School plan blasted

Bilingual classes backed at rally

A proposal to slash bilingual education in Colorado’s public schools drew fire from parents and lawmakers on Sunday, many of whom said the measure would hurt children who are struggling to learn English.

‘Any reduction in diversity strategies will only discourage students from staying in school,’ said Gully Stanford of the Colorado Board of Education.

Stanford was one of about 40 people who attended a Sunday rally on the steps of the City and County Building and organized by Denver Councilwoman Deborah Ortega. Speakers, including U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., urged people to spurn the proposed ‘English-immersion’ amendment to the state Constitution.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and others are trying to get enough signatures on a petition to place an ‘English-immersion’ measure on the November ballot. The proposal, if approved by voters, would virtually eliminate bilingual education in Colorado’s 176 school districts and replace it with the one year of intense English instruction.

‘Stay out of our school districts, stay away from us,’ said state Rep. Nolbert Chavez, D-Denver. ‘Leave us alone. We know what’s best for us.’

Tancredo, a former teacher, responded by saying that current bilingual education programs have done little to lower the Hispanic dropout rate.

‘It all depends on how many more generations do you want condemned to a life of impoverishment and segregation,’ Tancredo said. ‘That’s the outcome of what we have now.’

A similar English-immersion program in California boosted test scores and changed the minds of educators who once backed bilingual programs, he added.

‘I’ve seen the results from English-immersion elsewhere, and we’ve got a winner here,’ Tancredo said. ‘It’s not just theory anymore.’

Tancredo and Linda Chavez, head of One Nation Indivisible group in Washington, D.C., are spearheading the effort to dismantle bilingual education.

Signatures of 62,595 registered Colorado voters would put the measure before voters in the fall.

Speakers at the rally said the proposal is one more shot launched against public schools in Colorado.

‘Our education system is under attack like never before in the city and sta te,’ Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth said.

Rally organizers listed several local officials as amendment opponents, including Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, although he was not present. Also speaking was Ken Toltz, who hopes to unseat Tancredo in November.

Denver school officials also have vowed to fight the English-only initiative. DPS would feel the biggest impact from the measure because about 16,000-plus of the state’s estimated 25,000 bilingual students are in DPS.

The DPS bilingual program is under federal court supervision. School officials say federal law takes precedence over state law, so if the amendment passes they may not be obligated to overhaul their bilingual studies.

Parent Maureen Keller said the Tancredo-backed amendment could destroy a planned dual language-Montessori elementary school at West 37th Avenue and Zuni Street. The school is slated to open for the 2001-2002 school year.

Classes would be conducted equally in English and Spanish, and parents wanting their children well-versed in both languages support that concept. ‘It’s a really neat coalition of interests,’ Keller said.



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