Complaints target Costa Mesa school

EDUCATION: Activist says in federal and state filings that students learning English aren't getting services they need.

A PTA member has filed federal and state complaints against a Costa Mesa middle school, alleging that many students who are still learning English are getting a substandard education, including some who are missing out on science classes or on materials for their grade levels.

Mirna Burciaga, a community activist who filed the complaints late last year, contends TeWinkle Intermediate School lacks an effective program to help those students, most of whom are Hispanic, learn English. She also alleges that the school has not given parents access to school information in Spanish when needed.

I feel that they are not receiving services, and I’m worried about that,” Burciaga said, adding that she filed the complaints based on her observations and on claims of parents who do not speak English well. Her own children are in regular classes.

I’m not trying to look for someone to blame,” she said. We just want the programs to be as they should be.”

The U.S. Department of Edu cation’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating the federal complaint, spokesman Rodger Murphey said. State officials referred the matter to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which is working on a response.

Burciaga said nearly 40 students are not taking science classes; others lack materials such as math books at their grade levels; and some 372 students have been put in regular classrooms even though the district is still trying to develop a way to place students in classes. The school is home to about 500 students who are learning English, about half the student body.

School and district officials say English-learner” students are learning the curriculum — the core subjects of math, language arts, social studies and science — and have qualified teachers.

The school just hired a bilingual community liaison, who helps translate materials, and it offers after-school programs for struggling students.

Still, officials acknowledge there are problems, such as the need for a reliable and consistent assessment to chart students’ progress as they learn English and to ensure they are put in the right classes — something that has been an issue statewide. The district has one of Orange County’s lowest rates of students attaining fluency — 3.9 percent last year, half the state average.

I think it’s basically a statewide problem,” said Jaime Castellanos, assistant superinten dent of Newport-Mesa. He added that officials are working to fix it.

The education of English- learners is the most common complaint on file with the state Department of Education, accounting for at least 65 of more than 100 cases pending, state officials said. It receives an additional two or three complaints a month, manager Howie DeLane said.

The complaints are less frequent at the federal level — about 1 percent of those filed each year, Murphey said.

State and federal laws require that English-learners receive instruction at their grade levels, state officials said. Those requirements were not affected by Proposition 227, the 1998 statewide ballot initiative that effectively ended bilingual education in California.

Newport-Mesa Unified is home to nearly 6,000 English learners, about 28 percent of the student body. About 146,450 Orange County students are still learning English, among 1.5 million statewide.

Two visits to TeWinkle found that 39 students in basic English classes — those who are just starting to learn the language — are not taking science this year. But they are allowed to take an elective, such as art.

TeWinkle Principal Sharon Fry said the students take two periods of language arts and are given an elective, partly to help get them interested in school and to avoid overwhelming them with academics. You’re making a judgment call — what is the best thing for this child at this point in time,” Fry said.

One teacher, Patrick Herrera, said he worries his students are not getting the basics they need. He said that 25 of his students lack math books at their grade level and that he does not feel qualified to teach math.

I’m not a math teacher, and they don’t have a science class,” he said.

Fry said that the students should have access to math books and that she is working with Herrera to resolve the issue. She said Herrera was needed to teach math this year, noting that the school — like many others in the state — is struggling to hire qualified teachers.

Still, Fry said she and other teachers have worked hard in recent years to improve education for English learners. Two years ago, most English learners at TeWinkle were in some form of English-development class. Last year, some 372 students were put in regular classes, up from about 42 the year before.

Fry said those students get the extra help they need, plus the advantage of being in class with students who already are fluent and can serve as role models. Test scores are up — though English learners’ scores are still below average — and TeWinkle this school year ranked 9 on an ascending scale of 1 to 10 when compared with schools with similar demographics.

For the first time, all students in grades six through eight had parent conferences this year.

We are making our best attempt to make sure that every student is getting the services they need,” Fry said.

But Burciaga questioned how the students were moved — especially since the district is still working on a system to adequately place them — and said parents who don’t speak English well need to be more involved in the school.

The school does not have an English Learner Advisory Committee, which is required by law to advise the principal and staff on a school plan for English learners, though Fry said she is working on it. Some teachers are still unaware of the process needed to classify someone as fluent in English, and last year TeWinkle classified only 12 students as fluent, the first in four years.

My idea is not to speak for the (parents),” said Burciaga, who also is president of Madres Costa Mesa, a parents group. My idea is that the parents get to speak for themselves.”

Contact Sacchetti at (714) 796-4934 or [email protected]



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