It’s welcome news that the years-long dispute over Denver’s bilingual program is nearing an end.

The program has been under a cloud since a year ago when the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found several alleged violations of federal law concerning Denver’s administration of its bilingual program. The federal investigators specifically alleged that the bilingual resources were inadequate and hired teachers who were not fluent in Spanish.

The school district, for its part, had been complaining about the bilingual program for a number of years and had sought modification of a 1984 federal court consent degree which governed operation of its program. That decree, the school district insisted, contained numerous provisions that made it all but impossible to operate a successful bilingual program. The district eventually proposed a number of changes that would have enlarged the power of parents to choose the form of education for their children and increased the flexibility of individual schools to develop appropriate programs. In addition it set earlier targets for students to graduate from the program.

The central issue during the last year has been whether the school district has the power to develop its own program or whether it must yield to what it considers inflexible federal mandates.

This newspaper has not been in doubt about which it should be. Local districts, in our view, must have latitude to develop programs that not only satisfy the families and students served but the general public that necessarily pays the bills. The prior program was shown to be a failure in several respects. For one thing, the consent decree virtually assured that a large number of students would never graduate from the program. For another, even parents who wanted their children to be transferred to classes taught in English were unable to do so.

That is why the potential settlement is especially welcome. The federal government will be able to monitor the district’s program for a minimum of three years to see if it comports with federal requirements. That is not much of a concession by the school district since the federal government has every right to monitor local bilingual programs.

We find it hard to disagree with Sue Edwards, school board president, who said she is pleased the district “will focus our energies on educating the children.” After years of dispute about the nature and scope of bilingual education in the Denver school district, we would only add, “It’s about time.”



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