Sacramento Bee

August 19, 1998

Spanish bilingual classes given OK in San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Despite a voter-approved ban on bilingual education in most public classrooms, a federal judge has temporarily ordered San Jose schools to offer bilingual classes for Spanish-speaking students when school begins next month.

In an order made public Monday, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ruled that Proposition 227, approved by voters in November, conflicts with existing federal anti discrimination measures imposed on the San Jose Unified School District in 1994.

Whyte ordered the district to obey the federal measures and offer bilingual education until a final decision is issued, possibly in November.

Celia Ruiz, the school district's attorney, said she thinks Whyte will make his order permanent, which would make San Jose the only school district in the state that can legally continue its bilingual program.

"We anticipate that the final order in November will continue our bilingual programs," she said.

About 9,400 of the district's 32,000 students have only limited ability to speak English. Of those, about 7,800 are Spanish-speaking, with most in bilingual classrooms.

The federal consent decree for San Jose was issued in 1985, when a judge found the district had deliberately segregated Spanish-surnamed students. School district officials negotiated changes to the consent decree in 1994, including a requirement for a comprehensive bilingual program.