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Proenglish Defends Student's “Right to English” in Court

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Proenglish Defends Student's “Right to English” in Court Volume 18 - Number 8 October 2013 ProEnglish Defends Student’s “Right to English” in Court his spring, a nursing student suspension papers and then escorted her On July 15, 2013, Terri’s lawsuit named Terri Bennett had just re- off campus. against PCC was filed in the Superior ceived a nine-month suspension It was a humiliating ordeal for Terri Court of the State of Arizona in Tucson. Tfrom her school because she requested to go through in front of her fellow class- ProEnglish organized a press confer- that students speak English in the class- mates. She appealed the school’s deci- ence outside the courthouse to describe room. When no one else would come to sion, but the school refused to overturn the case to the media. Terri was on hand Terri’s aid, she turned to ProEnglish. her suspension. for the press conference along with lead Terri was attending nursing classes Terri searched for organizations that attorney John Munger and ProEnglish at Pima Community College (PCC) in board member Phil Kent. (Video footage Tucson, Arizona. During class lectures, from the press conference can be found non-English speaking students would of- on the ProEnglish website). ten translate for each other in the middle “It’s a sad day that we’re here fil- of class— which was very distracting ing this lawsuit in Arizona, it’s a sad day and made it difficult for her to learn. in the United States of America for this When Terri was assigned to student woman to be persecuted, insulted and projects and group laboratory projects, discriminated against … Justice must she was often the only English speaker prevail here,” Kent said. in the group. She felt excluded from the ProEnglish Board Member Phil Kent, Plaintiff Terri In late August, the school filed a re- rest of her class and found the learning Bennett and Attorney John Munger sponse to our lawsuit. PCC denied they environment hostile to English speakers. defend English, and that is how she found had done anything wrong, and claimed She approached the director of the ProEnglish. We listened to her story and that it was Terri who was at fault. nursing program, David Kutzler, and ex- agreed to help. We found a top law firm Unless the school changes its posi- plained to him her situation. He reacted in Arizona, Munger & Chadwick, which tion, Terri’s case will start to become with tremendous hostility to her, saying agreed to take the case with our assis- ready for trial. We are relying heavily she was “discriminating against Mexi- tance. on Arizona’s official English law in this can-Americans” and threatened to “write The school violated the Arizona state case, which is further proof of why we her up.” He called her a “bigot” among constitution, which requires official Eng- need official English in all fifty states. other offensive names. lish for government. After all, PCC is Ultimately, Terri has done nothing Terri was stunned by this treat- a state school and must follow the state wrong and the law is on her side. To watch ment and requested a response from constitution. In addition to violating our press conference and to read more about the school’s administrators. On a Mon- Terri’s right to have English in the class- this case, click on the “Justice for Terri” but- day morning in April, as she headed to room, the school discriminated against, ton on our homepage at www.proenglish. class, she received her response from the defamed, and harassed her among many org. school: campus police served her with other violations. The following information applies to the enclosed package in its entirety. ProEnglish is a project of U.S. U.S. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and as such, can expend only a specific portion of its overall resources on lobbying activities. While your contribution will not be earmarked for a specific campaign, its availability at this time will assist us in meeting all of our goals. A copy of our latest financial report may be obtained from either the Secretary of State of New York, Albany, NY 12231 or from U.S., 445 East Mitchell St., Petoskey, MI 49770-2623. The official registration and financial information of U.S. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER T HE P RO E NGLISH A DVOC at E Taxpayers Footing the Bill for Health Care Translators in 180 Languages On October 1, the new Obamacare health exchanges opened for enrollment all across the nation. Early that day, Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec- retary Kathleen Sebelius appeared on MSNBC for a TV interview. Sebelius, who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the new law, openly admitted on air that interpreters in 150 different languages would be on hand at the 24/7 call centers to ensure that non-English speakers understand how to enroll in the program. Sebelius stated, “There’s also a call center. People can call on the phone. Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius And we have translators available in up to 150 languages to answer questions, help people understand some of the terminology.” The Secretary’s statement doesn’t quite come as quite a shock since HHS originally announced plans to provide translations in conjunction with the opening of the exchanges over the summer. However, the notice HHS posted in August listed exactly 180 foreign languages that had to be accommodated for both the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) Services 24/7 contact center as well as CMS’ Health Insurance Marketplace call center. “This policy not only wastes taxpayer money, but it destroys incentives immigrants have to learn English, assimilate, and become self-sufficient,” said ProEnglish Executive Director BobVandervoort. It’s not yet known how much taxpayer funding HHS is spending to provide these translators, but a June report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) states that CMS spent almost $394 million from fiscal year 2010 through March 2013 through contracts to build the exchanges, including websites such as Healthcare. gov. Although the report shows that a majority of the $394 million went to technology based expenses, a portion of it also went towards the call centers and collection services, which integrate multilingual features. In addition to these expenses, CMS also awarded contract money for both English and Spanish-language media outreach and paid to have education materials translated into 25 languages. ProEnglish has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with CMS to find out the exact cost of these translations. The ProEnglish Advocate Board The ProEnglish Advocate is published quarterly by ProEnglish. ProEnglish is a non-profit Rosalie Porter, Chairwoman membership-based organization dedicated to educating the American people about the Cliff Colwell importance of preserving English as our common language and making it the official lan- Phil Kent guage of the U.S. All contributions to ProEnglish are tax-deductible. K.C. McAlpin 1601 N. Kent Street, Suite 1100 John Tanton Arlington, Virginia 22209 Asgar Asgarov tel. (703) 816-8821 fax (571) 527-2813 Executive Director Website: www.proenglish.org Robert Vandervoort Permission is hereby granted to copy or distribute any or all of The ProEnglish Advocate. P ROENGLISH 2 October 2013 T HE P RO E NGLISH A DVOC at E In Congress U.S. Senate Holds Another Hearing on Puerto Rican Statehood As the adage goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, Although the results of the rigged 2012 try again.” In the case of the now four-time failed ef- Puerto Rican status referendum have fort to make Puerto Rico the 51st U.S. State, the U.S. been rejected by the White House because less Congress certainly is trying again…and again…and than half of voters favored statehood, Del. Pierluisi again. has introduced a new bill in Congress to force yet another vote on the matter. The Puerto Rico Status In August, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Re- Resolution Act (H.R. 2000) would authorize the State sources Committee held its second hearing in three Elections Commission of Puerto Rico to provide for years to discuss the decades- a ratification vote on the admission of long Puerto Rican statehood Puerto Rico into the Union as the 51st debate. The committee hear- State. The vote would be comprised ing was well-attended by the of only one question: “Do you want public, pro-statehood lob- Puerto Rico to be admitted as a State byists and even ProEnglish of the U.S.? Yes or No?” staff, although few sitting committee Members aside H.R. 2000, which currently has 125 from Chairman Ron Wyden cosponsors, does not contain any (D-OR) and Ranking Mem- Governor Alejandro García-Padilla provisions to require that Puerto Rico ber Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) change its language policy to comply were present. with all other 50 state governments—from de facto Spanish to de facto English. Hearing witnesses included the leader of the anti- statehood Popular Democratic Party, new Gover- Although Pierluisi has made statehood his number nor Alejandro García-Padilla, the longtime Resident one priority, the Senate Committee did not seem Commissioner and leader of the pro-statehood New convinced that the U.S. Congress should force this Progressive Party Pedro Pierluisi, and Ruben Bér- effort on Puerto Ricans. “It’s long been my position rìos, the president of the Puerto Rican Indepen- that the process for determining Puerto Rico’s pre- dence Party.
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