Alisal Union School District's troubles go beyond politics

Julio Xirum sits quietly, looking at a blank sheet of paper and trying to write a sentence.

"The girl eats a book," the fourth-grader tells his teacher before writing.

"No, Julio. It's 'the girl reads a book,' " his teacher points out as she explains that he used the wrong verb.

"Reeeads," he answered on a recent Friday morning.

Julio moved to Salinas last May from Chichicastenango, Guatemala, with very little schooling. His parents enrolled him at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy a few months ago.

Helping students like Julio learn English and closing the achievement gap between English learners and white students is difficult. Statewide, the very concept of teaching children in Spanish is under attack. More than a decade ago, California voters approved Proposition 227, which requires English-learning students to be taught "overwhelmingly in English."

Now, the political turmoil racking the Alisal Union School District is keeping leadership from creating a strong curriculum to teach these students.

http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100403/NEWS12/4030308/-1/news12/Alisal-Union-School-District-s-troubles-go-beyond-politics

Posted by Jeanette Pantoja