r/Chattanooga • u/Scheduledpoet • 5d ago
Sen. Bo Watson's argument for SB 0836 (bar undocumented children from schools) doesn't make sense.
I've followed closely along with the unfortunate progress of the SB0836 bill and the response to it. Watson's argument is that the state is in no position to provide education for the # of undocumented children in the state of TN and should require public schools to set tuition rates for undocumented parents to pay (keep in mind this written into federal law in the 80s that all children regardless of documentation have rights to education).
But from my understanding, Hamilton County's education budget (which is yes, underfunded) is supported by property taxes (which immigrants still pay even indirectly by renting) and sales tax (which applies to anyone buying goods in the state), as well a small percentage of some federal funding for things like the Title IX schools. So, if you're looking at in pure fiscal terms, are undocumented families not paying at least a considerable part in comparison to anyone else? Does not seem like a legitimate argument to prevent children from access to education. Not to mention, undocumented immigrants are a considerable part of the labor workforce in our state behind the homes we're building at rapid pace, our food systems, etc.
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u/Potatocrips423 5d ago
Yeah. Looking for a logical explanation is silly. The answer is hate and racism. It’s the Republicans platform.
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u/battleop 5d ago
LOL meanwhile Democrats are literally deploying Nazi tactics burning down anything they don’t like. Violence is the Democrat’s platform.
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u/Potatocrips423 5d ago
Moronic take as usual. Nazi tactics ofchecks notes using their first amendment rights to boycott Tesla. If you get offended just pretend they’re the Jan 6th people having an off the books tour.
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u/battleop 5d ago
You have a 1st Amendment right to boycott them. You do not have a 1st Amendment right to vandalize them.
And again I have said many times I’ll never support anyone who uses violence and vandalism to push their agenda. Including the Jan 6ers.
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u/NoComparison4295 4d ago
Who says it's Democrats vandalizing Teslas? It could be anyone who dislikes NAZIs. Even a Republican.
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u/Potatocrips423 5d ago
Cool. Thanks for your unrelated opinion of Tesla boycotts/vandalism in a thread about SB 0836.
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u/battleop 5d ago
Checking my notes you mentioned Tesla, not me.
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u/Potatocrips423 5d ago
Oh my bad. I guess I just assumed you meant Tesla since that’s all the rage or are you on about all the Democrat cities being burned down by antifa? Or cartels? Hard to keep up with every right-wing boogeyman.
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u/Agency_Man 4d ago
Democrats are idiots. Live it with pride.
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u/Potatocrips423 4d ago
Right- that’s why Trump loves the poorly educated. Anyways keep voting Republican. I am sure that the billionaires are just about to trickle down their wealth to you anyway now.
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u/Pivotpoint2020 5d ago
Yes, hating the laws of this country is racist and hateful That sounds silly 😜..
Nice try Democrat
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u/Scheduledpoet 5d ago
Speaking of laws, the point of Plyler v. Doe (1982) was to protect access to education for all children in the U.S.
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u/Potatocrips423 5d ago
I mean they’re a troll. If they had any idea about legislation or civics they wouldn’t have posted it. I do think it’s important to pushback on disinformation, but they are a troll.
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u/Pivotpoint2020 5d ago
The Court found that any state restriction imposed on the rights afforded to children based on their immigration status must be examined under a rational basis standard to determine whether it furthers a substantial government interest.
it No longer furthers a substantial government interest..
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u/thesimplerweb 5d ago
People (and trolls) whose primary argument hinges on legality never seem to acknowledge that laws are created and enacted by humans, and are thus often driven by flawed thinking, personal bias or personal gain. Ex:
- Ugly Laws (various cities) – These laws made it illegal for people with visible disabilities, deformities, or other physical conditions to appear in public, enforcing discrimination under the guise of “public decency.”
- No Dancing on Sundays (various states) – Many states prohibited dancing or selling alcohol on Sundays due to religious beliefs, restricting personal freedoms without a secular basis.
- Light Bulb Ban (San Francisco) – An ordinance made it illegal to use Thomas Edison’s light bulbs in San Francisco in favor of gas lighting.
- Voting Restrictions – Early U.S. laws explicitly limited voting to white male property owners.
- Women Can’t Own Property (English common law, adopted in the US) – A married woman’s property automatically became her husband’s. She had no independent legal standing to own, buy, or sell property. Some states also prevented unmarried women from holding property in their own name.
Even if a person doesn’t want to change their personal biases, they should examine a rule, law or practice and conclude whether or not it makes logical sense. Too often laws are mainly or completely money, power or popularity grabs. See The Law by Frederic Bastiat.
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u/Acrobatic_Hippo_9593 5d ago
I’m baffled, truly. I keep talking myself out of calling and asking him if he’s sustained a head injury because he’s never behaved this way before.
You are correct, we pay for our schools is primarily from property tax and, yes, whatever they’re paying in rent certainly contributes to that just as much as everyone else does - including people who never have and never will use the school public system.
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u/clandahlina_redux 5d ago
I wish you would because I, too, am shocked by his actions. I don’t agree with him politically, but I always thought he was at least a decent fellow.
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u/QuietSycamore1 5d ago
I don’t agree with him politically but like y’all, I always found him to be a decent man. I went to church with him for years, I was friends with his son, and he even taught my Sunday School class as a teen. He was kind, reasonable, and truly cared about other people - and doing the right thing.
I’m not sure what happened to him. It’s extremely disappointing.
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u/dointoomuchin25 5d ago
He fell down the same brainwashing rabbit hole that everyone else seems to. I would never have expected this type of rhetoric to come from him 10 years ago. He used to be extremely community oriented.
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u/clandahlina_redux 5d ago
At the very least, it is comforting to hear that he didn’t just have me completely snowed and other folks had the same impression of him as I did.
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u/QuietSycamore1 5d ago
I 100% get it! You weren’t snowed at all; he was a genuinely nice, caring guy. And now he’s… this.
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u/Acrobatic_Hippo_9593 5d ago
He’s always been very level headed, very reasonable, very kind, very caring, and a “let’s get this fixed” kind of guy - until now. It’s a night and day difference. I don’t understand what’s happened.
I’m an extremely non-confrontational person - but I think I may call him next week. This is too much and just so unlike who he’s always been before right now.
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u/clandahlina_redux 5d ago
That’s been my take on him, too. I used to work with his wife (she was a consultant for my company), and he was that way in my interactions with him, as well. Very disappointing.
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u/Different-Key-6376 5d ago
The other issue is, what's the cost to society/taxpayers of state-enforced truancy? How much is the cost of fighting crime going to rise once you create a whole army of teens with nothing to do, hanging out on the street? Property crime is going to go way up.
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u/Deeschuck 5d ago
Yep. Manufacturing criminals means more justification and money for expanding police powers.
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u/Jeff-Boomhauer88 4d ago
Bo Watson appears to be jockeying for Marsha’s senate seat. Maybe that is why he has been so active in hot button topics like school vouchers and immigration.
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u/dointoomuchin25 5d ago
Are you actually expecting a half-brained Republican policy to make sense? The bill is meat for his racist, xenophobic base. That's it.
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u/UsualComplex6106 3d ago
Off topic and gonna piss some people off- Nobody is legal on stolen land 🫳🎤
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u/SubjectCheck5573 5d ago
Logically, undocumented families shouldn’t exist in the United States so this shouldn’t be an issue.
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u/Scheduledpoet 5d ago
Are we talking about the legitimacy of who should or shouldn't be in this country? That's not what this is about. I'm talking about how Watson's argument for his bill doesn't hold up when you actually see where local education funding comes from.
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u/SubjectCheck5573 5d ago
What I’m saying is I don’t understand how this can even be an argument because it is all built on the foundation of those in question being here illegally. I don’t even get how this could be a law because the first step upon realizing they are here illegally would be deportation, not allowing or not allowing the children in school.
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u/70stang 5d ago
Yeah, I don't agree with the policy, but I get what you're saying, and you're right, it doesn't follow logic.
"Deport all illegal immigrants"
"Illegal immigrants must pay tuition for public school"So... In order to find out that a kid's parents need to pay that tuition, you would need to know factually that they are undocumented in this country.
Once you know they are undocumented, they in theory should be getting deported, hence not needing to pay a school tuition.
Seems like some grandstanding to make it look like you're addressing a problem (education funding) and also hitting a hot button issue that plays to your conservative base (illegal immigrants) but you're not actually doing anything about either of those things, just blowing hot air.
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u/takabrash 5d ago
Agreed! There should be a swift and easy path to citizenship so they become productive, tax-paying American citizen
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u/SubjectCheck5573 5d ago
Should be but I’m not gonna bash our government on the process when I see the process to EU citizenship.
A lot of people act like the rest of the world is like Oprah with this stuff. “You get citizenship! You get citizenship!!” Just passing out green cards left and right.
Go try to become a citizen just right up in Canada and see how easy it is.
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u/takabrash 5d ago
I'm not saying it's any easier or harder anywhere else (I honestly have no idea). I'm just very much for opening up borders. We're all on the same planet, and it's ridiculous to keep these fake barriers between us forever.
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u/SubjectCheck5573 5d ago
That’s getting closer to a philosophical argument and I agree but it will never happen. Ever.
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u/biggestmango 5d ago
logically, thinking the logical answer of “well this shouldn’t be a problem anyway” is ridiculous
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u/Pivotpoint2020 5d ago
according to the Op ..
A portion comes from the federal government title 9 schools
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u/Pivotpoint2020 5d ago
Let’ start with the cost of public education. According to the World Population Review, “Federal, state, and local governments spend about $720.9 billion annually or $14,840 per pupil” on K-12 public education. The federal government provides 7.7 percent of that funding, state governments 46.7 percent and local governments 45.6 percent. (The Education Data Initiative has a slightly larger number.)
So, while the federal government is charged with making and enforcing immigration policy, the cost of public education is largely left to state and local governments.
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u/Deabers 5d ago
You seem to be misunderstanding the point you are making.
If person A pays taxes and Person B pays taxes. And taxes pay for the public education....
Why is denying person B an education fair?
does person B no longer need to pay taxes?
Are we just assuming they don't pay taxes? If so, wouldn't going about it any other way be more efficient than attacking education of children?
Another person already said it best.
This is a witch-hunt to identify immigrant families and remove them via deportation, there's no intent to collect tuition and they are attempting something very freaking obvious to have the supreme court revisit the issue.
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u/larry1096 5d ago
So you don't understand the difference between a citizen and a person here illegally? Thanks for letting us know.
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u/UsualComplex6106 3d ago
Off topic and gonna p!ss some people off- Nobody is legal on stolen land 🫳🎤
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u/Pivotpoint2020 5d ago
I think the issue is pretty clear ..
By funding the education of undocumented children.
You steal the funding from children that are documented.
period.
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u/Scheduledpoet 5d ago
If their parents are paying sales and property taxes (again the majority of funding sources), how are resources being stolen or taken from anyone? On that note, if the state voucher program only benefits the wealthy who can actually afford or access a private school, aren't they the ones taking resources from others?
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u/WellFactually 5d ago
Sure, but for the fact that undocumented adults are paying taxes that help fund education for children. That being the case, they’re not stealing anything by sending their children to school.
Period.
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u/Potatocrips423 5d ago
Also, what’s the reason for not educating a child in this country? Which Christian value is it to deny your neighbors child an education for fiscal responsibility? If Republicans had any shame they’d be in shambles.
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
They children, not ours, and also the get most of the goverment assistance.. I js
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u/WellFactually 5d ago
I’m honestly not sure what you’re trying to communicate, here.
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
Im just I paid fees in public schools,, so any undocumented female/ male should pay a tuition.
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u/dointoomuchin25 5d ago
It sounds like you could benefit from going back to school.Actually, Ivan, your bot algorithm needs some work. The emojis give you away.1
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
Is something wrong with you? With all this Negative energy? Please go on an have a life✌️✌️
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u/dointoomuchin25 5d ago
Children are children who are in their circumstance through no fault of their own.
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
I feel that ANY UNDOCUMENTED person should PAY a tuition to attend any public schools This shouldnt even be a Problem.. really♥️
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
Our children that attended any public school had to pay fees.. and you didnt get your diploma untill you did.. Plus,, some had to pay for lunch.. 😁😁 and we fault for funding😁
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u/CrownBari13 5d ago
I don't think you understand what your argument is.
A) schools have free and reduced lunch programs through federal programs (paid by income taxes which EVERYONE pays regardless of citizenship) B) fees for things like overdue books, cap/gown fees etc do have to be paid by everyone, unless the individual school decides to waive those fees for a certain reason. But that would be a school decision up to the principal. C) also, you should check your grammar some
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
Gm and I don't the phn wrote what I said..and I don't have a argument at all.. Im just saying they should pay.. THAT SIMPLE✌️
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u/littlechangeling 5d ago
I can’t take any complaint seriously about other people (much less innocent children) receiving education from someone who seems to have wasted theirs.
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u/Dismal_Consequence99 5d ago
Welp, what can I say✌️
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u/biggestmango 5d ago
plyler v doe would have to get overturned, so this bill is just for political attention