San Jose Schools Allowed to Continue Bilingual Programs

The San Jose Unified School District can continue to teach in Spanish, despite a voter-approved initiative to sharply curb bilingual programs in California schools, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte’s decision maintains bilingual programs for students at 16 elementary schools, including the acclaimed Spanish dual immersion program at River Glen School.

Proposition 227, approved in June, requires public schools to teach almost exclusively in English, although parents can seek waivers from that rule. About 50 school district across the state have asked that they be exempt from the law.

Whyte’s decision, released Wednesday, should have little impact on other schools because the San Jose district is under a federal court order requiring it to desegregate its schools and offer native language instruction to Spanish-speaking students.

“It doesn’t affect the other districts because they don’t have a court order that calls for bilingual education,” said Mike Hersher, general counsel for the California Department of Education.

Ron Unz, who spearheaded Proposition 227, agreed that the decision did not set a precedent.

“[The judge] made the decision based on the assumption that the program was working well, and it’s not,” Unz said.

The San Jose district has continued its bilingual programs while school officials and the plaintiffs in the desegregation lawsuit hammer out how to comply with both the state law and the court order.