LEP PART 1 MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
Part 1: ANALYSIS: Moral and Legal Issues/Values in Policy Template
Moral and Legal Issues in School Policy
Part A: Policy Include the actual policy in regards to Moral & Legal Implications
BilingualEducation
50/50 Model: Students in Valley Vew’s DLI program receive 50% of
their daily academic instruction in English and 50% in Spanish.
Two-Way Immersion: The program seeks a balanced enrollment of both
English-dominant and Spanish-dominant students in order to ensure the
academic development of both languages, fostering an additive bilingual
education.
As of 2019-2020, all students, Kindergarten through 2nd Grade at Valley
Vista are participating in the Dual Language Program. Eventually, the
entire school will be DLI.
Separation of Language: Academically challenging, standard-based
content in both English and Spanish is integrated throughout the school
day. A “separation of language” by instructional block is paramount and
is established through strategic planning.
Curriculum: DLI program curriculum is aligned to the same California
Standards as the monolingual education program. Curriculum design &
instructional strategies are collaboratively selected based on educational
research, curriculum mandates, and student needs (Chula Vista
Elementary School District, 2020c).
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LEP PART 1 MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
Narrative Analyzing the Policy in Regards to Moral & Legal Implications
Valley View Elementary (VVE) in the Cholas Elementary School District (CVESD) will be moving to a full
dual-language school by 2026. The parent handbook is the only available policy regarding the dual language
program. This is the first school in the district to be slated to go one hundred percent dual language (CESD,
2020c). Of the 22 schools in the CESD only one other school, a charter, enforces a schoolwide dual-
language program. Schools labeled as dual language in the CESD, offer two formats for immersion, a 90/10
and a 50/50, however, 20 of these schools also offer English only classrooms in all grades (CESD, 2020b).
The information listed in the parent handbook offers no choice for students within the VVE school
boundaries that do not wish to attend a dual-language program (CESD, 2020a). Per the district’s street
locator web site, which determines the location of the school a student must attend, 161 streets are solely
within the VVE service area (CESD, 2020a). The three closest alternative schools within CESD are Sun
Light, Alright, and Rose which are 2.7 miles, 1.3 miles, and 3.1 miles respectfully. Bordering the VVE area
is another elementary school in the Dieguito Unified School District, which is 1.3 miles, but requires an
inter-district transfer if the student wishes to attend. The CESD does not provide transportation when a
parent voluntarily requests a zone transfer (a transfer to another school by choice) (CESD, 2020c; CESD,
2020d). This imposes an undue burden on parents who wish to have their child access an English only
curriculum. Under the Equal Rights Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, students wishing to attend their
home school, in the neighborhood in which they reside should not be offered a separate but equal school
setting (Cornell Law School, 2020). Especially when attending another school creates an undue burden to
the parents. Using the Supreme Court case of Lau v. Nichols (1973), VVE may be violating student’s rights
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LEP PART 1 MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
Narrative Analyzing the Policy in Regards to Moral & Legal Implications
under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in that the students are being discriminated against for their preference
of single language instruction (Douglas, 1973).
Values in School Policies, Programs, and Practices
Part B: Policy, Program, or
Practice Amendment/Changes
Discussion of suggested amendments or changes relating to Social
Justice, Equity, Confidentiality, Acceptance, and/or Respect Between
and Among Students & Faculty
Amendment to current policy >The current policy of zone transfers discriminates against student’s
wishing to be enrolled in English only classes. Currently VVE offers
grades 3-6 English only classrooms, however, they have created a policy
to eliminate these classrooms each year until the entire campus is dual
language (CESD, 2020c). To evert possible litigation VVE and CESD
should provide a learning environment that is English only. Collaborating
teachers in the dual language grade levels teach the same curriculum at
the same time (English/Spanish). Therefore, a student wishing to have
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LEP PART 1 MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
Part B: Policy, Program, or
Practice Amendment/Changes
Discussion of suggested amendments or changes relating to Social
Justice, Equity, Confidentiality, Acceptance, and/or Respect Between
and Among Students & Faculty
and English only curriculum can remain with the English only teacher for
the entirety of the day and receive the same instruction as students
switching classes.
Amendment to currentpolicy
> The district needs to reconsider their policy on transportation for
students wishing to enroll in an English only classroom. Borders and
perimeters are determined for enrollment based on the proximity of the
student’s home to the school (CESD, 2020d). By requiring the family to
request a zone transfer, they are subjecting the student to an environment
which is different than that of their neighborhood peers. This can cause
undue mental anguish, as well as a feeling of inferiority as cited by
Brown v. Board of Education (Warren, 1953).
Amendment to current policy
>The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) places significant emphasis on
high-stakes testing (U.S. Department of Education, 2020). A native
English-speaking student that is receiving only half of their curriculum in
English may perform lower on these tests. These scores determine the
student’s placement in courses at their secondary school. Therefore, VVE
needs to supply all students at their site an equal opportunity to access a
curriculum that prepares them for success on such tests.
Upholding Values in the Face of Adversity
VVE offers a unique opportunity for the students in their community to enrich their lives through the
discovery of another language. In their attempts to provide this service however, they have discriminated
against families who wish to have their children be taught in a classroom where English is the primary
language of instruction. They have placed the burden of supplying transportation to the parents. Because all
students attending their school of residence are afforded free transportation (CESD, 2020d), they are
inadvertently creating inequality in services. Additionally, students who chose not to participate in the dual-
language program are required to enroll in a school in which the community and peers are unfamiliar to the
student. VVE, therefore, is creating an environment of separate but equal by requiring students to attend a
school outside the normal boundaries of their neighborhood school (Warren, 1953).
Although such cases as Lau v. Nichols (1974) and Bilingual Education Act were used to protect students
whose native language was not English and to provide them with equitable instruction, these cases also
apply to students choosing to have English as their primary instruction, even more so when such instruction
impacts their ability to perform well on state and schoolwide testing (Douglas, 1973; Stewner-Manzanares,
1998).
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LEP PART 1 MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
References
Cholas Elementary School District Street.(2020a, May 23). Directory by
name.http://schools.cesd.org/district/parents/Documents/Street%20Directory%20by%20S
treet%20Name%202017-18.pdf
Cholas Elementary School District. (2020b, May 23). Dual language immersion program.
https://www.cesd.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_411950/File/Parents/
My%20Child's%20Learning/Dual%20Immersion%20Language%20Program/DI-ENG-
rev051518.pdf
Cholas Elementary School District Valley Vista Elementary.(2020c, May 23). Parent
handbook.http://schools.cesd.org/schools/valleyview/Documents/19-
20%20Metas%20Handbook.pdf
Cholas Elementary School District. (2020d, May 23).Student
placement.http://schools.cesd.org/district/parents/SitePages/Placement.aspx#.XsqobhNKj
zI
Cornell Law School (2020, May 23). 14th
Amendment.https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv
Douglas, William Orville, and Supreme Court of The United States (1973). U.S. Reports: Lau v.
Nichols, 414 U.S. 563. www.loc.gov/item/usrep414563/.
Stewner-Manzanares, G. (1998). The Bilingual Education Act: Twenty years later.The national
clearing house for bilingual education
(6).https://ncela.ed.gov/files/rcd/BE021037/Fall88_6.pdf
U.S Department of Education (2020, May 23). No Child Left
Behind.https://www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml
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