Residents support bilingual education

SCHOOLS: Parents circulate petitions to keep dual-language teaching in Fullerton, La Habra districts.

LA HABRA – Yazmine Guerrero, 23, couldn’t speak a word of English 14 years ago. And it was an uneasy feeling, she said.

“It was very hard to incorporate into this culture,” said the Anaheim woman, who was 9 when she left Mexico City. “It was hard to learn English. But when I got a Spanish-speaking teacher, I learned faster.”

Guerrero was among 40 children and parents who hit neighborhood streets Saturday evening to collect signatures in support of keeping bilingual instruction programs in the Fullerton and La Habra City school districts.

Circulation of the petitions began in the wake of the state Board of Education’s decision last week to no longer require school districts to obtain approval to drop such programs.

“There’s some parents who are too busy working and they don’t know about bilingual education,” said organizer Jimmy Ramos. “We want to let them know that (eliminating) it will hurt their children.”

Andres Tellez flagged down a man in a yellow van, who quickly signed his name. Tellez, who doesn’t speak English, traveled from his San Diego home to learn about community activism so he can gather support for bilingual education at his son’s elementary school.

Jose Gutierrez, with his son Jesse, 5, in one arm and a petition in the other, said he has seen his children’s grades improve because of bilingual programs.

“I don’t think (bilingual opponents) should decide for our kids,” said Gutierrez, a La Habra resident. “It works, and they’re taking it away.”

A 24-hour hunger strike is planned March 27 in a continuing effort to protest the elimination of bilingual education.



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