Opinion No. (2000)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General ANTHONY S. DA VIGO Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DELAINE EASTIN, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a school district deny a parental request for an individual waiver from the statutory mandate that all students be instructed in English on the sole ground that the district has no alternative program? CONCLUSION A school district may not deny a parental request for an individual waiver from the statutory mandate that all students be instructed in English on the sole ground that the district has no alternative program. ANALYSIS At the primary election of June 1998, the voters adopted Proposition 227, the "English Language in Public Schools" initiative statute (Ed. Code, §§ 300 - 340 ; "Act"). 1 The Act requires children in California's public schools who are of limited English proficiency to be taught only in English, subject to the right of the parents of each affected child to seek a waiver from the requirement of English-only instruction. (McLaughlin v. State Bd. of Education (1999) 75 Cal.App.4th 196 , 201 .) We are asked whether a school district may deny a parental…