Nevada: English-only School Bus Rule Violates Students ’ Rights

[Harold Schiffman]

English-Only School Bus Rule Violates Students' Rights

  The following is from an email newsletter. The link will take you to
the site where you can download the ACLU's response to the Nevada
School District. -Patricia

In Nevada, the Esmeralda County School District is blatantly
discriminating against Latino students and violating their first
amendment rights by forbidding students from speaking Spanish on
school buses. The ACLU sent a letter to the superintendent requesting
that the school district rescind the ban on Spanish immediately.
"During the bus ride to and from school there is no scheduled
scholastic instruction," said Lee Rowland, staff attorney with the
ACLU of Nevada. "Yet while English-speaking students can carry on
personal conversations that don't further any educational goals,
Spanish-speaking students must sit in silence."

By singling out and prohibiting the use of Spanish, the ACLU's letter
points out, the school district sends the message that
Spanish-speakers, the majority of whom are Latino, are inferior.
Because the language people choose to speak closely reflects their
culture and where they are from, restricting the use of languages
violates federal prohibitions against discrimination based on national
origin.
The ACLU has requested to meet with the superintendent soon to resolve
the matter of the school district's policy that prohibits Spanish on
the bus.

http://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2008/02/english-only-school-bus-rule-violates.html

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