Elected officials and parents groups expressed concern last night that a Board of Education proposal to create intensive English classes for immigrants would shortchange students who stay in bilingual education.

Others told members of the central Board of Education at a public hearing in Brooklyn that immigrant parents, if given the choice, will feel pressured to remove their children from bilingual education because they lack an understanding of the city’s schools.

Schools Chancellor Harold Levy has offered a plan to change bilingual education with the goal of having immigrant students learn English more quickly and improve their graduation rates.

But people who are most devoted to current bilingual programs believe that Levy’s proposal will ultimately weaken bilingual classes by sapping them of new students.

“We believe it is unfeasible to expect parents, many who have just immigrated to the United States, to make a decision … when they and their children have just arrived,” said Assemb. Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx).

Children who leave bilingual classes, she said, “will fall further behind” in school.

Levy’s proposal has several components: Parents would have to give their consent, with a signature, to approve the type of classes they want for their children.

If students lack English proficiency after three years in bilingual education, Levy wants to offer a new option: a “High Intensity English” program with afterschool and weekend classes and $75 million in extra funding.

With this plan, Levy also seeks to find compromise with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has suggested putting students into “English immersion” classes after two years of bilingual education.

Under current policy, immigrant students who lack English competency are automatically placed in one of two bilingual education programs.

By state law, 20 or more students in a grade who share the same language are placed in a bilingual class with a teacher who speaks their language.

The second program is English as a Second Language, or ESL, in which students who lack a common language have limited English instruction.

One in eight city students are currently in bilingual programs, according to a recent board study. While elementary-age children often move rapidly into regular classes, older children consistently struggle to learn English, board officials say.

About 55 percent of non-English-speaking students who enter middle school and 85 percent of those who enter high school in the city never achieve English proficiency, and these students have a higher dropout rate.

Some who testified last night said they doubted those poor results.

“So far we have not had any evidence that bilingual programs in New York City have failed our children,” said Carlos Mitton, past president of the New York State Bilingual Association.

Some people at the hearing said they supported the chancellor’s plan. “This is wonderful. This is a support for the language-deficient immigrant,” said Susan Pien Hsu, a member of the executive board of the National Association for Bilingual Education.



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