Judge Refuses to Order More Adult English Classes

State statutes do not require school districts to offer enough English language classes to serve every non-English speaking adult who wants to take them, a judge ruled today.

Attorneys for two Latino groups had sought a court order requiring the Los Angeles Unified School District to offer an English as a Second Language class each time there are 20 eligible adults signed up for it. “I don’t doubt there is a substantial need,� Superior Court Judge Jerry Fields said. “The real issue is the analysis of the statute. . . . I don’t think the statute is specific enough.�

Thousands of adults are being turned away from the classes this year because they are filled to capacity, said Carmen Estrada, an attorney arguing on behalf of the Bell Chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.