Bilingual Classes Begin Transition

Educators anxious about effect on their students

Catarino Garza doesn’t expect bilingual education classes to go topsy-turvy next month, when Proposition 227 officially becomes law.

He doesn’t expect parents to slap a lawsuit on him if he speaks a language other than English to his third-graders at Tuolumne School in Modesto.

Still, the longtime bilingual education teacher is anxious about how the inevitable changes will affect students at Tuolumne, where more than half speak other languages.

“I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “In the short run, maybe nothing. You can’t just throw a bunch of kids out there without adequate instruction.”

Garza isn’t alone in his concern. Educators in schools throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley are scrutinizing the initiative and scurrying to develop plans to comply with its terms.

Last week, a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 227, which requires schools to teach in English. Until the judge’s ruling, school districts largely were taking a wait-and-see approach, being cautious not to completely do away with bilingual education.

Now, the wait is over, and districts are getting down to the business of changing, or eliminating, bilingual education. School terms that begin after Aug. 2, including year-round tracks, must adhere to the new law.

Proposition 227 requires that all children be placed in English-language classrooms. Students who are limited-English proficient should be placed in a yearlong English immersion program, after which they would be placed into regular classes.

Exceptions will be made if 20 parents in a grade level request waivers to enroll their children in an alternative English-language development program. Bilingual education, where students are taught in their primary language while improving English speaking skills, would be an acceptable program.

Garza acknowledges that bilingual education in California never has been implemented properly.

“You have different programs district to district, school to school, and that creates problems,” he said.

But as controversial as bilingual education is, its function is vital, he said: In a state where nearly 1.4 million schoolchildren speak little or no English — 80 percent of those being Spanish speakers — it can’t be ignored. That’s especially true in Modesto, where many families retain close ties with relatives in Mexico.

“They’re the ones who benefit the most from bilingual education,” Garza said. “Parents want their kids to be American, yes. But they have a strong cultural identity that they want to maintain. When you deny their language, you deny those ties.”

Quick compliance with Proposition 227 won’t be easy, educators say. In Modesto City Schools, for example, the mission of some 75 bilingual-education teachers, teaching more than 900 students, will change. But no one knows just how.

This week, district administrators will meet with bilingual instructors to discuss how to change a method of instruction they have relied on for nearly

three decades.

“We’ve always relied on research that shows the best method to transition to English is to develop literacy skills in a child’s primary language,” said Ed Lee, the district’s director of state and federal programs. “That strategy, we’ll need to review.”

In the short run, it may simply mean less use of non-English languages and materials in the classroom.

“I definitely don’t see as many Spanish-language books being used,” Lee said.

Most changes will occur at the elementary level, where nearly all bilingual education is offered. High schools and junior highs offer primarily English-as-a-second-language classes, or ESL, where lessons are conducted in English with the aid of non-English materials.

At Osborn School, one of three schools in Turlock that offer bilingual education, teachers already have galvanized parents to request waivers to retain the school’s dual immersion program. The program, where native English speakers and Spanish speakers become fluent in both languages, is popular among parents.

The school has received the required number of waiver requests at nearly every grade level, Principal Jim Jensen said.

“This is a program that does work if you’re patient and get the results over the long haul,” Jensen said. “That you have English speakers that come out of the program with bilingual skills is a plus and a benefit for the entire community.”

Proposition 227 author Ron Unz has said he favors dual immersion over other forms of bilingual education. But such programs are rare. Of 95 offered in the state, only two are in Stanislaus County: Osborn and Rio Altura School in Riverbank.

At Osborn, teachers researched for several methods before settling with a dual immersion program, Jensen said.

“We’re a site that people come to visit and observe how it works,” he said. “But you have to start it with a long-term plan and the commitment from teachers and parents.”

Most schools rely on a combination of bilingual education, ESL and sheltered language classes to teach their large numbers of non-English speakers. Sheltered language classes, where lessons are taught in English with visual aides in a student’s native language, are common in schools where several languages are spoken.

After years of teaching bilingual education classes, Garza transferred this year to a sheltered language class at

Tuolumne School. With no bilingual education, maybe parents will ask for a state-sponsored charter school, like parents have done in more affluent neighborhoods, he mused.

“It’s certainly possible in this neighborhood, too,” he said. “It might be one way to continue these programs.”

Bee staff writer Diane Flores can be reached at 578-2339.



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