Y.S. v. School District of Philadelphia (1988)
In considering the legal responsibilities of education agencies serving language-minority students, note must be made that handicapped students, including handicapped students who are limited in their English proficiency, are protected by additional Federal laws including the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA)101 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.102
This fact was emphasized by the announcement in March 1988 of the negotiated settlement of a class action suit against Philadelphia Public Schools (Pennsylvania) brought on behalf of the district's 6,800 Asian students. The suit, Y.S. v. School District of Philadelphia,103 alleged violations of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI, and the EFOAC The suit also complained that Philadelphia educational authorities were violating the rights of handicapped Asian students and parents that are guaranteed under the EHA.
For example, Y.S., one of the three students named in the suit, was a Cambodian refugee who enrolled in the Philadelphia school system in September 1982. The lawsuit alleged that because "he received no assistance from anyone who could speak his native language," Y. has been "unable to make substantial progress in school." In September 1985, Y. was placed in a special education class pursuant to the district's determination that he was mentally retarded. According to the complaint, this determination was made relying on a test instrument developed for English speaking students, and "the district employee who wrote Y.'s Individualized Education Program (JEP) had never met Y. or his family."104
As reported in the March 9, 1988 edition of Education Week, the negotiated settlement in the Y.S. case covers a wide range of educational practices. In addition to obligating itself to recruit and train more school personnel who can communicate in the native languages of the Asian students and parents, the Philadelphia Y.S. settlement reportedly includes:
. . .A requirement that both oral and written communications to parents be in a language they understand.
...A review of the educational program of each Asian LEP student, to be completed by the end of this year.
...The establishment of a new position of district coordinator for the education of LEP students.
...The development, by June, of a remedial plan to address the instructional needs of Asian LEP students, including assessment and counseling in their native language and a revised curriculum for the district's ESL program.105
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