http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14376787.htm

Posted on Wed, Apr. 19, 2006


Lawsuit alleges segregation

By MELISSA SĀNCHEZ
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The nation's leading Mexican-American legal organization filed suit in a federal court Tuesday against the Dallas school district and the principal of a north Dallas elementary school on allegations of segregation and discrimination.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund represents parents who say Preston Hollow Elementary School and Principal Teresa Parker illegally use its English as a second language program to segregate Hispanic and minority students from Anglo students, regardless of their language abilities, officials say. For example, some Hispanic students are being placed in ESL classes even though they can speak English efficiently, the lawsuit says.

School district officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

MALDEF alleges that the school organizes its general education classes and combines grade levels to keep Anglo students, who comprise 18 percent of the school, together in classrooms. MALDEF staff attorney David Hinojosa says it's "an effort to deter white flight."

"Fifty years after Brown v. The Board of Education, it is a shame that segregation continues to plague our schools," Hinojosa said in a news release. "Using ESL as a proxy to segregate schoolchildren cannot be tolerated."

Hinojosa called on the district to answer the outcry of Hispanic parents by ending the practice.

Lucresia Mayorga Santamaria, lead plaintiff and mother of three Preston Hollow students, says the school has purposely tried to keep Hispanic children off the school brochure "because they didn't want the surrounding neighborhood to get the wrong impression."

"We will not stand by any longer, because our children deserve the same opportunities as all other children of Preston Hollow," Santamaria said.


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Melissa SĀnchez, (817) 548-5412 msancheze@star-telegram.com