Michigan District Forced to Hire Translators, Teachers for Arab Students
16th August 2014
The Department of Justice compelled a Dearborn, Michigan, high school district to hire more translators and teachers to accommodate Arab students who are not proficient in English.
According to USA Today, the “31-page agreement with the Department of Justice” calls for the Crestwood School District, which is in an area with “a growing Arab-American population,” to “‘take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal and meaningful participation by’ students with limited English skills.” USA Today noted that the agreement “doesn’t specify Arabic, but given that the agreement centered around complaints from Arab-Americans, it will probably include that.”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reportedly “ruled that the Crestwood district had violated federal civil rights laws” last year. The settlement, which was reportedly released in English and Arabic, “requires the district to provide school documents in both English and foreign languages such as Arabic and to promote a more diverse staff” and that all “teachers must be rated on how effectively they administer” various diversity programs.