Arizona: Segregation is coming to our schools next year

[Harold Schiffman]

Segregation is coming to our schools next year


Important message on the effects of top-down policies on ELL students
from the perspective of a school administrator. -Patricia


Opinion by Kathleen Bethel | Arizona Star
Tucson, Arizona
January 22, 2008

The Arizona Department of Education introduced the "new" plan for
English Language Learners to principals and leaders in our district.
But the informational meetings have been occurring around the state
for many months. And the silence is deafening.Many educators are in
shock wondering how we could have come to this without a public
outcry. But voters never even had a chance to express their approval
or outrage. Principals are being mandated to separate all students who
are not deemed "proficient" in the English language from the rest of
the population next year. They must be placed in separate classes from
any child who is "proficient," or, any student who will never be
tested due to the fact that their parents speak only English. The
child must stay assigned to that class until they are deemed
proficient.

It does not take much imagination to see how these classes will look.
Arizona schools will have much the same feel as the historic "separate
but equal" education. The psychological barriers will be firmly
established from the beginning. Children will learn their place by
being assigned to "that classroom." They will know who are the
language "haves" and "have-nots." Using Prop. 203, the English for
Children initiative that passed in 2000, as the basis for an overhaul
in the learning of English in Arizona, a task force of nine
individuals was appointed to design this model. None of those
appointed was an expert in the field of language learning, only two
were educators and some had a political agenda.

The model was not based on any proven, successful plan. It will not be
funded, although it will cause financial hardship to every district.
Our Legislature quietly passed it as ARS 2064 in September 2006. The
plan's writers are quick to state their plan is not actually
unconstitutional. Defending the segregated placements as "only
temporary" until the child proves he is proficient in English, the
writers claim that the plan is not a violation of civil rights. A
child might be there for only one year. But the burden of proof is on
the children. It is up to them to test out. Testing out depends on
proficiency not only in speaking English but also in reading and
writing on the Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA).
Even native English speakers might have trouble passing, but we will
never know. They will not be tested.

If the writers of the plan truly had English proficiency for all
students as their primary motivation, they should have included the
testing of all students to prove its intent is not discriminatory. All
logic is missing. To learn German, I would want to be immersed in a
class with German language role models, and supported with
instruction, not "held" in a separate class with others who speak at
the same level I do. The level of proficiency determines class
placement and is obtained as a child registers. Even if a child has a
baby-sitter after school who speaks another language, stating that
will red flag that child as needing to test his proficiency. Imagine
being a kindergartner or student new to a school, walking through the
doors for the first time, only to be taken to another room by a
stranger and given a test. How well would you do?

Unfortunately, the parents who should and would be most outraged at
this new development will remain silent. They are the ones who also
are not proficient enough to protest. And educators may be afraid they
will be more closely monitored if they express their concerns. So it
is imperative that those of us who have witnessed the impact of
separate but equal speak out. We must not be afraid. We must invite
scrutiny and resist the temptation to let the injustice of this plan
continue.

E-mail Kathleen Bethel at kathleenb at susd12.org.

http://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2008/02/segregation-is-coming-to-our-schools.html
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