English Language Learners suffer in Arizona

I was reading the paper yesterday and came across this article regarding the English Language Learners program in Arizona’s Nogales Unified School District, located near the border with Mexico. The district felt as though they no longer needed the program because some progress had been made in the students learning of the language. The problem however, is that there remains a significant achievement gap between students who are native speakers and those learning the language. Students who had previously been taught in a Spanish speaking classroom were moved to a regular English speaking classroom and started to fall behind because they were unable to fully understand the language. A lower court order has been made for the state to develop a new program to teach English, which could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Maybe it is just me, but my feeling is that I cannot believe that this could actually happen – that a district would dissolve an English Learners program, especially in a district so close to Mexico. I believe that English as a Second Language students who are not proficient in English are just like any other student with special needs or a handicap. Everything should be done within the resources of the school to enable or facilitate these students in their ability to become active participants in a democratic society. To provide anything less for certain students serves only to establish prejudicial barriers.

The case, Horne v Flores, is currently being evaluated in the Supreme Court and is controversial because it calls on the power of federal courts to take over functions of local governments in an attempt to remedy civil rights violations.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/194/story/674984.html