Arizona: Legal trouble ahead? English-learners separated

[Francis Hult]

East Valley Tribune

 

Legal trouble ahead? English-learners separated

 

When students return to school this month, many of their grade levels will be separated by language ability.

 

Students who speak English will go in one classroom; those who don't, to another. The non-English-speakers will stay in those specialized classrooms, where they will receive an intense four hours of English training, until they can pass the state's language exam.

 

It's all part of the state's new plan to get students who don't speak English to learn the language more quickly. State education officials say it can be done in a year.

 

The new rule is a result of a bill passed in 2006 that required the state to create a more uniform method of instructing its English learners. The bill established a task force charged with adopting a model for English Language Learning instruction, and it chose a method that mandates four hours of English each day, which includes reading, grammar, writing and vocabulary and conversational skills.

 

The plan is raising the eyebrows of many education experts across the country. One school district, Sahuarita Unified, near Tucson, even rejected the plan for most of its elementary school students, saying it worried the Office of Civil Rights would find it discriminatory.

 

Full story:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/122284

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