TeWinkle failed some students, U.S. finds

Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT-MESA -- Mirna Burciaga doesn’t like to give up.

Frustrated for two years by what she believed was a lack of attention

given to English-language learners at TeWinkle Middle School in Costa

Mesa, Burciaga filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s

Office for Civil Rights last November.

While her own children speak English, Burciaga says she took up the

cause for others, and their parents, who don’t.

Last week, Burciaga’s efforts paid off.

The office released a report agreeing with her complaints, mainly

charging that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District does not fully

meet the needs of students with limited English proficiency. Too much

emphasis was put on teaching them English at the expense of other

classes, the office determined.

The finding is significant because the district now must create a

systematic program to address the needs of English-language learners or

face losing federal funding.

To comply, the district will provide a detailed plan for identifying

English-language learners and providing them with equal access to

curriculum by May, said Jamie Castellanos, the district’s assistant

superintendent.

Castellanos said the report is a wake-up call for the district, and he

acknowledged that English-language assessment has been inconsistent in

the past.

“The problem is that it wasn’t really uniform from school to school or

from grade to grade” Castellanos said.

Burciaga said she was relieved by the decision, calling her two-year

struggle “a nightmare.”

“I feel happy for these children because they won, I didn’t,” Burciaga

said. “I believe it’s insane to see what’s going on and not do anything

to help.”

The issue of English-language development changed dramatically in 1998

when voters passed Proposition 227. The initiative essentially sounded

the death knell for bilingual education by mandating that

English-language learners be taught in English, unless their parents

signed a waiver. It then fell to various school districts to determine

how they would deal with English-language learners.

Burciaga, who is originally from El Salvador, first got involved in

the language development controversy at TeWinkle after hearing the

complaints of several parents who said their children were spending four

periods a day in an English-language development class and missing out on

key curriculum classes such as science.

Former TeWinkle Principal Sharon Fry, who is now principal at Corona

del Mar High School, said she met with Burciaga and parents with similar

concerns back when those concerns were raised.

“I believe we listened to their concerns and dealt with issues in a

logical manner,” Fry said.

But Burciaga said no solid plan came out of those meetings, prompting

her to take her complaints to a higher level.

She also filed a complaint with the state Department of Education,

which went to mediation. As a result, the district now has

English-language advisory committees at every school, as well as at the

district level.

The district is also awaiting the results of this year’s COMITE

process, a result of a 1986 lawsuit from parents who contended that

English-language learners’ needs were not being met.

The district was one of 10 schools chosen at random by the state

Department of Education to take part in the process. Officials came to

various schools in September and will soon provide the district with a

road map of what areas it must focus on for the current school year.

Burciaga said she is proud that her solitary actions achieved so many

results and sees the decision as a victory for all parents.

“I don’t think this is only for Hispanics,” Burciaga said. “As a mom,

you need to speak up for children. It doesn’t take a lot of people to

make change. One or two people can do big things if you have

perseverance.”

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.