SACRAMENTO BEE

November 20, 1998

CALIFORNIA REPORT

School district takes advantage of Prop. 227 loophole

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- Bilingual education is still an option for 4,700 students in Orange County's largest school district, despite the Proposition 227 English immersion requirement.

Santa Ana Unified School District accounts for about 80 percent of the county's requests for parental waivers, which exempt students from the English-immersion classes required by the new law.

Other districts with sizable numbers of limited-English students had only about a dozen waivers requests each.

Voters approved Proposition 227 in June. The law allows children to get bilingual instruction if their parents apply for waivers under certain conditions.

Santa Ana board President Nativo Lopez said there is a disparity between the number of waivers and the number of limited-English students at schools.

Placentia-Yorba Linda had a large number of waiver requests -- 800 out of 4,000 limited-English students. However, Garden Grove Unified had 12 waiver requests, although 22,000 of its students are classified as limited English.

"These are telltale signs that perhaps schools aren't doing enough to explain the language, the law, the various programs available and the rights of parents," Lopez said.

Lopez is meeting with parents from 20 schools in the area to see if they are informed.

Santa Ana schools have had 173 general parent meetings and 4,564 follow-up conferences on the issue.

But in Garden Grove Unified only one school held a parent meeting to explain waiver options.

Spokesman Alan Trudel said the district sent letters to parents of limited-English students, explaining the new law. Garden Grove doesn't offer bilingual programs, but Trudel said they will help parents requesting a waiver to transfer to a district that offers alternatives.

Some Proposition 227 proponents contend that Lopez might push parents to ask for waivers, when they might not otherwise. They also argue that Santa Ana principals are pressuring teachers to get parents to sign waiver requests.

"I want to assure myself that parents feel comfortable," Lopez said.