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Old 03-11-2010, 07:09 PM
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Poor performance of LAUSD prompts feds' probe

Quote:
District's statistics - not complaints - spur review of English learners

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

03/10/2010

Federal officials who plan to launch a probe of Los Angeles Unified's English-language learner program next week said Wednesday they targeted the district because of its size and low performance, but not because of any complaints or violations.

The investigation of Los Angeles Unified will look at whether the district is honoring the civil rights of English-language learners and providing them equal access to educational opportunities.

The compliance review, focusing initially on schools in the west San Fernando Valley and southeast Los Angeles, is the first of 38 planned nationwide by the federal Office for Civil Rights.

"I believe this review could have a tremendous impact not only in Los Angeles, but across the nation," said Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights with the U.S. Department of Education.

She said LAUSD was chosen because of the high proportion of ELL students and their dismal academic performance compared to their counterparts in other districts.

About a third of LAUSD's students are English-language learners. In fact, the district educates 11 percent of the nation's population of students learning English. But only 3 out of 100 of LAUSD's English learners score at the proficient level in English and math in high school.

She said the review will start in the West Valley and southeast Los Angeles because those areas best represent the district as a whole, but other areas may be included later.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines, acknowledging that the district's English-language learner programs need improvement, welcomed the probe.

"I believe this investigation will find best practices that need to be spread," Cortines said. "But I also believe we are not consistent. Many of our children and young people are falling between the cracks. We need to address that."

Ali said the review would begin next week and involve interviews and data analysis.

She stressed that it was not triggered by any complaints or violations, but said the agency has never evaluated LAUSD for this issue.

"Data alone doesn't constitute a violation," Ali said. "We are going to examine if there has been a denial of equal opportunity and if discrimination, as defined by the Supreme Court, exists."

Among factors that federal analysts will examine: how English-learning students are identified; what programs allow them to learn fluent English; how students get extra help in math and science; whether students are properly evaluated; whether they have qualified teachers; and if parents have been included in the process.

If LAUSD is found to be out of compliance with civil rights laws, penalties could include a withholding of federal funds, referrals to the Justice Department and possible court injunctions.

The compliance review comes as the district struggles to close a $640-million budget gap.

Some local education experts said studies have already proven that the district has not provided these students with a fair and equitable education.

A study last fall by the Thomas Rivera Policy Institute found that 30 percent of children who start as English-language learners in kindergarten fail to leave their remedial courses by the time they are seniors in high school. Of those students, about 70 percent are native-born U.S. citizens.


[This doesn't say where their parents were born, and what ideas their parents have concerning their children learning English or becoming educated]

"If you had any program that you could think of where 30 percent of the people, after nine years of treatment, still showed no results you would consider that a failure," said institute president Harry Pachon. "The question to ask now is why, and I think this investigation will be very key in determining the answer."

Pachon added that while this issue can become politicized, an investigation would only benefit LAUSD if it finds solutions to the problem.

"It is easy to say there is a problem, but the solutions are harder to come by and will require creative thinking at a time when the district is having budgetary cutbacks, increasing class sizes and losing teachers," he said.
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