(NAME-MCE) Hispanic parents sue over English-speaking son's placement in ESL Hillsboro OR

[kfellers at cox.net]

I see this happen in my school district all the time. Kids are continually put in ESOL because of their heritage even if they are born in this country and are fluent in both languages. Last year I know of two students who were placed in an ESOL program because they were hispanic. Neither one of them could speak Spanish.
---- Anselmo Villanueva <anselmo.villanueva at gmail.com> wrote: 

=============


Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Hispanic parents sue over English-speaking son's placement in ESL

Although Alek Villaraldo only speaks English, he was placed in English
as a Second Language classes for nearly two years even though his
English proficiency was low because of a learning disability, his
parents claim in a $700,000 federal lawsuit against an Oregon school
district. His parents say they were never consulted about the
placement, which they claim was made solely on the boy's Hispanic
ethnicity; school officials say parent involvement is always sought.

Complete story below.

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1192591534232800.xml&coll=7

Parents say school misread son's ethnicity

Language - A lawsuit claims Hillsboro educators placed the
English-speaking boy in ESL solely because he is Latino

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
ESMERALDA BERMUDEZ  The Oregonian Staff

For more than a year, a Latino boy who speaks only English sat in his
classroom confused by what his Spanish-speaking classmates were saying
and falling behind in his work.
His mother complained to school officials, but they insisted he
belonged in the English as a Second Language program. Complicating
things, the boy was considered to be developmentally delayed.

Now the family has sued the Hillsboro School District, accusing
educators at Orenco Elementary School of putting Alek Villaraldo in
the English as a Second Language program during kindergarten and a
portion of first grade solely because he was Latino. In the family's
federal lawsuit, his parents, Indhira and Rene Villaraldo, say they
were never notified or asked for consent to place their son in the
program.

"Those were his first years of school, and they have gone down the
drain," Indhira Villaraldo said, adding that parent-teacher meetings,
homework and other notices gave no sure sign to them that the
5-year-old spent part of school time learning alongside Spanish
speakers with limited English proficiency.

National ESL experts say the federal- and state-regulated learning
program contains checks and balances to keep misplacements from
happening. But errors still occur, especially among children with
disabilities because educators are not fully trained in distinguishing
learning disabilities from limited English speaking skills.

Nicole Kaufman, spokeswoman for the Hillsboro School District, said
school educators could not comment on the lawsuit. The parties might
enter mediation by late November, then possibly go to trial. The
lawsuit seeks $700,000 in damages.

The Villaraldos say they worry about their son's education, even
though he is now in a mainstream classroom at the same school.

"If that was the beginning, what can we expect later on?" the boy's
mother said. "What if he doesn't catch up?"

Placement is a process

State and district officials say children are placed in the English as
a Second Language program after a thorough process that includes
annual assessments and parent participation.  Everything begins with a
home language survey. If a language besides English is present, the
child is given an assessment test, said Gail Merrion, director of
Hillsboro School District's ESL and Migrant Program.

If the child has a disability, ESL educators and special education
teachers work together to find the right fit for the student. Federal
law requires that parents are notified and updated about the child's
progress in ESL.

"There is no reason to believe that a parent would not be aware of the
child's placement," Merrion said.

She said ethnicity and federal funding for ESL have nothing to do with
a school's decision to place a child in the program.

For the Villaraldos, the process did not work that way, Indhira
Villaraldo said.

The district's bilingual report lists Alek's primary language as
Spanish, but Villaraldo said she indicated her son communicated in
English.

Alek protested to the school that he did not understand Spanish, and
twice Villaraldo turned down telephone inquiries from ESL teacher Jeff
Hazen about putting her son in the program, she said.

"I never knew that he already had Alek in ESL," she said.

When the Villaraldos found out and complained, Principal Tim Bishop
and others at the district did nothing, she said. Hazen pointed to
Alek's "Mexican ancestry," Villaraldo said.
"They made it seem like it wasn't my decision," Villaraldo said.

While Alek was in the ESL program, his grades plummeted, putting him
at the bottom of his class, and he dreaded going to school, his
parents said.

In the lawsuit, their attorney Kevin Brague argued that Alek's rights
as a person with a disability also were violated. He said the school
mistook the child's below-average English proficiency as a language
problem, instead of recognizing it as a disability.

That portion of the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal District Court
judge because the parents hadn't exhausted their appeals at the school
level.

Federal law is specific

Generally, lines do not blur when it comes to judging whether a child
belongs in an ESL program, said Raul Gonzalez, legislative director
for the National Council of La Raza.
Gonzalez, a former teacher who focuses on education issues, said
federal law provides "very specific instructions" on how to assess
children.

"If the school failed to follow the process, they broke the law," he said.

Matters can become complicated regarding children with disabilities,
said Janette Klingner, professor of education specializing in
bilingual special education at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Schools commonly err in labeling ESL students as students with
disabilities, not the other way around.

And sometimes, she said, schools ignore parents who say their child
speaks only English.
"Some parents will put 'English' if they don't want the child to be
stigmatized, even if the child would be entitled to ESL, and some
schools don't necessarily believe what parents say," she said.

A lack of knowledge about English as a second language and disability
issues leaves many school districts exposed to mistakes, said Julie
Esparza Brown, director of Portland State University's Bilingual
Teacher Pathway program.

Esparza Brown has been hired to train Hillsboro School District's
bilingual educators involved in special education.

"There aren't enough educators who understand the interface of ESL and
special education," she said. "Nationwide, there are very few programs
to train people."
Villaraldo said Alek is in second grade now and no longer in ESL. She
said the boy is gradually regaining his ability and interest in
learning.

"We really encourage him," Villaraldo said. "We tell him, 'Alek,
school is fun. You're going to be somebody one day.' "

Esmeralda Bermudez: 503-294-5961; ebermudez at news.oregonian.com

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