In 1977, two years after Section 21.031 was revised, the Tyler Independent School District (Tyler ISD) imposed a $1000 tuition per undocumented student per year if they wished to continue their education. This fee was virtually unattainable to most families.
James Plyler, superintendent of the Tyler ISD during the lawsuit, in an interview about his experiences during the lawsuit, 2007 (Education Week)
The Tyler Independent School District (Tyler ISD)
As a result, virtually all undocumented students in the Tyler ISD were expelled.
"All I can remember is that we were sent home one day…And they said we couldn't come back to school."
- Alfredo Lopez, student of the Tyler ISD at the time
In response, local social worker Michael McAndrews sought out families willing to challenge the statute.
"I just found it completely and totally out of the ordinary that you'd take a child and keep them from going to school. It just didn't make sense to me."
- Michael McAndrews, 2017
Michael McAndrews, (APM Reports)
McAndrews initially struggled to find families willing to sue the school district, as many feared retaliation and deportation. Eventually, however, he met with and unified four undocumented families of Tyler, Texas: the Robles, the Lopezes, the Hernandezs, and the Alvarezes, whose children were barred from public education due to Section 21.031. From here, these families were connected with civil rights attorney Larry Daves.
"You have to have extraordinary will to actually want to go in there and take on the system and expose yourself to everything you're exposed to in litigation, and of course in this situation on top of that, the worries about being deported."
- Larry Daves, 2017
Daves reached out to Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) lawyers Peter Roos and Peter A. Schey, who agreed to try the case in federal court.
"I mean, here, the consequences were so immense that the risk was absolutely worth it and the investment to file the lawsuit litigated all those levels and thankfully, we got Plyler v. Doe"
- Vilma Martinez, head of MALDEF from 1973 to 1982
Peter Roos (Education Week) Peter Schey (Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law)