NEW YORK TIMES

August 4, 1998

Calif Begins English-Only Education

By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Esther Castruita's convictions took a back seat to reality on the first day of classes under a law mandating English-only instruction.

Calling the switch ``more emotional than hectic,'' Ms. Castruita -- principal of Hughes Elementary School in Cudahy and a bilingual education supporter -- vowed Monday to adapt to the new law that virtually eliminates classes not taught in English.

Nevertheless, she said: ``We are bidding farewell to a very dear friend, a bilingual friend that we believe in. It's like mourning, but now the denial phase is over.''

Her school is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest. Of its 687,000 students, about 312,000 have limited English proficiency.

Monday, the first day of class at 50 schools, was also the first school day under the new law.

``They should have done something about it years ago,'' said Sylvia Velaz, whose 9-year old daughter, Jasmine, attends fourth grade at Hughes. ``I don't think bilingual education works very well. If they're kept in an environment where they're speaking Spanish all the time, it won't do anything.''

Voters in June overwhelmingly approved the new law, which still requires that children who have limited English ability be placed in a one-year immersion course. After 30 days, parents can get a waiver to put their child back in bilingual education under limited conditions.

Critics have said the law is yet another strike against immigrants in California, where voters have already removed health, education and welfare benefits for immigrants, and the University of California has banned affirmative action.

In Lucia Espinoza's combination second- and third-grade class at Hughes, her 13 students sat cross-legged at her feet as she read a story to them about a boy who did not like school and walked to class slowly.

``Who can show me how you walk slowly?'' Ms. Espinoza asked. A boy raised his hand and shuffled across the rug in front of his classmates.

The simple exchange was a lesson in comprehension. The children did not actually say the word ``slowly,'' but they could grasp its meaning. Later, they will learn to read it.

An immersion class is active and noisy as children learn English through visuals, such as words and pictures on the walls, role-playing, puppetry and being read to aloud.

``Children are very, very resilient,'' said Victor Chavira, a fourth-grade teacher at Hughes. ``They will adapt. But how well they adapt remains to be seen. It's a gray area.''

Teacher Isabel Rodriguez, who teaches first grade at Theresa Hughes Elementary School, said she was frustrated on the first day.

``They're anxious anyway because it's their first day of school, and I was unable to console them in their language,'' said Ms. Rodriguez, 28. ``So I had to use simple, basic words in English to tell them that everything will be all right.''