Bilingual ban stymies districts
West Valley school districts with large bilingual-student populations are struggling in the aftermath of last week's election to figure out how they will teach non-English speaking children math, reading and writing. Passage of Proposition 203 eliminates bilingual instruction in favor of an English immersion approach to teaching non-English speaking children. Beginning next fall, teachers have one school year - about 175 days - for English immersion classes rather than several years to instruct bilingual classes. Arizona Department of Education spokeswoman Laura Penny said attorneys are reviewing the proposition to determine how it should be implemented starting in the 2001-02 school year. The state department will also be figuring out how passage of Proposition 203 affects the federal court order for Arizona to improve its services to students limited in English. "It's going to be so devastating," said Kitty Kaczmarek, director of Glendale Elementary's curriculum and instruction. "Kids need more than 175 days to learn English so they can be on the same playing field as monolingual English-speaking students." Glendale Elementary has one of the largest bilingual programs, with about 1,600 children in kindergarten through eighth grades at 14 schools. The proposition requires that Arizona teachers be limited to primarily using English to teach immigrant children. It directly affects about 45,000 Arizona students currently enrolled in bilingual education programs, in which a student's native language, usually Spanish, is used to help them learn English. The remaining 90,000 Arizona students classified as English learners already are enrolled in English as a Second Language programs, many of which fit into the proposition's definition of "immersion." Parents could request a waiver so their child could receive bilingual instruction, but the logistics have to be worked out. It's unclear, some educators say, how much Spanish a teacher would be allowed to use in a classroom to explain a concept to a Spanish-speaking child. But textbooks in Spanish, for example, would no longer be allowed. At Horizon Elementary School in Glendale, voters cast ballots about Proposition 203 on campus while first- and second-graders in a bilingual classroom learned about the voting process by drawing symbols of the United States and voting for their favorite storybook. "We don't just teach reading and writing," said Rose Hammerl, a bilingual educator at Horizon Elementary. "We are teaching social studies, math and science in both Spanish and English." Horizon Principal Mark Joraanstad said it will be hard for bilingual teachers like Hammerl to stop speaking Spanish to students. "We feel that bilingual education is working here," Joraanstad said. "By the time first-graders are in fifth grade, only one or two will still be in bilingual, and the rest will be in regular classrooms." Karen Tankersley, Dysart Unified School District's assistant superintendent, said about 700 children at El Mirage and Surprise schools now receive Spanish instruction in content areas like social studies and science, but they no longer will under the new law. Tolleson Elementary School District Superintendent Diane Hamilton said she doesn't think Proposition 203 is the right answer. She said the problem is a lack of qualified bilingual educators. "I don't believe the answer is to throw bilingual education out the window. When the law takes effect, Spanish will stop in the classrooms," Hamilton said. "There will be a lot of pictures, hand motions and acting things out until children catch onto English." Margaret Garcia-Dugan, Glendale High School's principal, is no fan of bilingual education. She said she sees it as a failed program that prevents immigrant children from learning English. "Bilingual education sets low standards for children," said Garcia-Dugan, who was co-chairwoman of the Maricopa County Proposition 203 Committee. "At Glendale High, we get students who have been in the country for five to seven years, and they can't read and write in English or Spanish." Glendale High students who took bilingual classes in elementary school are placed in ESL classes daily for three hours of reading, speaking and writing English. None of Glendale Union High School District's nine high schools have bilingual education. They offer ESL programs to children who are not proficient in English. Likewise, Alhambra Elementary in Phoenix does not have bilingual education. About 5,500 students - nearly 40 percent of the district's enrollment - are in ESL programs taught in their regular classrooms. Because of the high number of non-English-speaking students, teachers are required to obtain ESL endorsement within three years of being hired, Alhambra spokeswoman Linda Jeffries said. Alfredo Benavides, an associate professor in Arizona State University's College of Education who instructs bilingual teachers, said the passage of Proposition 203 will result in some children dropping out of school because they will struggle with English. He said it takes four to seven years for a child to become proficient in English, not one school year. "I think this will be a big mess," Benavides said. "All we've learned through research into bilingual education in the past 30 years will go down the tubes." Reporter Daniel González contributed to this article. Reach the reporter at lori.baker@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6924. |