Gilroy, Calif., School Board Supports Bilingual Education

GILROY, Calif.–Apr. 30–In a packed room filled with children, parents and teachers holding yellow signs reading “Vote no on Prop 227,” the school board voted Tuesday 4-3 to oppose the Unz Initiative.

The ballot measure — requiring all students in California Public Schools to be taught in English through a mandatory one-year immersion program before being placed in English-only classrooms — drew 105 gravely concerned residents to Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Board President Kim Merrill had to interrupt the meeting on several occasions to clear the room, making certain it didn’t exceed the 105 maximum fire code standard. Parents, children and toddlers waited patiently clutching

their signs until the ballot issue was brought up after 9 p.m.

The measure sparked worry in first generation residents, Anglo-Saxon bilingual educators and others who spoke — sometimes only in Spanish with a translator — making emotional pleas to continue bilingual education in Gilroy schools.

“The initiative does not recognize the needs of new English learners,” said Alex Hernandez, LULAC president. “Californians do not need a bill that doesn’t recognize the needs of its students. We need to support and fix bilingual education, not eliminate it.”

The majority of school board trustees agreed with Hernandez. Trustees M.A. Bowe, Richard Rodriguez, Gary Sanchez and Merrill voted in favor to oppose Proposition 227. Trustees Jane Howard, Mark Good and Patricia Blomquist voted against the opposition.

The ballot measure, authored by Ron Unz, a 36-year-old Silicon Valley software developer and millionaire, will ultimately be decided by California voters on June 2.

“The initiative doesn’t solve anything,” Bowe said. “It throws kids out in the ocean without any way to swim.”

Howard said the initiative wasn’t ideal, but did have some merit since it caused local boards to take a long hard look at bilingual education.

“Unz is not perfect legislation, but I am unhappy with the results of bilingual education right now,” Howard said, as the crowd let out sounds of muffled disapproval. “It is not perfect, but it does make a statement. It breaks my heart to have students without strong English skills falling behind

the eight ball when they come out of school.”

Rodriguez, who brought the Unz Initiative before the board, said he didn’t realize it would result in such an “onslaught” and “opposition.”

“During the break, one woman argued, why did you bring this before the board, it is a voter issue,” Rodriguez said. “As elected officials, it is our responsibility and obligation to be advocates for our children.”

Rodriguez told the crowd that if the Unz initiative passed before California voters, children from kindergarten to fourth-grade from different educational backgrounds would be put together in one classroom, creating a “humiliating” and “ridiculous” situation.

“Imagine one kindergartener who speaks only Mandarin and is learning about shapes and colors in a classroom with a fourth-grader from Guatemala who dreams about marine biology in Spanish and a nervous teacher who speaks only English,” Rodriguez said.

Roland Velasco, from District 1 Supervisor Don Gage’s office, spoke on behalf of Gage against the Unz initiative.

“The initiative would strip away any local autonomy or authority,” Velasco said. “Bilingual education does have a lot to be desired, but it should be decided by local school boards. Local bodies should decide what is best for their children.”

Another concern expressed was the interaction between first generation parents and their children.

“The strongest product of a child’s success is the parent, not the teacher and definitely not the school board,” Merrill said. “If a parent can’t communicate with their child, then I oppose the initiative. We do need to examine the bilingual program and this initiative brought it into focus.”

First generation Hispanic community members remembered the horrors of trying to adapt in Gilroy Schools.

“I came here as a migrant child 40 years ago,” said Evelia Rosso, a first-grade teacher at Rod Kelley School. “The system then failed most of us and limited English students were ignored.”

One parent, “Roberto” struggled in English to express his fear for his two sons if the initiative passes in June.

“I wake up and go to work and sweat to raise my children,” Roberto said.

“I can’t explain the feeling inside of me that this man doesn’t want my sons

to speak Spanish. I am sorry that I don’t speak English that well. I am not a bilingual student.” “Our vote is just window dressing and symbolic,” Sanchez said. “It is up to voters.”

If the proposition passes in June, the initiative provides parents some choice by allowing them to file waivers, a choice they currently have in Gilroy schools, with both English only and bilingual programs.

The principal, superintendent and school board would have to approve the

waiver. Once they did, they would have to find 19 other parents to form a class.

Gilroy joins other local school boards, including San Jose’s East Side Union High School District, Los Angeles Unified and the California School Board Association in opposing the initiative.

In December, the California School Boards Association stated its opposition to the initiative for mandating a “single-untested approach” to English language learning and taking away local school board control for determining what is best for children.

Gilroy parents who currently wish to place their children in English immersion classes can send them to San Ysidoro or Luigi Aprea schools. Parents can also send a waiver to any school, requesting their children be placed in English-only programs.

In March, the State Board of Education rescinded a decades-long policy requiring students with limited English skills be taught in their native language, handling the control over how students are taught to the local school boards.

“This is one of the biggest buck passing things I have ever seen,” Blomquist said. “No one took a stand on it and now the local school boards are supposed to have the answers.”

Under the current bilingual program, students are allowed to learn English by being instructed in kindergarten through third grades in their native language –Spanish — before being transitioned into primarily English-speaking classes in fourth through sixth grades.

While being instructed in Spanish, students receive at least 30 minutes a day of English as a second language instruction.

“I saw a cartoon the other day with two swimming coaches on a long pier out in the ocean,” said Greg Eddy, field representative for California teachers. “The coaches were throwing the kids off the pier, and one coach said to the other, `The only problem with this is that we lose a lot of kids.’ We can’t afford to lose any more of our kids.”



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