Indiana's 'equal' opportunity provider

To call the wording of Indiana's 21st Century Scholars program "unfortunate" is probably little solace to "E.C.," a senior at a high school in Elkhart County in northern Indiana. Nevertheless, the program created and launched in 1990 by Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat who was governor at the time, is an amazing opportunity for some, but a tragic exercise in discrimination for others.\nAccording to Friday's Indianapolis Star, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state of Indiana on the grounds that the 21st Century Scholars program is unconstitutional -- their reason being that only students whose parents are legal citizens are eligible, thus violating the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. E.C. (her name is being withheld) applied for the scholarship, which requires students who get free or reduced-price lunches to stay drug-free and keep a 2.0 GPA, in seventh grade. In exchange for hard work, the student should receive four years' worth of tuition at a public university in the state, or the equivalent monetary amount to go to a private school, from the Scholars program.\nGenerally speaking, the Scholars programs has been \nheralded on the state and national level as one of the better state-run scholarships, one that we're sure Bayh would like to tout if he embarks on a presidential journey in 2008. The demographic targeted by the Scholars program consists of students who could drop out and turn to drugs, and the state has a compelling interest to reverse that trend. Combine that interest with rewards that are too substantial to ignore, especially for those students who can't even afford school lunches, and the deal seems sweeter.\nUnfortunately -- and in all likelihood, unconstitutionally -- although E.C. is an American citizen, she is currently ineligible to receive a portion of the $19 million that the state spends annually on the program because her parents were born overseas.\nThis country has a long-standing policy, enshrined in the 14th Amendment, that children born on American soil are American citizens, regardless of where their parents were born. Heck, if you're born on a Carnival cruise ship based out of an American port, you're an American citizen. And as an American citizen, E.C. is entitled to the same opportunities as any other junior high student in our state. \nThe 21st Century Scholars program is not without its defects, as some have noted. But on the whole, the program extends a fantastic opportunity to poorer students who might not otherwise have the chance. It would be a quick and simple fix to let students who are American citizens have their shot at the program. The possibility of shutting down a beneficial program is too grave.\nAfter four years of high school, the ISTEP standardized tests, Core 40 requirements, pep rallies and everything else, to deny E.C. and other students like her the reward they can potentially earn is nothing short of criminal.