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Original URL:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/news/4327959.htm
Pittsburg schools pursue language reforms
Critics argue efforts to educate non-English speakers are inadequate
By Sarah Krupp
CONTRA COSTA TIMES. Oct. 20, 2002
PITTSBURG - When California passed a law curbing bilingual education, Pittsburg
schools responded by dropping programs for students learning English. The new
classroom rule was instruction in English only.
When a group of Latino parents responded by accusing the Pittsburg Unified
School District of ignoring their children's needs and misinterpreting the law,
authorities stepped in.
Now, four years after the state and federal departments of education declared
that Pittsburg was failing its students learning English as a second language,
reforms finally have trickled down to the schools.
As now required by law, Pittsburg school employees test students to gauge their
English proficiency. Students are grouped with teachers with appropriate
certifications. Children now are in required classes designed to teach the
skills they need to gain full fluency in English, such as vocabulary, grammar,
colloquialism and reading comprehension.
"It has been painfully slow, but what I am pleased with is that we are now
talking about what's happening in the classroom on a daily basis," said schools
trustee Ruben Rosalez.
Rosalez is a leader of the Comité Pro Educación, the parent group that spurred
the state and federal investigations in 1999. Two years ago, he became a school
board member.
Still he added: "It shouldn't have taken this long. We have a lot of catching up
to do."
Karen Mazza was appointed to lead the compliance effort two years ago, just as
state and federal authorities were beginning to crack down on the district. She
was an elementary school vice principal.
Since she started, one of the most visible changes is that parents now are being
offered the choice of putting their children in a bilingual class. Although it
would seem that the passage of Proposition 227 outlawed such classes, schools
with non-English speaking students are actually required to give parents
bilingual alternatives.
This year, Foothill Elementary School established a kindergarten and first-grade
class in which students learn primarily in Spanish.
Next year, Mazza plans to expand the options to parents and start a kindergarten
class of half English- and half Spanish-speaking students. Dual immersion, as it
is called, aims to make all students in the program fully bilingual. The
students would begin learning mostly in Spanish and make transitions until they
are learning an equal amount in both languages.
As the Pittsburg district creates new services, its educators also are trying to
learn from school districts that have successful plans to cope with the state's
laws on bilingual education. Mazza will visit Meadow Homes Elementary School in
Concord so she can emulate elements of that school's successful dual immersion
program.
Despite the progress Pittsburg schools have made recently, critics contend the
school district has dragged its feet.
Deadlines to come into complete compliance have been delayed twice. In July, the
state Department of Education and the federal Office for Civil Rights agreed to
extend the district's deadlines through June 2003, two years after the original
agreement called for complete compliance.
In August, Carlos Muñoz, chairman for the Comité Pro Educación, sent a harsh
letter to the federal and state officials. In it, he accused the agencies of
helping the district break the law by delaying deadlines. He asked that the
state take a stronger stance and consider further sanctions against the
district.
In the past two years, the state has withheld some monthly payments to the
district to coax it into compliance. About $115,000 still has not been released
from last year, but school officials said they are confident the district will
get the funds. This year, the state will delay payments until the district meets
its deadlines.
The district is also under similar, but separate reviews for its services to
special education students and its education of black students. In both cases,
the district has agreed to come into compliance with state and federal laws or
face sanctions.
Mazza said that since she has been in the program, the district has worked
diligently, but in some cases the amount of time was too short to achieve huge
improvements.
The district still must find a way to assess the education level of students
learning English whose native language is not Spanish. Last spring, the district
counted 474 limited-English students fluent in a language other than Spanish.
The majority of these students speak Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Punjabi or
Laotian.
Of the approximately 9,660 students in Pittsburg schools, 2,657 were identified
as Spanish speakers with limited English skills.
To meet upcoming deadlines, the district also must submit proof that its schools
are training teachers how to instruct students learning English. Mazza said that
the district is fine tuning a catch-up plan for students who are below grade
level and still learning English, which includes after-school sessions and
special classes within the school day.
The biggest challenge that remains, Mazza said, is finding qualified teachers.
Most newly hired teachers now must agree to acquire, in two years, a special
certification known as the Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development.
Most teachers with full credentials acquired the certification as one of their
requirements. But Pittsburg has many teachers working on emergency credentials.
Mazza said that some veteran teachers who feel they don't need the special
certification may have to be forced to gain one through a district-mandated
policy.
"I have done what I can do in my power, but we still have a long way to go, "
Mazza said.
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Reach Sarah Krupp at 925-779-7166 or
skrupp@cctimes.com.
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