Posted on 06/01/2005 2:26:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Ten school districts filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state, claiming students who are learning to speak English should be tested in their native language as mandated by federal law.
The school districts, joined by two bilingual-education advocacy groups, say the 1.6 million students and their schools are penalized because tests given in English do not accurately measure how well English-learners understand academic subjects.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush in 2002, requires schools to show academic improvement among their students each year, with a goal of having every child proficient in reading and math by 2014.
Schools that don't show adequate yearly progress toward that goal are penalized, said attorney Marc Coleman, one of the attorneys representing the districts and the two interest groups - Californians for Bilingual Education and Californians Together.
School districts with high concentrations of immigrant students are suffering because the standardized tests that measure progress are conducted solely in English, he said.
"The sanctions have really kicked in, and districts are feeling the pain of being labeled failures," he said.
Schools that consistently fail to make progress toward the goals face a range of possible sanctions. They could be forced to pay to transport students to schools that are meeting the benchmarks or replace teachers and administrators. School management also could be turned over to the state, a private company or charter school, the lawsuit said.
But the federal law also requires schools to assess English learners in a "valid and reliable manner," the lawsuit said. The law says that could include offering tests "in the language and form most likely to yield accurate data" on students' grasp of the academic subject matter, the lawsuit claims.
It says 14 other states allow English-learners to take tests in their primary language.
The suit claims the tests violate students' constitutional rights to equity in public education and is a misuse of taxpayer money. Filed Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, it names Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state education officials.
Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said state officials hadn't yet seen the lawsuit. But she said the testing system is important in assessing whether students are learning and if schools are teaching effectively.
"And English-language arts is a part of that," she said. "It's pretty hard to assess the quality of a student's English-language arts skills if you don't test in English."
Students classified as English-learners take the California Standards Test the first year they are enrolled in public schools, but their scores don't count toward school totals until the students have had a year of English-immersion instruction.
In addition, McLean said, Californians "made a collective policy decision that learning English is a priority for students."
Proposition 227, passed by voters in 1998, restricts teachers from offering classroom instruction in a language other than English unless parents sign a waiver.
The 10 districts involved in the lawsuit are: Coachella Valley Unified School District, Chula Vista Elementary School District, Alisal Union Elementary School District, Terra Bella Union Elementary School District, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Oxnard Elementary School District, Hawthorne School District, Hayward Unified School District, Sweetwater Union High School District and Salinas Union High School District.
The lawsuit is Coachella Valley Unified School District, et al v. State of California.
All I can say is, "Go Home!"
The lawsuit is Coachella Valley Unified School District, et al v. State of California.
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On the Net:
Read the lawsuit at http://www.californianstogether.org
Well, if they don't like it here, they can always go back to thier native country, oh, second thought, just go home and leave our country alone!
Close the borders......
"Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said state officials hadn't yet seen the lawsuit. But she said the testing system is important in assessing whether students are learning and if schools are teaching effectively. "
Ya think?
I knew there was a reason why I didn't like the No Child Left Behind Act. Actually, quite a few, but this is one of them.
The dirty little secret is the illegals dump their offspring in our schools as baby sitters most never giving education to them in places like Mexico.
Often they get out of the public education system as soon as real tests start to happen where results matter.
Usually they bail HS around 16 years of age.
I'd say if they are churning out graduates that cannot speak the language of our country, then they ARE FAILURES.
English-learners? *snicker*
Learn to speak and read english or get out of the country.
Learning to speak English is part of education in the US. This would be true in any country, though the language may be different of course. If you need the test to be in a language other than English in order to take it, then you are not at a level of education sufficient to pass that test.
"I knew there was a reason why I didn't like the No Child Left Behind Act. Actually, quite a few, but this is one of them."
What does the NCLBA have to do with this at all?
Most of these illegals are from Mexico and with HOME being right next door, there is IMO little chance of them finding any interest to assimilate or feel allegiance to the United States.
I think all American Presidents should make every-time a Mexican President visits a statement in front of the cameras to people like Fox offering to annex Mexico, since so many want to come here anyway.
All this molly-coddling of foreign students is for
the birds! Any idiot knows if you make it easy for
them, they're going to take the easiest route possible.
Our forefathers came over here with no English in their
vocabulary and they had to learn on their own. Not surprisingly, the first English words they picked up were the simple, everyday usages pertaining to greetings, weather, time, and food products. Mother learned
what was necessary to get her by at market; Dad honed
in on his work vocabulary. The kids had the best of
both worlds, and the kids were instrumental in teaching
the parents! But they ALL survived, eventually made
their way through life, and contributed greatly to this
country.
Given this prescribed spoon-feeding, we're simply
encouraging these people to remain on the public dole
for generations. If the first thing they get when they
jump the border is a hand-out, they're going to expect
that response from now on. It's his own BOOTSTRAPS
that the alien has to learn to handle!
I have tutored some Korean kids who have here legally for 2 years. They are great at math, but it is hard for them to do algebra "word problems" because they still don't totally understand English. I can sympathize because often the answer would depend on the way the sentence was written. Yet, they have to learn this because this is the language of our country. BTW, despite her English limitations, the girl was rated #4 overall academically in her 9th grade class of 469 students. This is in a CA suburb where the school was about 30% Mexican, so the competition was limited.
NCLBA requires that students be tested in English after 2 years of instruction in the U.S.
THIS makes me ill.....my great-grandparents came here in the mid/late 1800's....and LEARNED the language....and did everything they could to BE AMERICAN (they were German)....these little smarmy immigrants might want to go find another country that would EVEN PUT UP with them crossing the borders.....
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