it won't help the district
enforce a resolution to bill foreign
countries for the costs of educating
children of undocumented residents.
Opponents of the effort, meanwhile,
have obtained documents indicating
that the district has spent $16,000 on
attorney fees reviewing the resolution
and ways to get it enforced. Critics
called the spending wasteful.
"There are other, more pressing
issues," said Green Party member
Duane J. Roberts, who requested the
records. He has said he plans to run
for a board seat.
Trustee Harald Martin, who advocated
the resolution, says he's not ready
to give up.
"We are not closing any doors to any
avenues that might be open to us,
including legal, which includes filing
lawsuits," Martin said.
The district, he said, received a letter
March 24 from the executive
associate commissioner of the U.S.
Department of Justice saying that the
INS could not help the district.
Martin wanted the agency to count the
number of children of undocumented
workers so the district could calculate
the cost of their educations.
In early March, seven months after
the resolution was adopted, Roberts
used the California Public Records Act
to request copies of invoices showing
legal fees paid to attorneys in
connection with the resolution.
District documents, heavily edited on
the basis of attorney/client prvilege, show
that between July 1999 and March
2000, more than $16,000 was paid
to a Tustin law firm - Parker, Covert
and Chidester.
District officials say the $16,000 was
spent in researching the measure, as
would occur with any resolution.
Assistant Superintendent Craig Haugen
said the district intentionally sought
outside counsel.
"What the board said from the very
beginning is that they did not want the
staff involved" in researching or
pushing the resolution, Haugen said.
No legal fees have been spent in the
past two months on the resolution,
Haugen said.
The resolution stirred opposition from
dozens of district residents and
Hispanic activists when it passed by
a 4-1 vote last August.
"I am hoping it is dead," said the lone
dissenter on the board, L.E. "Slim"
Terrell. "I am hoping there is nothing
that will happen farther."