Bilingual Education Isn’t for Everyone

In October 1997, LINDA JONES told Voices of her difficult and unsuccessful effort to remove her daughter from a bilingual class at Mar Vista Elementary School. MAURA E. MONTELLANO spoke with her to find what has happened since.

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My older daughter had been in a bilingual class and there was no problem; she adjusted well to the class. But when my younger daughter was put into a bilingual class, almost immediately she expressed concerns. When I asked to have her changed to another class, I was told the district had the right to place my child in whatever class had room available. In other words, if the other classes are full and there are empty seats in the bilingual class, that is where they put the child.

Initially, I didn’t realize it was the district’s right to put my child in the class it chose. There was nothing that the LAUSD would do to overrule the principal.

We went to an attorney who said it would be a two-year battle, maybe longer, to go up against the LAUSD. We decided not to pursue it because we thought it would be harmful for our daughter to be dragged through a legal battle. Instead, we removed her from the school--a hard choice. Because we took her out of this school, she lost close friendships and had to drop out of her Girl Scout troop because she couldn’t make the meetings. This was a very important part of her life. We eventually put her into a private school where she has done much better.

The bottom line was the education and welfare of my child. I was horrified that the principal put her own needs to fill classrooms above a child’s education and that the district was in full support of her actions. I had no problem with my child being in a bilingual classroom. My concern was that she was not getting the best education possible because of it. The election in June echoes concerns of mine because bilingual education as it existed in LAUSD no longer exists.