Abstract
The United States Supreme Court ruled that once a state undertakes to provide children with educational opportunities, such education services must be available to all children on equal terms. However, even though all states must offer a public education system, certain classes of children are not receiving equal educational opportunities. Migrant children are one of the most disadvantaged groups in today’s education system. Some of the unique challenges these children face include interrupted schooling, limited English proficiency, poverty, lack of health and nutrition, pressures from work and family responsibilities, and a lack of parental involvement in their education. These hurdles require solutions to improve the educational opportunities available to migrant children. The struggles unique to migrant children and their families make transfer systems necessary to provide equal opportunities for education. A transfer system allows teachers and administration access to student information regardless of where the child last attended school. The original system, the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS), was ineffective to fulfill this purpose and was disbanded. However, without a national transfer system in place, it can take weeks for teachers to access the educational records of their migrant students. A federal mandate requiring adoption of the New Generation System (NGS), a computer network designed to transfer migrant student records, is necessary. A national adoption of this system is efficient, cost effective, and will help educators better serve migrant students. Migrant children are a disadvantaged group of students, but this does not mean exclusion from equal education opportunities. A national adoption of the New Generation System will help teachers and administrators better understand these students, and help these children receive a quality education.
Last Page
148
First Page
113
Date Created
2001-01-01
Journal Title
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Recommended Citation
Michelle R. Holleman,
All Children Can Learn: Providing Equal Education Opportunities for Migrant Students,
4
The Scholar
113
(2001).
Available at:
https://commons.stmarytx.edu/thescholar/vol4/iss1/5
Volume Number
4
Issue Number
1
Publisher
St. Mary's University School of Law
ISSN
1537-405X
