Manteca District is Accused of Failing Bilingual Students

MANTECA—Bilingual students at Manteca Unified School District aren’t being taught, according to a complaint filed this week with the state Department of Education.

“The general complaint from the parents is (that) my child is not getting an education,” Arturo Ocampo, an attorney with the California Rural Assistance League, said Thursday.

“He’s not being taught. He’s just sitting in a classroom without being offered bilingual instruction or somebody coming by to give them help.”

The league charges the district with discrimination and believes limited English proficiency students don’t get the academic instruction they need in their primary language.

The district’s recent decision to cut 23 bilingual aide positions to save some $320,000 in the 1995-96 fiscal year triggered the claim, but Ocampo said there were other factors.

“Even if they hadn’t fired the bilingual aides, there was still a good chance we would have filed the complaint anyway,” Ocampo said, adding that he believes there are overall flaws in the district’s bilingual program. The complaint contends that the district fails to promote cross-cultural understanding, does not allocate significant funds to educate students who speak limited English and has failed to implement an effective bilingual program.

Frank Purdy, assistant superintendent of educational services for the district, declined to confirm or deny any allegations.

“The complaint is all generalization and no specifics,” he said.

“All I can say is, our program is in compliance. We’re meeting all state and federal requirements. To the best of our knowledge at this time we’re providing all of these services to these children.”

Nevertheless, Ocampo says his organization represents a group of about 50 parents and community members who want the state Department of Education to conduct an on-site investigation of the district.

“There’s all kinds of things they can do to remedy this,” Ocampo said. “One is to replace the 23 aides, but a lot more has to be done.”

The board of trustees voted in May to eliminate the positions to help offset an $850,000 budget shortfall. School officials had suggested that an increase in bilingual certified teachers had decreased the need for such positions, though some teachers disagree.

“It was bad already, and now they’re getting rid of the aides,” said Trine Rodrigues, a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at Lathrop School.

“It’s just going to get worse now without the aides. We need them — bottom line. I feel we do.”

Purdy said some of the 23 bilingual aides slated to lose their jobs could be promoted to bilingual aide II to help serve the district’s 949 limited English-speaking students.



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