Kansas: Catholic School "English Only" Policy Upheld

[Francis Hult]

Via lgpolicy...
 
 

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Catholic School "English Only" Policy Upheld
School prevails in English-only lawsuit

BY RON SYLVESTER, The Wichita Eagle

A federal judge ruled Friday that a Wichita Catholic school policy
requiring students to speak only English didn't break any civil rights
laws. But U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten criticized both sides
in the lawsuit for the way they handled the conflict and characterized
St. Anne Catholic School's implementation of its English-only policy
as "one-sided." "It has divided a school, its church and
congregation," Marten said. "It has divided the Hispanic community in
its congregation. And it has touched a nerve in this community and
across the nation."

But Marten said the policy didn't rise to the level of a "hostile
educational environment" -- the legal standard applying to this case
-- and denied a request from three Hispanic families to end the
practice at St. Anne.

Marten said school administrators resisted working with
Spanish-speaking parishioners to resolve a dispute that seemed to
single those students out.

"They implemented the English-only policy without consulting with the
segment of the school it would impact the most," he said.

School officials testified that English-speaking students at St.
Anne's middle school were intimidated by hearing their peers speak in
a language they didn't understand.


Full story:
http://thelatinojournal.blogspot.com/2008/08/catholic-school-english-only-policy.html


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