February 14, 2008
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com
Students who are still learning English should not have to take an achievement test in English, Mayor Daley said Thursday, siding with Hispanic parents who have branded the federal mandate ?anti-immigrant.?
?What they?re trying to do is, eventually, have them speak English. This is a common language. You have to have that. But they shouldn?t be penalized? and set up for failure by prematurely being given an achievement test in English, Daley said.
?Eventually, they have to be required to take an exam. If they can do it in Spanish, they should do it in Spanish. The following year, slowly but surely, make them take it in English, which is the right thing to do. It shouldn?t inconvenience anyone. It shouldn?t be a penalty on anyone. They should be able to work that out.?
Until now, Illinois students in bilingual education programs for less than three years were allowed to take an alternative state test in English.
Not anymore.
Last fall, federal education officials ruled that the separate test did not meet federal standards outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Beginning March 3, Illinois bilingual education students who have been in public schools for more than a year were ordered to take the same tests native English speakers take.
Earlier this week, angry Hispanic parents threatened to keep their kids home on test day to protest a new federal edict that, they contend, threatens to unfairly brand their kids as ?failures.?
Daley said Thursday he hopes it doesn?t come to that, adding, ?You can?t pull your kids out. No one is gonna threaten that.?
Noting that the No Child Left Behind Act had bipartisan support, the mayor said: ?We?ve worked things out dealing with [implementation of] No Child Left Behind?.We had to change it a number of times and, something like that, [maybe] they have to change?They should be able to work this out.?
In the meantime, the mayor advised the Chicago Board of Education to offer extra help to bilingual students after normal school hours.
?They should have people working with them ? even on Saturdays, six days a week. Extra people on weekends [and] at night. They only go to school 5 1/2 hours [a day], so they need extra time,? he said.
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com
Students who are still learning English should not have to take an achievement test in English, Mayor Daley said Thursday, siding with Hispanic parents who have branded the federal mandate ?anti-immigrant.?
?What they?re trying to do is, eventually, have them speak English. This is a common language. You have to have that. But they shouldn?t be penalized? and set up for failure by prematurely being given an achievement test in English, Daley said.
?Eventually, they have to be required to take an exam. If they can do it in Spanish, they should do it in Spanish. The following year, slowly but surely, make them take it in English, which is the right thing to do. It shouldn?t inconvenience anyone. It shouldn?t be a penalty on anyone. They should be able to work that out.?
Until now, Illinois students in bilingual education programs for less than three years were allowed to take an alternative state test in English.
Not anymore.
Last fall, federal education officials ruled that the separate test did not meet federal standards outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Beginning March 3, Illinois bilingual education students who have been in public schools for more than a year were ordered to take the same tests native English speakers take.
Earlier this week, angry Hispanic parents threatened to keep their kids home on test day to protest a new federal edict that, they contend, threatens to unfairly brand their kids as ?failures.?
Daley said Thursday he hopes it doesn?t come to that, adding, ?You can?t pull your kids out. No one is gonna threaten that.?
Noting that the No Child Left Behind Act had bipartisan support, the mayor said: ?We?ve worked things out dealing with [implementation of] No Child Left Behind?.We had to change it a number of times and, something like that, [maybe] they have to change?They should be able to work this out.?
In the meantime, the mayor advised the Chicago Board of Education to offer extra help to bilingual students after normal school hours.
?They should have people working with them ? even on Saturdays, six days a week. Extra people on weekends [and] at night. They only go to school 5 1/2 hours [a day], so they need extra time,? he said.
