English for the Children of Colorado

Filed with the Colorado Legislative Council on 19 June 2001 by Rita Montero and Janine Chávez; requires 80,571 signatures by 5 August 2002 to qualify for the November 2002 ballot. 

English Language Education for Children in Public Schools


Be it enacted by the People of the State of Colorado:

Section 1. Amendment of the Colorado Constitution for English Education in Public Schools.

Article IX of the Constitution of the state of Colorado is amended by the addition of a new section to read:

Section 17: English Language Education for Children in Public Schools.

(1) Findings and Declarations

The People of Colorado find and declare that:
    1. The English language is the common public language of the United States of America and of the state of Colorado. It is spoken by the vast majority of Colorado residents, and is also the leading world language for science, technology, and international business, thereby being the language of economic opportunity; and
    2. Immigrant parents are eager to have their children acquire a good knowledge of English, thereby allowing them to fully participate in the American Dream of economic and social advancement; and
    3. The government and the public schools of Colorado have a moral obligation and a constitutional duty to provide all of Colorado’s children, regardless of their ethnicity or national origins, with the skills necessary to become productive members of our society. Of these skills, literacy in the English language is among the most important.
    4. The public schools of Colorado currently do an inadequate job of educating immigrant children, wasting financial resources on costly experimental language programs whose failure over past decades is demonstrated by the current high drop-out rates and low English literacy levels of many immigrant children.
    5. Young immigrant children can easily acquire full fluency in a new language, such as English, if they are heavily exposed to that language in the classroom at an early age.
    6. Therefore it is resolved that: all children in Colorado public schools shall be taught English as rapidly and effectively as possible.
(2) Definitions

In this article, 
    1. "Bilingual education/native language instruction" means a language acquisition process for students in which all or substantial portions of the instruction, textbooks, or teaching materials are in the child’s native language other than English.
    2. "English language classroom" means a classroom in which the language of instruction used by the teaching personnel is overwhelmingly the English language, and in which such teaching personnel possess a good knowledge of the English language. English language classrooms encompass both English language mainstream classrooms and sheltered English immersion classrooms
    3. "English language mainstream classroom" means a standard classroom, one in which the students either are native English language speakers or already have acquired reasonable fluency in English. 
    4. "English learner" or "limited English proficient student" means a child who does not speak English or whose native language is not English, and who is not currently able to perform ordinary classroom work in English. 
    5. "Sheltered English immersion" or "structured English immersion" means an English language acquisition process for young children in which nearly all classroom instruction is in English but with the curriculum and presentation designed for children who are learning the language. Books and instructional materials are in English and all reading, writing, and subject matter are taught in English. Although teachers may use a minimal amount of the child’s native language when necessary, no subject matter shall be taught in any language other than English, and children in this program learn to read and write solely in English. This educational methodology represents the standard definition of "sheltered English" or "structured English" found in educational literature.
(3) English language education

Subject to the exceptions provided in Subsection (4), all children in Colorado public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English and all children shall be placed in English language classrooms. Children who are English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion during a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year. Local schools shall be permitted but not required to place in the same classroom English learners of different ages but whose degree of English proficiency is similar. Local schools shall be encouraged to mix together in the same classroom English learners from different native-language groups but with the same degree of English fluency. Once English learners have acquired a good working knowledge of English and are able to do regular school work in English, they shall no longer be classified as English learners and shall be transferred to English language mainstream classrooms. As much as possible, current per capita supplemental funding for English learners shall be maintained. Foreign language classes for children who already know English shall be completely unaffected, as shall be special educational programs for physically- or mentally-impaired students.

(4) Parental waivers

(A). The requirements of Subsection (3) above may be waived with the prior written informed consent, to be provided annually, of the child’s parents or legal guardian under the circumstances specified in this section. Such informed consent shall require that said parents or legal guardian personally visit the school to apply for the waiver and that they there be provided a full description in a language they can understand of the educational materials to be used in the different educational program choices and all the educational opportunities available to the child. If a parental waiver has been granted, the affected child may be transferred to classes teaching English and other subjects through bilingual education techniques or other generally recognized educational methodologies permitted by law. Individual schools in which 20 students or more of a given grade level receive a waiver shall be required to offer such a class; in all other cases, such students must be permitted to transfer to a public school in which such a class is offered.

(B). The circumstances in which a parental exception waiver may be applied for under this section are as follows: 
    1. Children who already know English: the child already possesses good English language skills, as measured by oral evaluation or standardized tests of English vocabulary comprehension, reading, and writing, in which the child scores approximately at or above the state average for his grade level or at or above the 5th grade average, whichever is lower; or
    2. Older children: the child is age 10 years or older, and it is the informed belief of the school principal and educational staff that an alternate course of educational study would be better suited to the child’s overall educational progress and rapid acquisition of basic English language skills; or
    3. Children with special individual needs: the child already has been placed for a period of not less than thirty calendar days during that particular school year in an English language classroom and it is subsequently the informed belief of the school principal and educational staff that the child has such special and individual physical or psychological needs, above and beyond the child’s lack of English proficiency, that an alternate course of educational study would be better suited to the child’s overall educational development and rapid acquisition of English. A written description of no less than 250 words documenting these special individual needs for the specific child must be provided and permanently added to the child’s official school records, and the waiver application must contain the original authorizing signatures of both the school principal and the local superintendent of schools. Waivers granted under this section cannot be applied for until after thirty instructional days of a given school year have passed, and this waiver process must be renewed each and every school year. Any such decision to issue such an individual waiver is to be made subject to the examination and approval of the local school superintendent, under guidelines established by and subject to the review of the local governing board and ultimately the state board of education. The existence of such special individual needs shall not compel issuance of a waiver, and the parents shall be fully informed of their right to refuse to agree to a waiver.
(5). Legal standing and parental enforcement

As detailed in Subsections (3) and (4) above, all Colorado school children have the right to be provided at their local school with an English language public education. The parent or legal guardian of any Colorado school child shall have legal standing to sue for enforcement of the provisions of this statute, and if successful shall be awarded normal and customary attorney’s fees and actual and compensatory damages, but not punitive or consequential damages. Any school district employee, school board member or other elected official or administrator who willfully and repeatedly refuses to implement the terms of this statute may be held personally liable for fees and actual and compensatory damages by the child’s parents or legal guardian, and cannot be subsequently indemnified for such assessed damages by any public or private third party. Any individual found so liable shall be immediately removed from office, and shall be barred from holding any position of authority anywhere within the Colorado government or the public school system for an additional period of five years. Parents who apply for and are granted exception waivers under Subsection (4)(B)3 above still retain full and permanent legal right to sue the individuals who granted such waivers if they subsequently conclude at any point in the future that the waivers were granted in error and ultimately injured the education of their child.

(6) Standardized testing for monitoring education progress

In order to ensure that the educational progress of all Colorado students in learning English together with other academic subjects is properly monitored, a standardized, nationally-normed written test of academic subject matter given in English shall be administered at least once each year to all Colorado public schoolchildren in grades 2 and higher. Only students classified as severely learning disabled may be exempted from this test. The particular test to be used shall be selected by the office of the state superintendent of public instruction, and it is intended that the test shall generally remain the same from year to year. The national percentile scores of students shall be confidentially provided to individual parents, and the aggregated percentile scores and distributional data for individual schools and school districts shall be made publicly available on an internet web site; the scores for students classified as "limited-English" shall be separately sub-aggregated and made publicly available there as well. Scores of students who are neither exempted nor take the test shall be reported as zero. Although administration of this test is required solely for monitoring educational progress, Colorado public officials and administrators may utilize these test scores for other purposes as well if they so choose.

* (7) Community-Based English Tutoring.

In furtherance of its constitutional and legal requirement to offer special language assistance to children coming from backgrounds of limited English proficiency and effectively implement this educational act, the state shall encourage family members and others to provide personal English language tutoring to such children, and support these efforts by raising the general level of English language knowledge in the community. Commencing with the fiscal year in which this act is enacted and for each of the nine fiscal years following thereafter, a sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) per year is hereby appropriated from the General Fund for the purpose of providing additional funding for free for subsidized programs of adult English language instruction to parents or other members of the community who pledge to provide personal English language tutoring to Colorado school children with limited English proficiency. Programs funded pursuant to this section shall be provided through schools or community organizations. Funding for these programs shall be administered by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and shall be disbursed at the discretion of the local school boards in each district, under reasonable guidelines established by, and subject to the review of, the State Board of Education.

(8). Severability

If a provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

(9). Modification

The provisions of this act cannot be waived, modified, or set aside by any elected or appointed official or administrator, except as through the amendment process provided for in the Colorado constitution, or by a statute to further the act’s purpose that is passed by a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

(10). Interpretation

Under circumstances in which portions of this statute are subject to conflicting interpretations, the Findings and Declarations of Subsection (1) shall be assumed to contain the governing intent of the statute.
 
 

 Section 2. Effective Date.

All sections of this act shall take effect and apply to all public schools for school terms that begin more than sixty days following the date at which it is approved by the voters of Colorado.

[* An otherwise identical initiative was also filed on 19 June 2001 that omits this section in case the original measure is found to violate the "single-subject rule" for ballot issues in Colorado.]