U.S., Schools at Odds Over Program for Immigrants

Starting in two weeks, the Los Angeles Unified School District will inaugurate a four-year program for adults seeking permanent residency under the new immigration law, but officials are still uncertain if they will have enough funds to get past the first semester.

Before it has even begun, the special program is already the subject of bureaucratic wrangling over its scope and cost.

According to the landmark federal law, teaching institutions are entitled to a maximum of $500 for every eligible legalized alien receiving 200 hours of instruction, yet district and state education officials believe that this sum would only provide students a marginal education.

‘Not Nearly Enough’

“We are not in the Band-Aid business. We know how long it takes to learn a language, and 200 hours is not nearly enough, especially for adults,” said Domingo A. Rodriguez, coordinator of the district’s new amnesty-preparation and citizenship program.

Under the 1986 immigration law, the period to file for permanent residency begins Dec. 1, 1988. The earliest date a legalized immigrant can be granted full citizenship is Nov. 1, 1993. Immigrants must be permanent residents for five years before they can apply to become citizens.

A person seeking to go from temporary to permanent resident status must demonstrate “basic citizenship skills”--a limited knowledge of English, U.S. government and history--or enrollment in approved courses covering those subjects.

Federal officials complain that the school district is trying to do too much. “It is clear to the INS that the curriculum (the school district) is proposing is far more encompassing than anything we are asking for,” said Paul Gilbert, a special assistant in the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Bare Knowledge of English

For example, applicants for permanent residency, like candidates for citizenship, need only show a bare knowledge of English, Gilbert said. “In the English test applicants are given commands such as ‘stand up, sit down, go there,’ and they are asked to write a sentence of no more than seven mostly monosyllabic words.” In history and government, he said, they are asked about the Revolutionary War and the formation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Gilbert said that to acquire these skills many students will need no more than 40 hours, but added that “some candidates, especially from Mexico, are illiterate and speak Indian dialects. They will need twice or three times as much as the 200 hours.”

In addition, he said those seeking permanent residency can learn the skills elsewhere: “There are alternatives like private ESL schools, public libraries, adult education programs. . . .”

The Los Angeles district already devotes considerable resources to the area’s large immigrant population. Last year, more than 200,000 adults took courses in English as a Second Language and another 40,000 sought instruction but were put on waiting lists. Rodriguez is concerned that the waiting could grow even longer if new classes are not added soon.

4-Year Program

The new program combining ESL methodology, history, government and citizenship instruction is designed to be taken over four years. The classes, which in the beginning will be held at night and on weekends, are expected to help 20,000 adults in its first year and 40,000 the next--a major step toward eliminating ESL waiting lists.

But funding for legalization-related education programs such as this depends on the outcome of a political tug of war between the two state agencies in charge of distributing federal money.

Federal funds to California--an estimated $1.8 billion over the next four years, or slightly more than half the total nationwide--are channeled through the state’s Health and Welfare Agency. The funds are divided into three areas: health care, social services and education.

State education officials are concerned that they will not receive their fair share. “It appears as though (the Health and Welfare Agency) defines education as a very limited and narrow priority in the legalization process,” said Gail ImObersteg, federal liaison director in the Department of Education.

Behind the dispute is a long-running feud between the state Department of Education, headed by state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, and Gov. George Deukmejian, who appoints the leadership in the Health and Welfare Agency.

Indeed, a July 9 agency memorandum containing funding guidelines identifies 10 “critical core”--only one of them in the area of education. Under this classification, the Los Angeles school district’s four-year program would fall under “discretionary services.”

The two agencies are also in disagreement as to how many people statewide will qualify for “amnesty”--somewhere between 900,000 and 1.6 million residents.

Health and Welfare Agency officials said last week that they are still evaluating various proposals and thus can not say how the money will be distributed.

At the same time, the House Committee on Education and Labor, aware of the conflict, is drafting recommendations to spell out the intent of the law.

‘Extremely Political’

“Of course, we are all for education, but this is extremely political. You have a Republican governor who is not on the best of terms with the superintendent, and we don’t want to give the impression that we are attacking the governor,” said a congressional aide to one Democratic committee member.

But the Los Angeles district is not waiting. “We’ll go right ahead with our program and once we get the thing going, it will put some pressure on state and federal governments to come through with the funding or shut the program down,” Rodriguez said.