Schools balk at testing in English

RICHMOND, VA. -- Officials in some high-immigrant school districts are threatening to disregard a federal law that requires all children to take the same reading tests, even those struggling to learn English.

This month, the U.S. Department of Education threatened sanctions against Virginia -- including the possibility of withholding funds -- if the state does not enforce the provision, which is part of the No Child Left Behind law.

The Virginia Department of Education had sought an exemption for another year, contending that the rule is unfair.

Immigrants who have been in the U.S. a short time "are simply unable to take a test written in English and produce results that are meaningful in any way," said Donald J. Ford, superintendent of the Harrisonburg city school division.

The federal government denied the state's request, saying Virginia has known about the act's guidelines for some time and has had time to prod schools into compliance.

Of Harrisonburg's 4,400 students, 39 percent are English learners, and nearly 750 of them are classified as beginners, school officials said. Most of the immigrants are Hispanic, and others are Russian and Kurdish. The Shenandoah Valley city has many immigrants who work in poultry plants.

School boards in Harrisonburg and the Washington suburbs of Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties have recently signaled their intent to defy the No Child Left Behind mandates, and other school districts are considering following suit.

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Virginia is "dragging its feet" and called the testing provision, the law's Standards Clause, a necessary measure to counter "the soft bigotry of low expectations." In a Feb. 4 letter to The Washington Post, Spellings said: "It's time to remember that yes, Virginia, there is a Standards Clause."

Spellings' comments incensed school division officials.

"We're all so angry," Arlington County School Board chairwoman Libby Garvey said. She called the required test a "painful and humiliating experience" for children who haven't grasped English.