Deportation From Public Schools & Presidential Prayers – Top 3 Takeaways, September 9th, 2025
Takeaway #1: It’s working
Do you enjoy going to work and paying your taxes to support illegal aliens living here...illegally? Yeah, neither do I, but there are officials in the Palm Beach County School District who certainly do. But despite the District’s wishes, President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is having a profound impact in local schools to start the year. The School District has confirmed that enrollment in its public schools has dropped by 6,270 students to start the new school year, far greater than the 500 or so students the district had estimated coming into the new school year. And what appears to be the massive cause of this disparity? The Trump administration's enforcement of immigration laws. As was noted by WPTV in an interview with PBC School Board Member Edwin Ferguson, children who lack legal status, and/or whose parents lack legal status, account for the nearly 6,000 student disparity. As stated by Ferguson, approximately 75% of the decline in student enrollment this year appears to be the result of immigration policy, specifically deportation concerns. Quoting Ferguson: If a parent is at risk of being deported, I understand why he or she or they would chose not to enroll their kid in public school for fear of being deported and maybe having their family separated. So my heart goes out to them. Hmm... Your heart, as a school board member, goes out to people who aren’t even living in the community legally? That explains several things – including the outrageous level of taxation imposed by the Palm Beach County School District. But the better news is that while school board members are effectively stating that it’s unfortunate more illegal immigrants aren’t ripping you off this year – this is another sign that the Trump administration's plan is coming together. Yesterday, in my analysis from the most recent government jobs report, I brought you this: There are 1.1 million fewer ‘foreign born’ workers in the U.S. work force since the start of the Trump administration. What this data also suggests is that it’s likely self-deportation numbers continue to be huge. So, in other words, it may not be the case that many of these children whose families lack legal status are hiding out (as was implied by Ferguson)...
Takeaway #2: It may well be the case that they’ve bugged out by self-deporting.
So, let’s talk about what this means to you and our communities for a moment. The per student spending for the 2025-2026 school year as determined by the state of Florida is $9,130. In Palm Beach County, if you divide the school district’s current budget, across the estimated current enrollment numbers, the total per student spending amounts to about $29,000 this year. Given the decline in student enrollment, the savings, if properly provided back to taxpayers, would amount to about $182 million dollars this school year. And again, that’s just in one county (albeit a large one). There are many reasons why property tax relief needs to happen in the form of the elimination of property taxation. When Florida’s DOGE audits begin to be released, we’ll have a better idea of many of those things. Local school districts always want higher student head counts because funding from the federal government and the state is determined by enrollment rates. However, when it comes to property taxes, the largest share goes to school districts. This appears to be a place where there’s an immediate opportunity for cost savings. Also, of note, the Indian River and Okeechobee County school districts saw small declines in overall enrollment, while small increases were seen in Martin and St. Lucie Counties. One thing we know is that all of these counties continue to experience growth. Some of the decline in enrollment where it exists is due to the state’s universal voucher program which has boosted private school enrollment. Most of the decline, as noted by Ferguson, appears to be in the form of a decline in illegal immigration. And speaking of President Trump’s influence in schools...
Takeaway #3: The new guidance
On Monday President Trump made a significant statement that “new guidance” will soon be coming regarding prayer in schools. While speaking to the Religious Liberty Commission the president said: I'm pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools. While it remains to be seen what exactly that may mean, it’s encouraging for potentially multiple reasons. As I’ve long illustrated, you can draw straight lines between the adaptation of the Department of Education, to removal of religious references in schools, to the increase atheism, to the increase in mental health issues, with children and eventually adults, along with corresponding violence in schools. The ball started rolling in the wrong direction before the Department of Education came along in 1981. It was a Supreme Court ruling in 1962 that created the chilling effect that led to the end of all prayers and religious references in public schools. In 1962, 13 states started their school days with required prayer which often involved a Bible reading in classrooms. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Engel v. Vitale case put an end to that practice. What was left in terms of religious adaptation in public schools was eventually eradicated by the U.S. Department of Education. Along with a long-desired end to the Department of Education, that President Trump’s administration is currently working towards, I’ve long wanted a case to challenge the interpretation of the 1962 ruling that’s been used as a catalyst to eliminate all semblance of prayer and religious references in public schools. Public schools are always off for a protracted period of time around December 25th because of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Not because golly gee whiz it’s officially winter so it’s time to take a “winter break”. There’s no doubt that any presidential order surrounding prayer in public schools will be legally challenged by the faithless Left, and that’s ok. Hopefully those challenges make their way to the Supreme Court where they could undo much of what’s been done that’s led to worse academic performance, significantly higher rates of mental illness and exponentially higher rates of violence. The “new guidance” from the president could be the key to this unfortunate dynamic finally turning.