Fund Squeeze Tightens for Teaching of English as Second Language

Scarce English classes for immigrants seeking amnesty may soon be in even shorter supply unless the state allocates more of its amnesty-related federal money to education, the director of Catholic Charities of Orange County said Thursday.

Catholic Charities and dozens of other organizations offering classes in English as a Second Language (ESL) received letters last week from the state Department of Education, advising them that there is not enough money budgeted by the state to fully reimburse the groups.

In Catholic Charities’ case, the nonprofit group had contracted with the state to serve about 1,000 students in fiscal 1988-89 for about $200,000, said Sister Kristan Schlichte, executive director.

But the organization was told last week that it can be sure of getting reimbursed for just $116,235.

“We reached that on March 1,” Schlichte said, adding that Catholic Charities has already spent $162,000 on its ESL program, with about 8 weeks left in the fiscal year.

Catholic Charities has 840 students enrolled in classes at four sites in Santa Ana and is spending $1,000 a day of its own money to keep the program going, said Karen R. Winne, director of the ESL program.

“Not only is this a violation of our contract, which we made in good faith, but think about what happens in human terms,” Winne said. “We should have closed the program on Monday, and we discussed doing it. . . . We were 20 minutes from aborting it yesterday.”

Schlichte said Catholic Charities cannot afford to pay for the program indefinitely. “If we can’t get any better assurance that our agreements will be kept with the state of California, we won’t be involved in this next year,” she said.

The classes, which include instruction in English and U.S. civics and history, are in especially heavy demand this year because immigrants can use them to meet the requirements of the amnesty program’s second phase and become permanent legal residents.

About 1.6 million people in California applied for amnesty under the 1986 immigration reform bill. The law allows illegal aliens living in the United States before 1982 and agricultural workers living here before 1986 to become legal residents and, eventually, citizens.

During the amnesty program’s second phase, which began in November, most applicants must demonstrate some knowledge of English, U.S. civics and history to gain status as permanent residents. One way they can do that is to complete 40 hours of instruction in those subjects.

Long Lists and Lines

Lines and waiting lists at adult education sites, community colleges and nonprofit organizations offering the classes have been extraordinarily long, educators say.

Santa Ana’s Operation SER--for service, employment and redevelopment--has 234 people enrolled in its classes, with another 335 on a waiting list, said James Sanchez, executive director of the group.

But the state has guaranteed reimbursement for only about a third of the group’s $75,000 costs this year, Sanchez said.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Sanchez said. “Orange County is one of the most severely impacted (by amnesty) counties in the nation.”

The problem, said state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, is that Gov. George Deukmejian allocated too much of the state’s $350 million in federal amnesty-relief money this year for programs other than education, which received $120 million.

Based on ESL enrollments so far this year, about $50 million more would be needed to fully reimburse the program providers, Honig said.

‘Belittled Our Efforts’

“I’ve been . . . trying to assure that enough money goes to pay for these adults,” Honig said. “They need it to stay in the country . . . and they need it for jobs. . . . We made this case at the governor’s office, and they belittled our efforts.”

Relief for programs such as Catholic Charities could come under legislation sponsored by state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles). The bill, SB 109, would free up $50 million this year for the English programs. The Senate approved the bill, but it has not yet come before the Assembly.

Republicans have said Deukmejian would oppose the bill unless it includes a limit on the number of total class hours that immigrants may attend. Deukmejian is willing to have the state pay for the 40 hours that immigrants need for permanent residency, plus 60 additional hours.

But Torres opposes any amendment, arguing that many educators believe that students need many more hours than the amnesty minimum before they can become proficient in English.