San Diego's German/English immersion program: Albert Einstein Academy Charter School

[Harold F. Schiffman]

District disputes charter school's admission policy

By Helen Gao
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 27, 2007

SAN DIEGO Albert Einstein Academy Charter School in San Diego offers a
language immersion program that's rare, if not unique, in the region.
Starting in kindergarten, students are taught part time in German and part
time in English. The tuition-free program has attracted students from
throughout the county since it began in 2002, but the San Diego Unified
School District says the school's admissions policy giving preference to
German speakers may violate equal protection clauses in state and federal
law. Executive Principal Luci Fowers said doing away with admissions
preference would be detrimental to her program because German speakers are
needed to serve as linguistic role models for the non-German speakers.

We have the opportunity for students to learn not only from our teachers,
but our students. That's the premise of our immersion component, she said.
Fowers said according to lawyers she consulted, the Golden Hill school's
admissions policy is within the law because it's not based on race or
nationality, but rather a skill set. District staff is asking Einstein to
drop the admissions preference for German speakers as a condition of
getting its elementary school charter, or educational contract, renewed
for five years. The school board votes today on whether to extend
Einstein's charter until 2012.

Einstein has about 300 students in its elementary grades. Its middle
school grades, which were recently added under a separate charter, serve
120 students. Einstein has among the highest standardized test scores in
the district. It scored 885 on the California Academic Performance Index,
exceeding the state target of 800. Kyo Yamashiro, the district's director
of school choice, who oversees charter schools, could not be reached for
comment. Charter schools operate under the oversight of the district but
enjoy greater autonomy than regular public schools in what programs they
offer and how they spend their money.

A staff report going to the school board says Einstein's admissions
preference exposes the district to a legal liability because the district
will have failed to conduct their oversight duties as required by
California Education Code. In a dual language immersion program, the ideal
is to have 50 percent of the speakers fluent in the foreign language,
Fowers said. Einstein's current student body is only about 15 percent
German-speaking, she said. Einstein has so far received 242 applications
for 100 openings for next school year. It expects to have about 400
applicants when its enrollment period ends March 31.

Of those who have applied, 31 speak German, Fowers said. Few German
speakers would get into the school if they have to go through the lottery
system to determine placement in the school, she said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20070227-9999-1m27einstein.html

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