No bilingual education vote foreseen in Nevada

Friday, June 5, 1998 | 10:13 a.m.

Nevada programs for non-English speaking students are designed to get students into regular classes as quickly as possible, the officials add.

"One of the criticisms in California is that it tends to segregate them in a subculture of the school where they remain for several years," Washoe County School District spokesman Steve Mulvenon said.

"We try to get them proficient in English and then get them into the mainstream as quickly as possible."

Ray Medina, assistant director for the Clark County School District's English language learner programs, agreed programs are structured much differently in Nevada.

"The way I understand the issue, people in California were upset because kids were put into bilingual education programs and never taken out," he said. "That was their concern. We don't do that here."

Proposition 227, which essentially bans bilingual education, was overwhelmingly approved Tuesday by California voters. It will affect about 1.4 million students with limited English-language ability.

In Clark County, 25,000 of the district's 191,000 students are not proficient in English. Of that, 92 percent are Spanish speakers.

But unlike California, where bilingual education is offered for kindergarten through 12th grades, Clark only offers it in elementary schools.

In bilingual classrooms, courses are taught by Spanish speakers, who introduce English concepts in a series of steps.

Middle school and high school students are assisted by English as a Second Language programs. Teachers speak English and make use of visuals and other methods to communicate effectively.

"Everyone calls it bilingual, but the child is actually monolingual when they come to us," Medina said. "The goal is to get them English-proficient so they'll be able to read and write and speak in English. We want them to be bilingual."

In Washoe County, about 4,000 students are not proficient in English. The vast majority are Spanish speakers.

The district offers the ESL program for them at three Reno "newcomer" centers - at an elementary school, middle school and high school.

"The program tries to give them intensive instruction in English, get them up to speed and move them out to regular school," Mulvenon said.

"What California is moving to is a system like we have in Washoe County. I wouldn't be surprised if we get more questions about it from school officials in California."