Committee declines to advance bill that would require schools to record students' immigration status and nationality

Representative Steve Tanner of District 13 told the Idaho House Education Committee he was carrying RS 32‑405, a proposed change to the state education code that would require any school or district receiving state funds to record students' immigration status and nationality and to aggregate and make that information public. "It requires any school or district that receives state money to record the immigration status and nationality of the students and then this legislation also requires schools and or district to make the information, to aggregate it and make it publicly available," Tanner said on the record.

The measure would create a new chapter in title 33 of Idaho's education code and would define elementary and secondary grades, accredited higher‑education institutions and five immigration‑status categories (citizens, permanent residents, non‑immigrants,…