The Passaic Board of Education says its state-regulated Bilingual Education Program turns out students who don’t speak English well.

So the board wants the state to reevaluate its rules and perhaps require that all students, even those who speak only Spanish, be placed in regular classes.

“The only way kids are going to learn English is if they’re in regular classes,” said board member Vincent Capuana. “We’ve created a monster here. Our bilingual program has tripled in size in 10 years, and the kids aren’t learning English any faster.”

Prompted by the release of yet another of the state’s school report cards that showed Passaic students scoring lower on standardized tests than the state average, the board unanimously passed a resolution last week asking the state Department of Education to reevaluate bilingual program regulations. Board members also asked the state to consider mandating “total immersion” classes, which are taught exclusively in English, for all students.

Most of the system’s 9,000 students are Hispanic. Half are enrolled in the bilingual program, where classes are taught exclusively in a foreign language, mostly Spanish in Passaic. The bulk of the pupils are in grade school.

Meanwhile, board member Mary Guzman said she plans to change her vote on total immersion. “I wasn’t thinking about what total immersion meant when I voted,” she said. “Sticking it on the agenda like that was political.”

Board President Italo Ubaldini said there was nothing political about what he did and said Guzman “doesn’t understand what we’re trying to do.”

“There are various ways of administering a total immersion program,” he said. “At the very least, they could set aside an hour a day where students are taught only in English. Some children come to school and never hear English.”

Ubaldini said the state funds the bilingual program based on enrollment, and as a result, children with Spanish surnames who speak English are automatically enrolled by the district.

“There’s no reason for them to be there,” he said. “Instead of trying to assimilate them quicker, we let them flounder in a bilingual program. All that does is perpetuate the program.”

Marco Hernandez, head of the state Bureau of Bilingual Education, said he had not seen the Passaic board’s resolution. He said if the trustees are seeking clarification of program rules, they should consult the Bilingual Education Act of 1975.

“There is some flexibility,” Hernandez said, adding, “We don’t change the rules because one district is having problems implementing them.”

Passaic budgets about $ 5 million for bilingual programs, and one-fifth of the system’s 550 teachers are assigned to them. In addition to Spanish, classes are also taught in Polish and Gujarati, which is an Asian-Indian dialect, said Robert Holster, the first assistant superintendent.

“Generally, the students attend classes for three years,” said Holster. “Unfortunately, some students spend their entire career in bilingual classes, and some never really master English.”

Nevertheless, Holster opposes the total immersion advocated by the board majority. “I would rather see an accelerated bilingual program because it isn’t just language, many kids lack even the basic skills, and they can be taught those skills in their own language,” said Holster.

Rosa Sarduy, who heads Passaic’s bilingual program, agrees that it takes too long to teach students English. But she says the total immersion approach called for in the resolution is unfair.

“Not every student learns English at the same rate,” said Sarduy, who is from Cuba. “We will lose some students if we put them in a situation where they have to suddenly compete with English-speaking students.”

Capuana disagreed. He said he spoke English six months after emigrating from Sicily. “That’s because I was forced to speak English,” he said.



Comments are closed.