Students Barred From Bus For Speaking English

**Willowdared** · 01-11-07, 04:50 PM

Can anyone say reverse discrimination?!

POSTED: 8:39 am PST January 11, 2007
UPDATED: 12:02 pm PST January 11, 2007
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ST PAUL, Minn. -- A school bus driver let Rachel Armstrong's three children board the bus Monday morning, but he warned them that he wouldn't give them a ride home that afternoon, nor could they ever ride his route again.

The problem: Armstrong's 10-year-old twin girls and 8-year-old son speak English. The driver told them the route had been designated for non-English speakers only.

Armstrong said Wednesday that she got a call from a worried daughter who didn't know how she was going to get home. "She thought they had done something wrong," she said.

A furious Armstrong had to leave work early to pick up her stranded kids from Phalen Lake Elementary School.

It turns out the bus route was meant to serve one of the district's three language academies. Phalen Lake's academy is for Hmong kids learning English, and the academies all have separate bus routes to keep their students together.

The district decided to begin enforcing the separate routes Monday -- but didn't tell the Armstrong family.

School administrators apologized but didn't agree to let Armstrong's children keep riding the bus, as they'd been doing all year.

"It is our responsibility to ensure the safety of these kids and we made a mistake," said Dayna Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the district. "The kids should have gotten home that day."

The Armstrongs also learned that when they moved last year, they landed outside of Phalen's attendance area. Armstrong said she was told her kids would have to transfer if they wanted to keep riding a bus, "or I'd have to find my own way to get them to school."

Armstrong said she arrived home Wednesday to find a message from the principal on her answering machine.

"She would prefer them to stay there rather than leave, and she would like to work on some kind of resolution," Armstrong said.
A simple solution, she said, would be to let her daughters keep riding the bus.

"It's so simple, but they want to come with the red tape and everything," she said. "As long as the kids get to school, that should be the main point."

**Piggybank Cop** · 01-11-07, 04:57 PM

For being so educated, school teachers and administrators sure are stupid.

**Tennsix** · 01-11-07, 05:05 PM

Is that even legal?

**Willowdared** · 01-11-07, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by Tennsix

Is that even legal?

I wouldn't think so. Not if this is a magnet school on the same campus?

If the situation were reversed, it would not fly.

Perfect case for the ACLU!!!!

**Star Man** · 01-11-07, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by PDawg

I wouldn't think so. Not if this is a magnet school on the same campus?

If the situation were reversed, it would not fly.

Perfect case for the ACLU!!!!

The ACLU couldn't give a shit, it doesn't serve the right cause to stand up for the English kid, only the illegal immigrant.

**Pudge** · 01-11-07, 07:26 PM

What a bunch of friggin morons.

There would have been a full out lawsuit if a non-english speaking child would have been banned from a bus of english speaking kids.

**Jackalope** · 01-11-07, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by PDawg

The Armstrongs also learned that when they moved last year, they landed outside of Phalen's attendance area. Armstrong said she was told her kids would have to transfer if they wanted to keep riding a bus...

So the bus goes by their house, but they live outside of the attendance area?

Right, nothing to do with language or ethnicity at all.

**Willowdared** · 01-11-07, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by Star Man

The ACLU couldn't give a shit, it doesn't serve the right cause to stand up for the English kid, only the illegal immigrant.

Well, they do have to be approached, but this is what they claim to be all about.

I think it's time they put their money where their mouth is.

And the family was only told they were out of the school's boundries after all this happened.

**BEK** · 01-11-07, 11:30 PM

Originally Posted by Star Man

The ACLU couldn't give a shit, it doesn't serve the right cause to stand up for the English kid, only the illegal immigrant.

The ACLU and NAACP is confused because this kinda stuff doesnt happen to black kids normally its whities fault

**TXCharlie** · 01-12-07, 12:02 AM

"The Man" just keeps us whities down.

**Roses** · 01-12-07, 02:30 AM

Originally Posted by PDawg

It turns out the bus route was meant to serve one of the district's three language academies. Phalen Lake's academy is for Hmong kids learning English, and the academies all have separate bus routes to keep their students together.

"She would prefer them to stay there rather than leave, and she would like to work on some kind of resolution," Armstrong said.
A simple solution, she said, would be to let her daughters keep riding the bus.

"It's so simple, but they want to come with the red tape and everything," she said. "As long as the kids get to school, that should be the main point."

To me allowing kids to sit with other English speaking kids would help them as they learn to speak English.

As she said the simple solution is for them to allow the children to ride together. All the children would benefit then. The English speaking children would have transportation to school and the non-speaking English children would have a chance to communicate in English with these English speaking children.

Now that would be a good way to learn the language.

The English speaking children may even learn their language since some colleges require a second language for their degree programs as a prerequisite.

**Willowdared** · 01-12-07, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Roses

To me allowing kids to sit with other English speaking kids would help them as they learn to speak English.

As she said the simple solution is for them to allow the children to ride together. All the children would benefit then. The English speaking children would have transportation to school and the non-speaking English children would have a chance to communicate in English with these English speaking children.

Now that would be a good way to learn the language.

The English speaking children may even learn their language since some colleges require a second language for their degree programs as a prerequisite.

+1

And what has me flummoxed, is that there are still Hmong children that don't speak English? The Hmong came here when Cambodia fell....that's decades ago! My Aunt is a teacher in Wisconsin, and she has had many Hmong children come thru her classes - she said they all speak perfect English.

**BEK** · 01-12-07, 11:00 AM

Many people in MN dont speak english. MN has the biggest population of hmongs in the US. Everyone is Coddled here it makes my head spin about the amount of money is spent on thing like this.