The Next Step : Classes Will Prepare 171,000 for Permanent U.S. Status

The 19 students who gathered around a table Monday morning at Echo Park United Methodist Church had no doubt about what they wanted to learn on their first day of school.

Soledad Abarca, a 60-year-old Mexican immmigrant, wanted to find out about “Senor King--” Martin Luther King Jr.--because “I think he would have helped people like me.”

Across the table, Rogelio Echavarria, 32, an El Salvadoran immigrant, said a civil rights lesson should be a priority because “most of my people do not know their rights in this country.”

For these students--some writing on new spiral-bound notebooks, others clenching their course registration cards--Monday marked the start of classes in a new kind of school in Los Angeles, one that officials say should be the largest of its kind in the country.

After more than a year of planning, the Los Angeles Unified School District has begun to teach the basics of U.S. citizenship to the first of what school and immigration officials estimate will be 171,000 people.

Throughout the day, immigrants streamed into the district’s 27 adult community schools to register for classes or begin the first day of citizenship school. The district’s five informational phone lines rang incessantly and several schools reported that more than 1,000 immigrants had expressed interest in the class.

“Anyone who comes to our schools will not be turned away,” said Domingo Rodriguez, director of the district’s Amnesty Preparation and Citizenship Program.

Although Rodriguez did not have a tally of registrants Monday, he expects courses will soon be filled. At Los Angeles Adult School near downtown Monday, all 34 of its classes were filled by the end of the day.

“It’s like a tidal wave coming in at you,” said Principal Joe Tijerina. “We are trying to get material together and students in order.”

The district’s ambitious Amnesty Preparation and Citizenship Program has been called the largest adult “back to school program” in the district’s history.

The completion last week of the year-long amnesty program ushered in the beginning of the second phase of the nation’s legalization program for illegal aliens--preparation for citizenship.

Beginning in December, amnesty applicants will be eligible to apply for permanent alien residency status. This process requires that immigrants either pass an English and civics test or show that they are enrolled in or have successfully completed at least 30 hours of courses covering those subjects, an Immigration and Naturalization Service officials said.

The most comprehensive course is for immigrants who do not speak any English and will entail 200 hours of class time. It will be a combination English, history and civics courses.

A 70-hour course will teach those with some English skills mainly history and civics. And a 60-hour class for English speakers will deal strictly with citizenship requirements, which include basic U.S. history and government lessons.

The program has been criticized by some who feel the length of classes and course load go beyond INS requirements, putting extra burden on immigrants.

Rodriguez said the program will be “flexible” to the needs and skill levels of students. But in order to maintain the integrity of the classes, more than 30 hours of instruction is needed.

“We are not designed to be a fly-by-night, quick-stop citizenship class,” he said.

And student Abarca, along with several other of her classmates, many with only elementary school educations, agreed.

“I want to learn as much as I can,” Abarca said. “I want to be able to tell the story of American history to my children.”

Instructor George Kooshian told students they will learn how the President of the United States is elected, who makes laws in this country and what happens inside courtrooms.

One student had an additional request. The middle-aged woman said she wanted to find about “Jorge Washington.”