The Willow Glen Resident

SJUSD to continue bilingual program through Nov. 13

River Glen seeks waiver for dual- language classes

By John Pancharian

A federal judge has issued a reprieve to the San Jose Unified School District, allowing its schools to continue bilingual classes in Spanish through Nov. 13. The order will allow River Glen school to operate its dual-immersion program for at least that long, although parents say they will continue working to save the school's award-winning curriculum.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ordered the SJUSD earlier this month to continue offering instruction in Spanish per a court mandate while legal eagles decide how to reconcile new anti-bilingual legislation with this mandate.

Proposition 227, approved by California voters in June, makes bilingual education--and River Glen's dual-immersion program--illegal in California. But, according to a 1971 federal class-action suit brought by Latino parents, the SJUSD must offer instruction in Spanish in order to assure achievement by Latino students.

"Our federal court order is a direct and specific mandate that we provide bilingual education to those students whose parents demand it, and Prop. 227 says we must provide instruction predominantly in English. With those opposing mandates, we went to Judge Whyte," SJUSD spokesperson Maureen Munroe said.

Meanwhile, River Glen parents continue with plans to save the dual-immersion program, designed to allow students to enter the school speaking either Spanish or English and leave fluent in both. At an Aug. 20 meeting, members of the SJUSD board of trustees approved a parent-driven plan to seek alternative-school status by sending a waiver request to Sacramento. If state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin approves the request, River Glen will become exempt from Prop. 227.

Carol Myers, Willow Glen's representative on the SJUSD board, said that outcome is still in doubt, as the state Department of Education circles the wagons against possible lawsuits by other districts seeking waivers, and Prop. 227 author Ron Unz, who hopes to block such attempts.

"The state Department of Education is not being very helpful because they're in a state of confusion," Meyers said.

Doug Stone, communications director for the Department of Education, said the state is currently evaluating the first exemption requests to reach it but has not come to a decision.

The 1971 lawsuit originally resulted in busing programs intended to create a more homogeneous mix of students at SJUSD schools. In 1994, district officials and plaintiffs, unhappy with the results of the busing, agreed to a consent decree that instead created achievement guidelines for the district to follow with its Latino students. As part of that consent decree, the district agreed to provide instruction in Spanish.

Though the lawsuit may salvage Spanish instruction in the SJUSD, the district has also offered bilingual classes in Vietnamese and Portuguese, both of which will be discontinued this year when Prop. 227 takes effect.

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