Few move from bilingual programs
Marisa Samuelson
A report finding fewer than 10% of Tucson students transferred into regular classes last year has some calling for reforms. MARISA SAMUELSON Citizen Staff Writer Less than 10 percent of Tucson students in bilingual education programs learned enough English last year to enter regular classrooms. That fact and others in a state Department of Education report released yesterday have some officials calling for reform. "The longer a student is in an English-acquisition program, the longer he is not in a full-academic program," said Patricia Likens, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Education. "They lose the academics that their peers are getting," she said. Local educators agree the system needs to be strengthened, but they claim the state report does not give a true picture. "They don't have longitudinal data. They only have a snapshot from one year," said Leonard Basurto, TUSD director of bilingual education and Mexican-American studies. In TUSD, 523 of 9,165 students - or 5.7 percent - in English- acquisition programs were deemed proficient to transfer to mainstream classes, the report states. The state Department of Education is required to track the progress of students with limited English skills. Basurto said the state's data are not updated to include another 193 TUSD students who were also "reclassified" last year. He said that the report also does not account for students moving between schools or districts, nor for a lack of funding as the number of limited-English students in TUSD continues to increase. TUSD has the largest number of limited-English-proficient students statewide. Nearly 3 out of 10 TUSD students are considered limited- English-proficient, according to the report. Students in English-acquisition programs Percentage of students English-acquisition programs who were deemed proficient to transfer to mainstream classes. Programs include bilingual education, English as a Second Language and individualized curriculums. Figures are for 1998-99 school year. Arizona 5.5% TUSD 5.7% Sunnyside 10.4% Amphi 8% Marana 0% Sahuarita 7.3% Flowing Wells 27.1% Vail 19.2% Altar Valley 6.6% Cat. Foothills 2.6% Continental 10.5% Ajo 7.2% Source: "English Acquisition Services: a Summary of Bilingual and English as a Second Language Programs," School Year 1998-99 Report, Arizona Department of Education Legislators, state, local officials say bilingual ed needs more money MARISA SAMUELSON Citizen Staff Writer Bilingual education is being debated in terms of the universal language - money. Opponents say too many taxpayers' dollars are being wasted on a failed program. Supporters say not enough is being invested in bilingual education, prompting the poor results. State Sen. Joe Eddie Lopez, D-Phoenix, said it is "grossly unfair" to expect school districts to handle the high volume of bilingual students without additional funding. For more than two years, Lopez has fought for legislation to increase the per-student budget for bilingual education to $621 a year. His most recent bill, which would have quadrupled the state's current $18 million funding of bilingual education, was rejected last week by the Senate Education Committee. Lopez, however, believes lawmakers will be forced to appropriate more money to the programs, as stipulated in a recent federal court ruling. Two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge Alfredo C. Marquez ruled that state funding of bilingual education programs - about $150 per student - was "arbitrary and capricious." Lisa Graham Keegan, state superintendent of public instruction, agrees that bilingual programs should receive more funding. "I think we have to invest in these programs," Keegan said in an interview after the court ruling. Patricia Likens, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Education, said the department must first determine how school districts are using their money. "It's important to see how that money is being spent right now," Likens said. Likens pointed out that Tucson Unified School District last year reported spending federal grants - such as those intended for vocational education and homeless teens - on bilingual education. In 1997-98, TUSD reported bilingual students benefited from $1.1 million of a $1.5 million federal grant intended for vocational education students. A year later, the district reported spending $169,321 of the vocational education grant. Leonard Basurto, TUSD director of bilingual education and Mexican- American studies, denied any wrongdoing. "The information provided to the ADE tells them that LEP (limited- English-proficient), students in addition to receiving bilingual education, also receive these other programs," he said. Students in bilingual education programs "qualify for the other programs," he added. Basurto said certain federal grant figures submitted to the state were lower last year because TUSD changed its counting method. "The previous year, the program managers of all the different budget sources, in some cases, did not bother to take an accurate count of how many of their students were LEP and instead just reported their entire budget," he explained. "Because of the confusion, for this report, every program manager was asked to do a very accurate tally as to how many LEPs were actually in their programs and then report that dollar amount." Meanwhile, a Tucson group continues its efforts to place an initiative on the November ballot that essentially would dismantle bilingual programs statewide. BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE Only 5.5 percent, or 7,312, of 132,806 limited-English-proficient (LEP) students were "reclassified," or deemed proficient to transfer into mainstream classes, last year, according to a report by the Arizona Department of Education. In 1997-98, 4 percent of students were reclassified. Of those students, only 54,320 students were assessed and 13.5 percent were reclassified. To be reclassified, students must meet five criteria: oral proficiency, reading, writing, parent opinion and teacher verification. Only 4,753 teachers instructing LEP students hold an English as a Second Language or bilingual endorsement. Another 3,634 teachers lack the required endorsements. Students classified as LEP and enrolled in bilingual education programs scored between the 18th and 26th percentiles on last year's Stanford 9 reading test scores - which is lower than the state's mean percentile of 49 percent. Arizona school districts used more than $211 million in state and federal funding last year for bilingual programs. Nearly 3 out of 10 Arizona students (729,244) come from homes whose primary language is not English. |