A hit and a miss on the immigrant education issue

Kudos to the editors at the Charlotte Observer for

1) getting it

2) having the courage to say it publicly in today's column, "Change N.C. Law" . 

The editors eloquently get to the heart of the educational access issue:

Rising education levels had much to do with our state's economic progress in the last century. That's a result of North Carolina's tradition of extending educational opportunities to every resident. That economic strategy will suffer a setback if the state harbors an underclass that's denied an opportunity for education.

The state's colleges and universities ought to lead the effort to convince state lawmakers that undocumented immigrants who graduate from North Carolina high schools should qualify for in-state tuition. That would be a step with real impact.

The editors at the Raleigh News & Observer tried to show their support for Hispanic youth with "…left out, left behind" but somehow missed when they used stereotypical rhetoric like this (emphasis added):

…there's much work that state and local governments must shoulder, particularly to keep young Hispanics from lives wasted in poverty or prison.

It's hardly surprising when demographics that dismal lead to bottom-of-the-barrel jobs, gangs and crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and other social ills. But to dismiss the harm, even when it involves someone who snuck across the border, suggests a lack of compassion that also is short-sighted. An incarcerated illegal immigrant costs taxpayers the same as a citizen. Teenage mothers are more apt to suffer complications during birth, with costs more likely to be paid from public funds when the mom is here illegally.

Their compassion

Certainly North Carolina cannot allow itself to stand by as vulnerable young people, far from home, are lost.

wasn't quite enough to cover their contempt.