Prop. 227 is upheld by judge

EDUCATION: The ruling says language-immersion programs are common and calls criticism of the ballot measure 'overstated.'

English will be the required language of instruction in all Orange County classrooms this fall after a federal judge refused Wednesday to block Proposition 227, which virtually ends California’s 30-year experiement with bilingual education.

The 48-page decision by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Legge in San Francisco brought cheers from supporters of the measure and disappointment to bilingual advocates.

“It’s going to be harmful to teachers and children,” said Maria Quezada of Rancho Santa Margarita, president of the California Association for Bilingual Education.

Prop. 227, approved by 61 percent of California voters in June, requires that teaching be overwhelmingly in English and that English-learners receive a year of intensive instruction before being placed in mainstream classes with fluent students.

Legge ruled that the law does not violate the rights of California’s 1.4 million limited English students because English-immersion classes are a common educational practice.

Opponents’ arguments that Prop. 227 imposes inflexible, sink-or-swim methods were “terribly overstated,” he said.

Local schools are scrambling to comply with the law. Officials in Santa Ana Unified, home to Orange County’s largest limited-English population, said they cannot meet this fall’s deadline because they need to order English textbooks and retrain staff.

Santa Ana teacher Gloria Matta Tuchman, a co-sponsor of Prop.

227, said school officials could face lawsuits if they fail to comply.

“Children cannot be denied English any longer,” she said. “To say they can’t implement it is totally unacceptable. “



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