9th Circuit Finds For AZ In English Learning

The 9th Cicuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a lawsuit filed by parents of students in the Nogales Unified School District. The three judge panel rejected arguments that putting English Lanuaguage Learners in “immersion” classes for four hours a day is inadequate and a form of segregation.

This is the latest court ruling in an issue that began in 1992, when the parents asserted the state failed to provide adequate ELL instruction, in violation of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974. EEOA requires states to take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers” in schools.

In 2013, the US District Court for the District of Arizona granted the Arizona Department of Education’s motion to dismiss the case and reaffirmed that the state has discretion and flexibility to design programs that meet local needs.

In 2000, a federal judge in Tucson found that the state violated EEOA because of inadequate funding to provide sufficient ELL instruction. The court applied this ruling statewide.

In 2006 the state filed a motion to vacate judgment based upon the significant improvements in programming and funding. The State argued that outcomes for ELL students demonstrated improvement.

Then in 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court found that Judge Raner Collins erred in rejecting the plan and had exceeded his authority. Read ruling here.

In January 2011, the State offered evidence to support its claim that its programs, which included SEI, met the State’s responsibility to provide adequate instruction under EEOA. The Court then found that the State had met its obligation and noted that the State has the flexibility to provide ELL instruction that meets the goals of the EEOA.

In 2013, Collins found that the State’s implementation of the four-hour classes was not “driven by a deliberate intent to discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin.” Judge Collins found that the federal law leaves it to state or local authorities to determine appropriate teaching methods, and found that the “evidence presented, the court finds that the structured English immersion method and the four-hour model are valid educational theories.”

Also in February 2013, federal Judge Wallace Tashima found for the State in the matter of TUSD’s Mexican American studies classes on the basis that states do have the right to determine what is taught in the classroom, and what pedagogy can be employed. At issue in that case was the use of Critical Race Theory as a foundation for classes intended to indoctrinate students to adopt a Chicano identity.