The Right to Free Speech (if it’s English)

A North Carolina School fired one of its secretaries for violating their “No-Spanish” rule.  Ana Ligia Mateo, who was in fact hired by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District for her bilingual ability in 2006, was “caught” speaking Spanish on several occasions, mostly to the parents of Latino students that make up nearly 1/6th of the student body. She is (rightfully) filing a lawsuit against the district.

The article makes it seem like the principal who fired Ms.Mateo was in fact a Spanish speaker, as she had been asked to serve as a translator in the past, but had refused. The trial itself should be very interesting, and raise a series of important questions. It is much more than determining if an employee was wrongly terminated — the very nature of the rule seems unconstitutional. This will also raise important considerations about the role of monolingual and bilingual education, and the autonomy of schools and districts. Part of me hopes the district fights this instead of settling, because the courts really should be assessing the legality (if they haven’t already) of No-Spanish or English-Only rules. Not all forms of speech are free, but can we really argue that speech in another language can be outlawed in any zone, much less a school? America is a country of immigrants, not ignorance.

What can you do? Well, you can always email them at cms@cms.k12.nc.us , or call the education center at (980) 343-3000 and voice your concerns. And if you prefer, you can access other information on their website — in SPANISH.

[UPI]

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