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Candidates Back Immigrants, Split on NCLB
by Melissa Bailey | Mar 30, 2006 8:01 am
Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Politics
Discussing a bill that would legalize millions of undocumented immigrant workers, the two candidates for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination told a Latino audience at a debate Wednesday night that they are on the immigrants’ side. “The federal government discriminates against these folks after allowing them to arrive,” said New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. (pictured) as he faced off against Dannel Malloy. A new difference emerged between the candidates: their stances on the No Child Left Behind Act and standardized testing.
The debate, hosted by the Progreso Latino Fund at the North Haven Holiday Inn, offered an unprecedented chance for a crowd of 200 Latino leaders to grill gubernatorial candidates on their vision for Latinos.
“We’ve created a class of victims,” said DeStefano of the country’s 11 million undocumented workers. “I think that governors have the responsibility to lobby for a sane immigration system.”
“Sane” means a “reasonable and appropriate number immigrating to the U.S.,” he later elaborated.
DeStefano and Malloy both stood behind the Kennedy/McCain bill in the U.S. Senate that would offer illegal immigrants legal status on a few conditions: if they first pay a fine of $2,000, back taxes, undergo a background check, learn English and work for six years before being granted permanent residency. That bill is at odds with a far stricter version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, which has led to huge pro-immigrant demonstrations in cities across the country.
Malloy, the mayor of Stamford, said he supports the Kennedy/McCain bill but worries it will fall prey to compromises, such as one that would force illegal aliens to leave the country then apply to come back. He spoke out against the more extreme measure passed in the House, which would criminalize illegal aliens and those who lend them humanitarian assistance. He pointed out many illegal immigrants are parents of legal citizens. We need a bill “that does not criminalize parents of citizens.”
All the two offered to do about the matter as governor was to lobby Washington.
One Issue Not Left Behind
The two did show a clear difference on two issues — health care, and a law much bemoaned by liberals and educators: President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is leading a suit against the federal government charging the NCLB, which requires schools to meet testing standards and close achievement gaps, is an unfunded mandate —‚Äù a demand not backed up with sufficient cash to carry out the task. Liberals, educators, and 117 Connecticut towns who joined the suit, agree.
So does DeStefano. “I’ve got concerns about No Child Left Behind that requires this, this much testing. There is not a teacher that I talk to that doesn’t tell you they are overwhelmed” by all the testing. “I think the lawsuit is nice, you know, but I don’t think it does it.” DeStefano said he would “invest in our kids” by supporting pre-K, full-day kindergarten and low class sizes in grades 1, 2 and 3.
Malloy took a more centrist stance: “I think the testing is a non-funded mandate but I break with my colleagues here… I think that testing is appropriate.” He said the rigorous testing requirements “empowered” minorities. “It’s important for the parents of every black, Latino and Caucasian kid to know where their child fits in in the school system.”
As when asked about NCLB, the candidates took the chance to squeeze the word “Latino” into nearly every reply —‚Äù even when the moderator, Hartford Courant columnist David Medina, asked about Gov. Jodi Rell’s recent nomination of a judge to the position of chief justice of the state Supreme Court. That court’s current justice announced his retirement suddenly two weeks ago. In the same breath as she passed on the news, Gov. Rell appointed Justice Peter Zarella to take his place. Medina asked the two debaters if they would have made the same choice.
“She didn’t open up the process,” charged Malloy. “I do know there were a lot of black, Latino and Caucasian judges out there” who were overlooked for Rell’s hasty appointment. “It smacks of cronyism.” DeStefano seized the chance to remind the audience how he had appointed a Hispanic chief of police.
“That wasn’t a Latino question,” cut in Medina, the moderator. He said he’d asked the question because of Zarella’s history of selectively sealing certain court documents —‚Äù a practice seen as arbitrary and unfair.
The two ended by answering a question about how they differ from each other on Latino issues. DeStefano said he’d successfully hired 500 Latinos into the city of New Haven workforce. He mentioned the recent success procuring community benefits for the Hill neighborhood, which has a sizeable Latino population, in the tumultuous Yale-New Haven cancer center project. He said he has “shared values” with Latinos in fair pay, education and medical benefits.
Malloy chose to tout popularity over issues. He boasted his support from a statewide Latino group, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, and Alderman Jorge Perez, who endorsed Malloy after DeStefano shunned his reelection to New Haven Board of Alderman presidency. “The most important thing is, I can win,” said Malloy. He made brief mention of a few policies, including a new housing policy released Wednesday.
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