AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas State Teachers Association has called Texas elected officials to address the education and development of the separated children being held at the border.

The association have specifically asked Gov. Greg Abbott and State Education Commissioner Mike Morath to begin developing and funding a plan for evaluating and providing education services to the growing number of immigrant children.

“We don’t know how long these children will be in Texas, but as long as they are here, the state of Texas has a moral obligation to educate them,” said TSTA President Noel Candelaria. “TSTA abhors the Trump administration’s cruel policy of separating these children from their parents. The least we can do is offer comfort and provide educational opportunities while they are here.”

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Since mid-April, the government has separated at least 2,000 immigrant children, many of school age, from their parents at the border, with hundreds more children expected to be detained in the coming weeks.

In 1982, with Plyler v. Doe, which originated in Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status. That ruling is still the law of the land.

“Most schools are closed for the summer, but they will reopen within two months. It is time for Gov. Abbott and Commissioner Morath to begin putting together an education plan for these children. This should include a plan for funding, and it should begin by allowing educators access to detention centers to evaluate the children’s educational needs,” Candelaria added.

“Members of the Texas State Teachers Association in the affected school districts are ready to assist.”