Printed Version of this Release (PDF)

AERA Will Not Site Meetings in Arizona Given New Immigration Law

DENVER, Colorado, April 30, 2010--The governing Council of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) adopted the following resolution:

Whereas Arizona State Law S.B. 1070 is so broad in its reach and enforcement powers that it can have an adverse impact on the freedom to travel or assemble without encroachment.

Be it resolved that American Educational Research Association (AERA) has determined that it will no longer hold meetings or conferences in the state of Arizona until such time as this law is rescinded or AERA otherwise revisits the issue.

This Council resolution was adopted on April 30, the opening day of the Association’s 91^st Annual Meeting in Denver.  Approximately 13,000 education researchers from 60 countries are attending this five-day meeting which ends May 4.

 “AERA has a longstanding commitment to ensure that researchers, scholars, and students can convene free of constraint or intimidation,”  emphasized AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine.

President-elect Kris Gutierrez of the University of Colorado-Boulder and Levine also noted, “As education researchers, we need to be concerned about the effects this new law may have on fostering an environment of fear with consequences for students’ learning, educational achievement, and attachment to and belief in the social institutions of society. This policy, on the face of it, does not take into consideration sustained sound bodies of science.”

―AERA―

To reach AERA Communications, call (202)238-3200; Helaine Patterson (hpatterson@aera.net) or Lucy Cunningham (lcunningham@aera.net). AERA press room in Denver: (303) 228-8402

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the national interdisciplinary research association for approximately 25,000 scholars who undertake research in education. Founded in 1916, AERA aims to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to pro