Amid federal changes, Mass. law safeguards rights of immigrant and disabled students
Advertisement
In a statement to the Globe, Healey said Massachusetts is committed to ensuring all students have the support they need to succeed in school.
'I was proud to sign this legislation that protects the rights of students with disabilities and immigrant students, and improves access to high-quality interpreters for parents and students who are learning English,'
she said.
The update comes at a time when the federal government is increasing immigration enforcement and taking steps to dismantle the Department of Education, including significantly reducing the workforce in the department's
Filed as companion bills at the beginning of the legislative session by state Senators Pavel Payano and Sal DiDomenico and state Representatives Alice Peisch and Frank Moran,
the language was ultimately folded into the governor's supplemental budget.
Advertisement
'This law ends up safeguarding Massachusetts students from political shifts that we've seen at the federal level, and it affirms our Commonwealth's commitment to equity, to inclusion, and making sure that everyone has access to a good education,' Payano said.
As a former Lawrence School Committee member, Payano said he has seen firsthand the importance of proper translation when working with parents who don't speak English and said when no one is able to communicate with parents in their language, children are left behind. Even as a fluent Spanish speaker, he worried he wouldn't know proper terminology used in schools and in special education.
Related
:
Payano and his office worked closely with Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a nonprofit organization that provided policy recommendations and advocated for the bill.
One of the organization's education advocates, Emily Romero Gonzalez, pushed for the bill to ensure future generations of immigrant children have the same opportunities she did.
Romero Gonzalez, who moved to the US from Peru at age 3, said having access to a public education was 'instrumental' in the upward trajectory of her life and that of her family's.
'My entire family story would be so different if that right didn't exist,' said Romero Gonzalez, who attended Harvard University following high school.
'The impetus behind the bill was really the election of Donald Trump,' said Diana Santiago, legal director at Massachusetts Advocates for Children. 'It became increasingly evident that he planned to make drastic changes at the federal level in the area of education.'
Advertisement
Santiago also was concerned about potential challenges to the Supreme Court 1982 decision,
'The protections under Plyler are not codified in federal statute,' Santiago said. 'If that decision is overturned, or, as we became increasingly concerned over the past few months, the President were to issue an executive order essentially overturning Plyler, we were concerned about the impact in Massachusetts.'
Santiago's organization operates a helpline meant to support families who need guidance in navigating the public school system, particularly in getting access to resources and services. She said callers are often parents of children who are learning English and
also have a disability.
She said she has observed families having to choose between English language education services or special education services, because districts have told them they can't offer both due to scheduling conflicts. This led Santiago to advocate for a provision stating districts should not encourage parents to decline English language services.
'There are logistical constraints or scheduling constraints in meeting the needs of students,' Santiago said. 'It's really a matter of convenience for schools, but it can result in students not receiving their English language education services, which they're legally entitled to.'
Related
:
The bill also establishes standards for interpreters and translators working with parents or legal guardians who have limited English proficiency. Such standards include bilingualism, knowledge of specialized terms in both languages, ethics of interpreting and translating, and confidentiality.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will draft regulations regarding the new standards for translation, Payano said.
'It's a big relief, especially during these really dark times in our country, to have some kind of hope,' Santiago said. 'And there's still a lot more work to do, implementing the bill and just overall to create a state where all families feel welcome and students have equal opportunity to access an education.'
Advertisement
Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
10 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Forget about Epstein. This 20-point polling gap should really worry Trump.
Almost impressively, Trump has gone on the offensive to push the Epstein story (and the awkward ties to his former friend) out of the daily news cycle. In recent weeks, we've seen aggressive ICE raids, threats to charge former President Barack Obama with treason, gerrymandering fights across the country, a federal takeover of the Washington police force, and now a high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The tactic seems to be working: Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But Trump can't simply wish away persistent inflation concerns — both real and perceived. And in an environment where economic sentiment often drives elections, this could soon become a much bigger problem for Trump and Republicans. Advertisement The latest government report showed a key measure of inflation Advertisement Polls suggest voters have noticed. Trump's approval rating has been sliding since April. Today, about 46 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, while 52 percent disapprove, according to the In other words, the political danger here is not speculative. It's already measurable. It's also, like the Epstein problem, self-inflicted. Trump clearly fueled the Epstein controversy, both while out of office and now through his decision to break a campaign promise. Economists say his policies are doing the same for inflation. Tariffs have always been politically risky; they function as a tax on imports that eventually trickles down to consumers. Trump, however, has shown no sign of abandoning them. It's worth noting the contrast with Joe Biden's presidency, when inflation became a central political liability heading into the midterms and last year's election. Biden's inflation spike was largely attributed to snarled supply chains as the economy reopened from the pandemic and the spike in oil prices from the Ukraine war, exacerbated by the massive COVID relief spending he pushed. By comparison, Trump's inflation problem appears to be rooted more completely in his own policy choices, particularly on trade. Advertisement The irony is that Trump's 2024 victory was powered more by economic discontent than any other factor. Now, less than a year into his second term, those same voters may be reassessing that assumption as prices continue to rise. Two questions loom. First, what, if anything, will Trump do to bring prices down? So far, there's little indication he plans to soften his tariff stance. Second, will Democrats seize this moment to hammer inflation as a clear and objective failure of Trump's leadership? History suggests they might and that voters could respond. The Epstein headlines may fade, but prices for a wide variety of consumer goods don't appear to be. James Pindell is a Globe political reporter who reports and analyzes American politics, especially in New England.
Los Angeles Times
40 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Bolivian voters are hungry for change — and disillusioned by the options ahead of election
LA PAZ, Bolivia — The campaign billboards adorning the streets of Bolivia for Sunday's presidential election make grand promises: A solution to the dire economic crisis within 100 days, an end to fuel shortages and bread lines, unity for a divided nation. One vice presidential candidate pledges to 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' In their efforts to draw votes, all eight candidates — two right-wing front-runners, a conservative centrist and splintered factions of Bolivia's long-dominant left-wing — are vowing drastic change, launching searing attacks on the status quo and selling a message of hope. But for many Bolivians, hope has already hardened into cynicism. Promises of quick fixes — like right-wing candidate Samuel Doria Medina's pledge to stabilize the upside-down economy within '100 days, dammit!' — fall flat. Vandals add extra zeroes to his campaign posters, suggesting a million days might be a more realistic goal. Tuto, the nickname of Jorge Quiroga, the other right-wing favorite, turns up on city walls with its first letter swapped to form a Spanish insult. Some signs for left-wing candidate Andrónico Rodríguez, pledging 'unity above all' have been defaced to read 'unity in the face of lines.' And few know what to do with the acronym of the governing party candidate, Eduardo del Castillo: 'We Are a National Option with Authentic Ideas.' (No, It's not any catchier in Spanish). Yet for all their disenchantment with politicians, Bolivians are counting down the days until elections, united in their relief that, no matter what happens, leftist President Luis Arce will leave office after five difficult years. Inflation is soaring. The central bank has burned through its dollar reserves. Imported goods have vanished from shelves. 'I have no faith in any candidate. There's no one new in this race,' Alex Poma Quispe, 25, told The Associated Press from his family's fruit truck, where he slept curled into a ball in the front seat Wednesday for a second straight night, stranded with 50 other trucks in a fuel line en route from farms in the Yungas region to markets in Bolivia's capital of La Paz. 'The only thing we're enthusiastic about is Arce leaving.' A bitter power struggle between Arce and former President Evo Morales has shattered their hegemonic Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, giving the right-wing opposition its best shot at victory in two decades. 'I've seen that socialism has brought nothing good to this country,' said Victor Ticona, 24, a music student, as he left Quiroga's campaign rally Wednesday. 'We have to become more competitive in the world.' Doria Medina, a 66-year-old multimillionaire businessman, and Quiroga, a 65-year-old former vice president who briefly assumed the presidency in 2001 after then-President Hugo Banzer resigned with cancer, are familiar faces in Bolivian politics. Both have run for president three times before. While their calls for economic freedom and foreign investment appeal to voters desperate for change, they have struggled to stir up excitement. Nearly 30% of voters are undecided, according to polls. Doria Medina, a former minister of planning, acknowledged in a recent social media video that 'people say I have no charisma, that I'm too serious.' Quiroga's association with Banzer, a former military dictator who brutally quashed dissent over seven corruption-plagued years before being democratically elected, has turned some voters off. 'It was a bloody era,' recalled 52-year-old taxi driver Juan Carlos Mamani. 'For me, Tuto is the definition of the old guard.' Poma Quispe and his 24-year-old brother Weimar have no idea who'd they vote for — or if they'll vote at all. Voting is compulsory in Bolivia, and about 7.9 million people in the country of 12 million are eligible to cast ballots in Sunday's election. Non-voters face various financial penalties. Over the past year, fuel shortages have brought much of Bolivia to a standstill. Truckers waste days at a time queuing at empty gas stations around Bolivia, just to keep their vehicles moving. The diesel arrives on no set schedule, and the rhythm of life is forced to adapt. If the diesel arrives before Sunday, the Poma Quispe brothers will vote. If not, 'there's no way we're giving up our spot in line for those candidates,' Weimar Poma Quispe said. This year's election coincides with the 200th anniversary of Bolivia's independence. But instead of celebrating, many Bolivians are questioning the validity of their democracy and state-directed economic model. Crowds booed at President Arce during his bicentennial speech earlier this month. His government invited left-wing presidents from across Latin America to attend the event; only the president of Honduras showed. The lack of enthusiasm among ordinary Bolivians and beleaguered officials seems matched by that of the candidates. Authorities allowed televised presidential debates — banned under Morales — for the first time in 20 years. The front-runners turned up to just one of them. Personal attacks overshadowed policy discussions. Doria Medina accused Del Castillo of ties to drug traffickers, while Del Castillo mocked the businessman's record of failed presidential bids. Rodríguez and Quiroga traded barbs over alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings. The median age in Bolivia is 26. For comparison, it is 39 in China and the United States. Having grown up under the government of Morales and his MAS party, many young Bolivians are restive, disillusioned by current prospects as they become more digitally connected than any generation before them. Quiroga in particular has energized young voters with his running mate, JP Velasco, a successful 38-year-old tech entrepreneur with no political experience who vows to reverse a brain drain in Bolivia and create opportunities for youth in exploiting the country's abundant reserves of lithium, the critical metal for electric vehicle batteries, and developing data centers. Young crowds packed Quiroga's Wednesday night campaign rally, even as 20-somethings in goth makeup and tight-stretch dresses expressed more interest in the lively cumbia bands than the political speeches. Others sported red MAGA-style caps with Velasco's slogan, 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' Cap-wearers offered varying answers on when Bolivia was last 'sexy,' with some saying never, but agreed it meant attractive to foreign investors. 'It won't just be tech companies coming here, McDonald's might even come,' Velasco told the crowd, eliciting whoops and howls. 'Young people, if you go abroad, let it be for vacation.' Debre and Valdez write for the Associated Press.
San Francisco Chronicle
40 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bolivian voters are hungry for change — and disillusioned by the options ahead of election
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The campaign billboards adorning the streets of Bolivia for Sunday's presidential election make grand promises: A solution to the dire economic crisis within 100 days, an end to fuel shortages and bread lines, unity for a divided nation. One vice presidential candidate pledges to 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' In their efforts to draw votes, all eight candidates — two right-wing front-runners, a conservative centrist and splintered factions of Bolivia's long-dominant left-wing — are vowing drastic change, launching searing attacks on the status quo and selling a message of hope. Slogans fail to break through Promises of quick fixes — like right-wing candidate Samuel Doria Medina's pledge to stabilize the upside-down economy within '100 days, dammit!' — fall flat. Vandals add extra zeroes to his campaign posters, suggesting a million days might be a more realistic goal. Tuto, the nickname of Jorge Quiroga, the other right-wing favorite, turns up on city walls with its first letter swapped to form a Spanish insult. Some signs for left-wing candidate Andrónico Rodríguez, pledging 'unity above all' have been defaced to read 'unity in the face of lines.' And few know what to do with the acronym of the governing party candidate, Eduardo del Castillo: 'We Are a National Option with Authentic Ideas.' (No, It's not any catchier in Spanish). Yet for all their disenchantment with politicians, Bolivians are counting down the days until elections, united in their relief that, no matter what happens, leftist President Luis Arce will leave office after five difficult years. Inflation is soaring. The central bank has burned through its dollar reserves. Imported goods have vanished from shelves. 'I have no faith in any candidate. There's no one new in this race,' Alex Poma Quispe, 25, told The Associated Press from his family's fruit truck, where he slept curled into a ball in the front seat Wednesday for a second straight night, stranded with 50 other trucks in a fuel line en route from farms in the Yungas region to markets in Bolivia's capital of La Paz. 'The only thing we're enthusiastic about is Arce leaving.' New campaigns, old faces A bitter power struggle between Arce and former President Evo Morales has shattered their hegemonic Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, giving the right-wing opposition its best shot at victory in two decades. 'I've seen that socialism has brought nothing good to this country,' said Victor Ticona, 24, a music student, as he left Quiroga's campaign rally Wednesday. 'We have to become more competitive in the world.' Doria Medina, a 66-year-old multimillionaire businessman, and Quiroga, a 65-year-old former vice president who briefly assumed the presidency in 2001 after then-President Hugo Banzer resigned with cancer, are familiar faces in Bolivian politics. Both have run for president three times before. While their calls for economic freedom and foreign investment appeal to voters desperate for change, they have struggled to stir up excitement. Nearly 30% of voters are undecided, according to polls. Doria Medina, a former minister of planning, acknowledged in a recent social media video that 'people say I have no charisma, that I'm too serious.' Quiroga's association with Banzer, a former military dictator who brutally quashed dissent over seven corruption-plagued years before being democratically elected, has turned some voters off. 'It was a bloody era,' recalled 52-year-old taxi driver Juan Carlos Mamani. 'For me, Tuto is the definition of the old guard.' At the pumps, not the polls Poma Quispe and his 24-year-old brother Weimar have no idea who'd they vote for — or if they'll vote at all. Voting is compulsory in Bolivia, and about 7.9 million people in the country of 12 million are eligible to cast ballots in Sunday's election. Non-voters face various financial penalties. Over the past year, fuel shortages have brought much of Bolivia to a standstill. Truckers waste days at a time queuing at empty gas stations around Bolivia, just to keep their vehicles moving. The diesel arrives on no set schedule, and the rhythm of life is forced to adapt. If the diesel arrives before Sunday, the Poma Quispe brothers will vote. If not, 'there's no way we're giving up our spot in line for those candidates,' Weimar Poma Quispe said. Personal drama over political debate This year's election coincides with the 200th anniversary of Bolivia's independence. But instead of celebrating, many Bolivians are questioning the validity of their democracy and state-directed economic model. Crowds booed at President Arce during his bicentennial speech earlier this month. His government invited left-wing presidents from across Latin America to attend the event; only the president of Honduras showed. The lack of enthusiasm among ordinary Bolivians and beleaguered officials seems matched by that of the candidates. Authorities allowed televised presidential debates — banned under Morales — for the first time in 20 years. The front-runners turned up to just one of them. Personal attacks overshadowed policy discussions. Doria Medina accused Del Castillo of ties to drug traffickers, while Del Castillo mocked the businessman's record of failed presidential bids. Rodríguez and Quiroga traded barbs over alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings. Chasing the youth vote The median age in Bolivia is 26. For comparison, it is 39 in China and the United States. Having grown up under the government of Morales and his MAS party, many young Bolivians are restive, disillusioned by current prospects as they become more digitally connected than any generation before them. Quiroga in particular has energized young voters with his running mate, JP Velasco, a successful 38-year-old tech entrepreneur with no political experience who vows to reverse a brain drain in Bolivia and create opportunities for youth in exploiting the country's abundant reserves of lithium, the critical metal for electric vehicle batteries, and developing data centers. Young crowds packed Quiroga's Wednesday night campaign rally, even as 20-somethings in goth makeup and tight-stretch dresses expressed more interest in the lively cumbia bands than the political speeches. Others sported red MAGA-style caps with Velasco's slogan, 'Make Bolivia Sexy Again.' Cap-wearers offered varying answers on when Bolivia was last 'sexy,' with some saying never, but agreed it meant attractive to foreign investors. 'It won't just be tech companies coming here, McDonald's might even come,' Velasco told the crowd, eliciting whoops and howls. 'Young people, if you go abroad, let it be for vacation.'
