Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Denying communication is un-American



http://ga1.org/campaign/signAB1510/step1

A few years ago, an 11th grader in California was on the brink of being expelled from school. His mother, a Chinese immigrant still struggling with English, scheduled a meeting with school officials to discuss the problem, and asked her son's former teacher to accompany her and serve as her interpreter.

Although the teacher agreed, the school prohibited this young man’s mother from bringing her own interpreter to the meeting, claiming that the school would provide its own.

This person was not a certified interpreter and provided a vague translation of this extremely important conversation about her son’s life.Compelled by this disturbing incident, the ACLU is working to make sure no parent is denied the right to bring his or her own interpreter to any meeting with school officials.

Parents deserve to have someone who is competent and whom they can trust when dealing with important decisions affecting their child’s education. Take Action NOW and urge the governor to sign AB 1510 into law.

This bill will allow parents Limited in English Proficiency (LEP) to bring an oral language interpreter to parent meetings.Parents given language access are stronger advocates for their children, who may otherwise fall through the cracks.

A child’s education and future are too important to leave parents lost in translation. Urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign this bill into law today.

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