Butler Schools Drop 'Discriminatory' Photo ID Policy

The Butler School District will no longer require parents to show photo identification that can only be obtained with a Social Security number in order to register their child after the policy was called discriminatory against immigrant families and challenged in court Tuesday.

Jeffrey Merlino, the Board of Education's attorney, said in State Superior Court in Morristown that while the district is diligent in ensuring all families live in Butler,
"we are not in the business of politics and immigration status is not a concern," according to NorthJersey.com.

Rev. Gonzalo Torres, of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Butler, said more than a dozen families in his parish were impacted for this week's registration for the 2014-15 school year, according to the article.

The school district's policy required parents to show a driver's license photo ID or other state or county-issued identification when they enroll their children for school. Those identification cards can only be obtained with a Social Security number.

Torres and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey tried unsuccessfully to get the district to change its policy. When that failed, the ACLU-NJ filed a lawsuit Friday, alleging the district was discriminating against immigrant families.

The ACLU-NJ conducted telephone surveys in 2008 of more than 500 New Jersey school districts and found 139 of them, including Butler, required documents that indicated immigration status.

The New Jersey Department of Education has since reminded districts to allow families to register, regardless of immigration status.