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Dr. Bains’ Proposal to Prevent President Trump From Defunding California Schools Clears Assembly Education Committee

For immediate release:

(Sacramento, CA) May 02, 2025 – Dr. Jasmeet Bains’ (D-Delano) proposal to protect school funding during an immigration raid passed out of the Assembly Education Committee on a party-line vote Wednesday.

 

“When kids cannot get to school because their families fear deportation, schools lose funding. No attendance – no money. It’s that simple. This isn't a political issue. It's an elementary school math problem, and the equation is simple: ICE raids plus empty classrooms equals defunded schools,” said Dr. Bains.

 

In California, school districts receive funding based on the number of students who attend school each day, or what is known as Average Daily Attendance (ADA). This bill ensures school funding is unaffected by absenteeism resulting from federal immigration enforcement and classifies an immigration enforcement activity or raid as eligible for funding protections.

 

In January, President Trump signed an executive order that rolled back longstanding and bipartisan protections that prevented immigration enforcement activities at schools, churches, and hospitals. On the same day, Trump also signed an executive order challenging the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship. 

 

“Many fear separation from their families, despite their status as citizens or documented residents,” wrote the California Association for Bilingual Education in a letter of support.

 

An analysis from the California Charter School Association on ADA rates from October 2024 to February 2025 revealed nearly four times higher absenteeism at schools with majority Latino populations than charter schools with lower proportions of Latino students. 

 

The California Department of Education (CDE) does not yet have official attendance data available for 2025. Still, recent immigration enforcement activities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs of Border Protection (CBP), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have resulted in significant anecdotal reports of mass school absences as families with various levels of documentation, including citizens, fear leaving their homes. 

 

Recent research from the University of California Los Angeles shows that absenteeism rates worsen by about five percentage points in areas where immigration arrests occurred. Additional research by the Immigration Initiative at Harvard found that nearly 60% of educators observed increased absenteeism due to immigration enforcement.

 

“Let's be honest about what's happening here – this administration isn't just enforcing immigration law - It’s waging psychological warfare against immigrants which the President has claimed quote ‘poison the blood of our country,’ ” said Dr. Bains.

 

The United States Supreme Court established in 1982 in Plyler v. Doe that denying undocumented children access to free public K-12 education violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

 

The Assembly Committee on Appropriations will next consider this bill.

 

 

Watch the Assembly Committee on Education testimony for AB 1348.

 

 

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Dr. Jasmeet Bains represents the 35th Assembly District in Kern County, including the cities of Bakersfield, Delano, Wasco, Arvin, Shafter, and McFarland.