Superintendent joins group advocating for ‘dreamers’
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie joined national educators in a bipartisan effort to uphold protections for “dreamer” students.
Members of Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan coalition of state and school district chiefs, called on Congress and the Trump administration to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” to remain in the country.
“Our schools have done their job in educating them to be contributing members of our society. We must reform the law — and make sure no harm is done to these young people in the meantime,” Runcie said during the teleconference.
Runcie emphasized the human cost of deportation. The young immigrants were carried to America as children
and know no other culture.
“Dreamers are our future — students, members of our communities, even teachers. They’re productively engaged and employed, and it would deeply hurt our schools if they were pushed out or deported,” Runcie said.
The superintendent also referred to his personal experience. When he was 6 years old, he came to the U.S. with parents who had only a
third-grade education. Runcie graduated from Harvard and Northwestern Universities and now runs the second-largest district in Florida.
Broward’s school district has pledged support for its 33,000 foreign students. Staff works with community organizations to provide resources such as ImmigrantFamily.org and 2-1-1 Broward’s We are Broward.
— Helen Wolt