The school board of the Coachella Valley Unified School District in California has voted to sue the state over its law on the assessment of English-language learners on the state tests.
The district has hired three law firms to file a lawsuit in April, according to Foch Pensis, the superintendent of the district. The board voted March 3 to file suit.
California requires English-language learners to take the state’s tests only in English, while the federal No Child Left Behind Act permits such students to take their state’s tests in their native languages for at least three years after they’ve arrived in U.S. schools.
Mr. Pensis said the lawsuit would argue that the state law should be altered to match the federal law. Eighty-two percent of the 16,000 students in the Coachella Valley district have limited proficiency in English.
