蜜桃影视

Other than briefly addressing the high-profile fate of Dreamers, Trump largely ignored K-12 education concerns in his first State of the Union Tuesday evening 鈥� a contrast to remarks last year when he called for a new school choice proposal.

Trump last year in a February address asked Congress to 鈥減ass an education bill that funds school choice,鈥� allowing families to choose public, private, charter, magnet, religious, or home school.

Trump鈥檚 only explicit reference to education this year came in a call to 鈥渙pen great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential鈥� as the Republican tax reform plan creates new job. His call for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan did not mention renovating or rebuilding the nation鈥檚 aging schools as among the list of possible projects.

In the audience last year as Trump鈥檚 invited guest was Denisha Merriweather, perhaps the highest-profile recipient of Florida鈥檚 tax-credit scholarship program. She now works for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose signature issue has been expanding school choice.

Trump 鈥� and congressional Democrats 鈥� this year also used young guests to highlight new policy proposals.

Dozens of DACA recipients came to the speech as Democrats鈥� guests, even as one congressional Republican .

The administration this fall ended the DACA program, which provides work permits and protection from deportation to young people brought to the country illegally as children. Continuing protections for those estimated 800,000 young people, including nearly 9,000 teachers, has been a top cause for congressional Democrats. The federal government shut down earlier this month over the issue, with Democrats extracting a promise from Republican leaders to work on the issue ahead of a February 8 deadline.

Trump reiterated Tuesday that a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million people brought to the country illegally as children is one of four 鈥減illars鈥� of an immigration plan, alongside an uptick in immigration enforcement and funding for a border wall, an end to the visa lottery system, and changes to family-based immigration.

鈥淢y duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans 鈥� to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American dream. Because Americans are dreamers too,鈥� Trump said.

Trump, meanwhile, invited the parents of Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, two teenagers who were killed by the MS-13 gang in New York in 2016.

鈥淢any of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as unaccompanied alien minors 鈥斅燼nd wound up in Kayla and Nisa鈥檚 high school,鈥� Trump said.

Evelyn Rodriguez, Kayla鈥檚 mother, filed a lawsuit against her daughter鈥檚 school, part of the Brentwood Union Free School District on Long Island, charging that it didn鈥檛 do enough to protect her.

The girls鈥� parents stood Tuesday night, receiving a sustained standing ovation, with Elizabeth Alvarado, Nisa Mickens鈥檚 mother, wiping tears from her eyes.

鈥淓veryone in America is grieving for you. And 320 million hearts are breaking for you,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淲e cannot imagine the depth of your sorrow, but we can make sure that other families never have to endure this pain.鈥�

School officials on Long Island are caught between competing priorities of safeguarding students from gang violence while also ensuring civil rights protections are maintained and innocent students aren鈥檛 caught up in increasing law enforcement action.

Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, giving the Democratic response, spoke from Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in working-class Fall River, Massachusetts. Kennedy touched briefly on Democrats鈥� priorities, including 鈥渁 good education that you can afford鈥� and affordable child care. He also pledged that Democrats would fight for Dreamers.

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