The Willow Glen Resident

Court opens door for SJUSD to apply for Prop. 227 waiver

By Anne Gelhaus

Now that the state must hear waiver requests from school districts that want to opt out of Proposition 227, San Jose Unified School District officials are hoping they have a better shot at keeping the district's bilingual programs intact.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Henry Needham Jr. ruled last week in favor of three East Bay school districts that filed a lawsuit to get the state Board of Education to consider their waiver requests. State officials, however, are at odds with lawyers as to whether Needham's ruling covers the more than three dozen other districts that are seeking waivers.

According to Carol Myers, Willow Glen's representative on the SJUSD board of trustees, the court ruling gives the district added incentive to apply for a waiver in order to continue its bilingual education programs. But Myers isn't sure what the state board will do once it has heard the waiver requests.

"The judge has said, 'You at least have to hear these waivers,' " Myers said. "In the meantime, the [state] board could turn all the waivers down."

Myers said the SJUSD board would probably decide whether or not to apply for a waiver at its Sept. 3 meeting.

The district is currently operating under a court order that its schools continue offering instruction in Spanish through Nov. 13. In August, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte decreed that Prop. 227, whose passage in June made bilingual education illegal in California schools, is in direct conflict with the district's court-ordered desegregation program, designed to help assure achievement by Latino students. Whyte ordered the district to continue its bilingual programs in Spanish until the conflict can be sorted out.

"The November date is buying us some time to get things sorted out and probably apply for a waiver," Myers said.

Although the future of many bilingual programs within San Jose Unified hinges on a state-approved waiver for the district, Willow Glen's River Glen School is taking matters into its own hands. According to PTA president Marilyn Dion, River Glen is proceeding with its plans to apply for alternative-school status in order to keep its dual-language immersion program out of Prop. 227's reach. Dion said it's unlikely that the Superior Court ruling will have any effect on the school's application.

The SJUSD's Bilingual Office is holding a community meeting on the implementation of Prop. 227 on Friday, Sept. 4, 7-9 p.m., in the San Jose High Academy cafeteria, 275 N. 24th St. The meeting will address parents' choices under the new law, such as program options and the appeals process.

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