By SHE DINGES A free-lance writer in Springfield, she has been a news reporter for the Illinois, Stale Register, the Baltimore Evening Sun. and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.
| Pupils lacking English fluency are now being taught in their home tongue as of a 1973 Illinois law that went into effect this year. Good thing too -" Supreme Court ordered such bilingual education for Chinese students in San Francisco |
MORE THAN 45, 000 Illinois students are being educated in more than one language under an Illinois law that went into effect this year. As of July 1, Illinois school districts were required by law to offer bilingual education programs (English and one other language) whenever 20 or more students of limited-English fluency were enrolled in one school. The law (Public Act 78-727) has been on the books since September 1973, but the effective date was postponed so that school districts could prepare. Illinois was one of the first states to enact such a law. Thirty states and three territories have since done so.
Transitional programs emphasized Most of these programs require transitional bilingual programs as opposed to maintenance programs. Transitional education provides for instruction in two languages, with the first, or home language, used for instruction in basic subjects while the student is learning English. The primary purpose of transitional programs is to move the student into the all-English, standard program over a period of about three years.
The maintenance program is broader in purpose. It strives to educate the students as bilingual-bicultural citizens. In the maintenance program, the two languages and cultures are given equal importance, and both languages are used equally as a medium of instruction. The students remain in the program throughout elementary school and. ideally, remain in the program through- out high school. Raymond Rodriguez, assistant director of the Department of Bilingual Education of the Illinois Office of Education (IOE). explains that although the cultural aspects were not emphasized in the Illinois law, it is almost impossible not to give them some attention in any bilingual program.
In addition to state law, the courts also require special programs for Limited-English speaking children. In the 1974 U.S. Supreme Court case LAU v. Nichols, the court ruled that failure of the San Francisco School District to provide comprehensive instruction for its non-English speaking Chinese students violated their cm! rights. Following the Lau decision, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the US, Department of Health. Education and Welfare came up with a list of 333 school districts, including some Illinois districts, that should "examine themselves" for compliance With the court ruling. Although the OCR does not insist that compliance has to be in the form of bilingual education, districts that do not choose bilingual or multilingual programs must show their program to be as effective.
Under the Lau guidelines, a program should be established if the district, rather than any one school, has 20 or more students of limited English fluency. Since the Illinois legislation requires a program only if 20 or more such student", are present at one school, some school districts could find them- selves in compliance with state law but not the federal guidelines.
Educational studies have shown students enrolled in bilingual programs learn English at a faster rate and drop out of high school at a slower rate than their counterparts in traditional, all-English programs, according to Rodriguez. One of the reasons relates to the student's attitude. Obviously, a child is more controllable with the familiar sounds of his native language than the strange sounds of a foreign language. Once he feels at ease reading in his own language he is more receptive to acquiring another language and the culture it represents. The all-English programs tended to weaken student motivation and foster a sense of inadequacy.
The U.S Senate Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunities recently con eluded that "some of the most dramatic wholesale failures of our public school systems occur among members of the language minorities." Rodriguez said, "We are saying we care enough about them so structure a program around their needs instead of telling them to catch what they can out of a program designed for someone else,"
The IOE Department of Bilingual Education is charged with implementing the Saw, Through its assistance school districts have been preparing to comply' with the required programs since 1973 the- main office of the department is al 188 West Randolph Street, Chicago. There are also three bilingual education service centers, two arc in Chicago at Kosciuszki and Jirka schools, and the third is located in Arlingtn Heights. The purpose of these centers, which are staffed by experi-
16/ December 1976/ Illinois Issues
enced bilingual-bicultural professionals and para-professionals, is 10 provide workshops, consulting services and resource materials, I he department has identified 110, 000 Illinois students as having a language background other than only English. About 65, 000 of them are considered limited enough in English skills to he in grave need of bilingual education.
Last year. bilingual programs were taught in 12 different languages in Illinois. About 20 languages were eligible for the program this school year. The largest number of children of limited fluency in English are located in Chicago, Last year 89 per cent of the children in the state's bilingual programs spoke Spanish as their first language. Nationally. speakers of Spanish. German and Italian, in that order, are the most numerous. Spanish is the only one of the three which has grown substantially since 1940. due largely to increased migration from Latin America and Puerto Rico.
In the 1975-76 school year. 27,000 students of limited English fluency were taught in bilingual programs in 240 schools in 63 different school districts. About 90 of these schools were located in Chicago. This year, programs are 'being conducted in 351 schools in 64 districts, including 200 schools in Chicago. Under the state law, the state will pay the additional amount it costs districts to educate a child in a bilingual program.
State and federal funds
The Illinois Office of Education
requested a slate appropriation of $16
million to fund the program for the
1976-77 school year- That. request was
pared down to $9 million by the legislature and left standing by the governor.
Approximately $6 million will go for the
estimated 23, 000 students in 'Chicago,
while $3 million will go for a nests mated
12, 400 students down state. This
amounts to an additional $420 for
Chicago bilingual students and $260 for
downstate bilingual students on lop of
the standard state aid received for the
average daily attendance,
Today $45 million in federal funds is also available from the Office of Education and 18 other agencies. Districts make separate applications for these funds. School districts themselves may also appropriate their own funds for the Programs.
December 1976 / Illinois Issues /17