This case deals with California's School Systems failing to provide English-Language instruction to over 1,800 Chinese-speaking children. The class suit was brought by these non-English speaking Chinese students against the operating officials of the San Francisco Unified School District. The students alleged that the schools had unequal educational opportunities, and this violated the 14th Amendment.
The California Education Code states that "English shall be the basic instruction in all schools", and states the school district "may" give instruction bilingually. The problem is that Chinese students are taken out of the educational curriculum until they can master the English language. The students in this case rest their case on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which bans discrimination based "on the ground of race color, or national origin,". The school district got into deeper trouble because their federal funds depended on compliance with this statute. HEW is responsible for making sure that funded schools make affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiencies. The Respondent school district agreed to comply with the regulations.
I agree with the courts decision for schools to comply with providing a bilingual education. If the Chinese students didn't know English and all instruction was in English, then they will never learn the curriculum the schools require in order to graduate. In turn, these students become a "suspect class" due to their national origin, and they were not receiving an equal education. This is very important to me as a future educator with changing demographics of Texas. This is very similar to the Hispanic students that do not know English when they enter our school systems. It is our duty to make sure that they receive the best education possible.
Domain 1.3): Apply legal guidelines (e.g. in relation to students with disabilities, bilingual education, confidentiality, discrimination) to protect the rights of students and staff and to improve learning opportunities.
sucram54
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5 comments:
I find it hard to believe that in the year 1974 a school district would target a group of students based on ethnic origin. The Lang. barrier is a problem that every school needs to deal with. If we are going to require all students to attend school, then we need to plan to accommodate all students. If the moving from one grade to another and ultimately graduating from high school depends on student learning TEKS then how can they do that if they do not understand the Lang. Since school is not optional neither is translating and assisting students in every way we can."Hung Pow" weather you like it or not!!!!!
Rumrunner
I agree with the court and the blogger. Since the school was receiving federal funds under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 students could not be descriminated against because of national origin. Providing an education in which a group of children can't learn and not providing them with any assistance is definitely discrimination.
This affects educators because of the great diversity of kids coming to the US. In Texas, a great deal of Hispanics are coming to us with no English and we must educate them in the subject areas and teach them English.
Hunt74
Plyler v. Doe can be used as precedent here because of the violation of the 14th amendment. ALL students regardless of race are entitled to FAPE and if they are from another country, they should have instruction in their own language while they learn ours. This is how the program currently works for thousands of Hispanic children so the Chinese childre should receive equal educational assistance.
Posted by Fatboyslim
guilo10
A good teacher is going to monitor and adjust anything to make sure that every student is learning the classroom. Quality student performance is not a new concept. I agree with the court.
Refuse to modify and well, maybe teaching is not you. We are not in teaching to pick side, just teach.
As a teacher on a bilingual campus, I must say that I agree with the court's decision. I am not sure on what grounds California thought that not accomodating these students was OK. It is very black and white to me that if you are going to require all children to be in school (compensotory laws) and pass curriculum based assessments, then you must provide that instruction in a manner that they are able to understand. Otherwise, you are discriminating against them.
As the diversity of students in Texas grows, bilingual education is becoming the norm rather than the exception. You can either get on board or get left behind.
~Tiffany~
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