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State Committee listens to the
people |
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By
Alberto Surís
albertosuris@rumbonews.com
On Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at Lawrence Public Library, the
Massachusetts State Advisory Committee held a briefing to
hear from government officials, advocates, and the community
for the purpose of gathering information on bilingual
education issues in Lawrence. A subcommittee of the State
Advisory Committee heard about civil rights issues also in
Lawrence.
The Advisory Committee was made up of 8 members under the
direction of Davis J. Harris, Chairman and Barbara de La
Viez, Eastern Regional Office.
Participating at the Bilingual Education segment were: Mary
Lou Bergeron, acting superintendent, Lawrence Public
Schools; Phil Catanzono, Esq., U.S. Department of Education,
Office on Civil Rights; Frank Bonet, member of Lawrence
School Committee and City of Lawrence Personnel Director;
Clara Pena-Gonzalez, supervisor, ELL Program; Rosalie
Pedalino Porter, Advisor to School District on ELL and Miren
Uriarte, professor, U-Mass.
Giving testimony during the Civil Rights portions were
Howard Friedman, Esq., John J. Romero, Lawrence Chief of
Police and Thomas Donovan, Esq., Essex District Attorney
Office.
Background:
In November 2002, Massachusetts' voters approved a ballot
initiative – English for the Children of Massachusetts –that
replaced bilingual education with English immersion teaching
techniques.
Bilingual education involves the teaching of academic
content in two languages, the native language of the student
and English. It is designed to ensure that students do not
fall behind while learning English.
English immersion places learning the English language as
the main focus and dedicates most of the school day to
teaching the English language. In English immersion,
students and teachers are expected to speak, read and write
in English without any use of the student’s native language.
There are concerns, however, that students placed in
English-speaking classes do not receive the assistance or
services they are entitled to under state and federal civil
rights laws.
According to State Advisory Committee Chair, David J.
Harris, “The Committee joined other Massachusetts residents
in being concerned about the educational opportunities
provided to all of our students and welcomes the opportunity
to hear from those with specific knowledge about the
experiences of students with limited English language
skills.”
Participats at the Bilingual Education hearing spoke about
the pros and cons of bilingual education in Lawrence, or the
lack of it and its effect on the children with English
deficiency since November 2002. The problem is that there
hasn’t been a comprehensive study of the impact of the
suppression of bilingual education in our students since the
implementation of English only. “The state has the
responsibility to test the kids in English proficiency, but
we have not,” said Rosalie Pedalino Porter. “Only in
California and Arizona, the state mandates such evaluation,”
added Miren Uriarte.
According to Dr. Bergeron, Lawrence hasn’t done such tests
because the State doesn’t mandate such study and “We follow
State orders,” said Dr. Bergeron. In her opinion, she has
“seen an improvement since the implementation of English
only,” she said to Rumbo.
Only two citizens spoke favorably of the Bilingual
Education, School Committee Member Martina Cruz, and Moises
Fernandez. Cruz, who arrived here from the Dominican
Republic when young, appreciated the bilingual help. “If you
don’t speak English, you are nothing, that’s the message
kids get,” she said. Cruz also complained about keeping
children in the old school because they don’t speak English.
“That is segregation.”
Moises Fernandez had two participations. First he spoke on
behalf of bilingual education and later in the day, about
civil rights violations. Former Human Rights Commission
member Francisco Brea mentioned his resignation from the
commission and offered that it was “personal” as his reason.
Brea wants the Commission to come back another day to listen
to the people who have been affected, not to those who are
tied to city officials or committees. “People here are
afraid to express themselves. They have lots of concerns for
their children and their businesses,” said Brea.
“I want to agree with Brea,” said Domingo Melendez. “We are
afraid of this administration and whatever it is, it has to
stop.” Melendez was also curious to know if Personnel
Director Frank Bonet was getting paid while sitting there
all day. “That is something Rumbo should investigate, unless
you are like Fox News that only talks about what is
convenient to them.”
Bonet’s response was that, “he was invited to attend the
meeting because as a School Committee Member and Personnel
Director he could bring solutions to the table that could
benefit not only the children of his district but the city
at large. He also added that he is not entitled to collect
overtime payment for the extra hours that he works on a
regular basis.
Chally Ramos, candidate for State Representative for
District 16th, in the September 14 Primary Election called
“an illness in the city” when it comes to elections. Ramos
said that people with criminal records are allowed to work
as poll workers by the Election Division. “I urge you to
look into the election process,” he said that before this
panel was assembled, he wrote a letter to the Justice
Department.
“Even though it was reported, the election problem never was
supposed to be taken care of at this session,” interrupted
Davis J. Harris, Chairman of the Committee.
“The city has been doing CORI (Criminal Offender Record
Information) to every poll worker for the past three years,”
said Rafael Tejeda from the Election Department reacting to
Ramos statement. “The main reason for doing this is, since
most of our precincts are located in schools, we want to
prevent access to any sex predator. Our main reason is to
protect the school children,” said Tejeda.
On July 23, 2010, Rumbo e-mailed to Mr. Ramos requesting
copy of the letter he said he wrote to the Justice
Department and also requesting proof of workers with
criminal records being allowed to work as poll workers, with
names if possible. We also questioned him if he was going to
file a written complaint with the Advisory Committee.
As of July 29, 2010, Mr. Ramos has not responded to our
e-mail. Wendy Luzón, the Shelter Director at the Women’s
Resource Center, a program of the YWCA of Haverhill cited
“false police reports filed by Mayor Lantigua and visits by
a Lawrence Police Officer to another town” during an
altercation involving a relative of hers as part of her
civil rights violations complaints.
Luzón also said that the “Human Rights Commission in
Lawrence doesn’t work because it is housed inside City Hall
and its members were appointed by the former mayor.”
“Police brutality and fear must stop,” said Luzón. Persio
Acevedo, who brought the A.C.L.U. to Lawrence when Moises
Fernandez allegedly was beaten by a Lawrence Police Officer
while in his custody, also spoke before the committee. “The
Chief (Romero) never stays to listen to the community when
the community wants to put an end to these issues. This
problem happened in 2007, this is 2010 and we have not been
able to speak to the Police Chief,” said Acevedo.
“The police department is not a friendly department in
Lawrence,” continued Acevedo, while showing a handful of
local newspapers, “Police brutality in Lawrence has been
reported by the Eagle Tribune, El Mundo and Siglo 21,” said
Acevedo.
According to Acevedo, “Our Human Rights Commission is
politically oriented. They won’t do anything. The Mayor
appoints them and fires them,” said Acevedo and added, “I
won’t take too much of your time. I haven’t had the time to
put my ideas together, but something has to be done,” ended
Acevedo. |
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