Hispanic leaders: Teach in 2 languages
LAWRENCE -- The school district may face a legal challenge to plans to immerse students who are learning English as a second language into English-dominated classes. Jose Balbuena, a longtime local advocate for bilingual education, told School Committee members last night he is collecting signatures for a letter to Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy to solicit help for filing a lawsuit against the district. The group is a national organization that promotes educational rights of Hispanics and other linguistic minorities. Mr. Balbuena said Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy's plans for overhauling the district's bilingual education program violate state laws. Under the law, students who don't speak English must be offered lessons in both their native language and English. Students are entitled to stay in bilingual classes for up to three years, or until the child is ready to exit into the regular program. Mr. Laboy's plan -- which he plans to implement next month -- calls for students in kindergarten through second grade to be placed in English-immersion classes, with extra support from qualified language specialists. Older English-learners will be placed in transitional programs for three years or fewer, after which they will be offered English-as-a-second-language support, but in classrooms where only English is spoken. He has also proposed eight "bilingual centers" in schools throughout the city to streamline bilingual services and concentrate them in specific schools. Parents were not involved in Mr. Laboy's process for creating a new bilingual system in the schools, Mr. Balbuena said. "No matter how much the parent wants the kids to speak Spanish, when they immerse (the student) in English, they only speak English," Mr. Balbuena said after the meeting. Mr. Balbuena was one of about a half dozen leaders in the Latino community who spoke at last night's committee meeting against the superintendent's plans. City Councilor Macros A. Devers and State Rep. Jose Santiago, D-Lawrence, criticized Mr. Laboy's goal of getting students to learn English without helping them to become truly bilingual. "It hurts me to know that someone else wants to impose another language on us," said Lawrence resident Mario Vancamper. Mr. Laboy said he favors teaching students two languages, but bilingual education has been tried and does not work. In practice, students learn neither English nor their native language, he said. He also said discussions about his plan will be held with parents, but his plan will not change. "I will hear their concerns, but I will not diverge from the course," he said. For about 80 percent of students in the Lawrence schools, English is not their native tongue. And about 26 percent of students are considered to have "limited English proficiency." |