Arizona's War on Children

It's just not convenient to speak Spanish in Arizona, not even for school-aged children. In a brazenly political move, the state of Arizona has altered policies to ensure that schoolchildren whose first language isn't English have a harder time obtaining extra help.

According to a report by the Associated Press, two federal investigations into the matter have concluded that Arizona is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically the provision barring agencies funded by the federal government to engage in discriminatory actions. The investigations reveal that officials in specific school districts were inaccurately classifying English learners as proficient and thus ineligible for extra assistance.

The investigations also revealed that Arizona schools were not overly interested in the welfare of children who were given access to special English-teaching programs. In an effort to cut costs, administrators across the state have been shuttling students through such programs, hoping no one would notice that the children were still far from English proficient.

It's no secret: the government of Arizona is afraid of immigrants. The Arizona Department of Education has consistently shown its distaste for "un-American" activities and has taken matters into their own hands. In the past, the Department has insisted on videotaping ethnic studies classes in schools to curtail learning about race and ethnicity, which apparently conflicts with "fundamental American value[s]," according to a letter by Arizona school superintendent Tom Horne.

Another genius idea by the Arizona Department of Education: barring teachers with accents from instructing English courses for English learners. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Education has informed teachers whose accents are too "prominent" that they will have to be moved to a different classroom and/or be required to take additional English courses themselves. That means that along with discouraging and diverting English-learning kids away from courses they need to advance, the state education board has decided to dwindle the available pool of teachers involved in those programs. Of course, this doesn't make it any easier for children who desperately need those courses.

All in all, these moves are a recipe for disaster. In an already bitter environment for immigrants in Arizona, the education system in the state has positioned itself as another discriminatory force. This time, the targets are children.

Photo credit: Max Klingensmith