Interview on LAUSD Board vote to restructure deaf education
Last week the Los Angeles Unified School Board (LAUSD) unanimously voted 7-0 to approve a resolution to restructure deaf and hard of hearing education, elevate language equity, and eliminate bias in deaf education.
The vote means that there will be a “Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education Department” established and that ASL will be formally recognized as the language of instruction for deaf and hard of hearing students.
LAUSD is the second-largest school district in the U.S. and has over 2,100 deaf and hard of hearing students with varying languages, additional disabilities, and identities.
Here is an interview with four of the key members behind the resolution, all of whom are LAUSD employees and board members of the California Educators of the Deaf (CAL-ED).
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Alex:
You all are an important force, a powerful force behind this significant resolution that unanimously passed. Before you hoped that you would get at least two more board votes after already having two and were concerned. But it was 7-0! What does that mean to you?
Janette Duran-Aguirre, LAUSD School Counselor:
The first word that pops up is that this is the beginning of a healing. This fight has been going on my entire life and it’s personal. I was a LAUSD student myself and at the same time when I became a professional, I’ve seen how many of our deaf students have suffered with oppression. It’s not just the students, but my colleagues — both deaf and hearing — who work in the field of Deaf education. They’ve been fighting and advocating, but they’ve been oppressed.
Lauren Maucere, Assistant Principal at a LAUSD School:
I remember when I first joined LAUSD. I was already struggling as an employee. I can’t imagine what it’s like for deaf students as their struggle is worse. And their families. Just wow. I already started some activism back then on behalf of my school because we were struggling to be accepted in the district. Then I realized that it’s more of a system-wide issue. So instead of starting from the bottom, we went up straight to the system and this victory means we finally have hope for a better education for our deaf children and for everyone involved. For Deaf professionals as well.
Mallorie Evans, LAUSD Educational Audiologist:
For me, seeing the 7-0 vote, I was speechless. I never visualized, never dreamed that all the votes would be “yes.” I was hoping for 4 or 5. If it was five, I would feel great. But we got 7. Also the superintendent himself said he would vote for it if he could, to make it 8-0. It means you can see that they understand. They were open-minded and they felt like they learned something.
Amy Bogartz, LASD Deaf and Hard of Hearing Itinerant Teacher:
We came together and fought together. I hope there will be a ripple effect on other schools and other families. I have goosebumps. It was a very important moment.
Alex:
A big word from CAL-ED is “equity.” It says so on your shirts! Equity. So now, going forward with LAUSD, how do you make it equal?
Maucere:
It starts with the Deaf Education Department. Right now our program is spread out and overseen by administrators who do not know about Deaf education or they don’t sign. Our program is not under one department but it is under its own district. LAUSD has seven different districts, so programs under a particular district are run by administrators of that district. There is no real coordination. Also the infant program has its own administrator that is separate. The same goes for interpreting, assistants, it’s all over the place and fractured. It’s not cohesive. There’s no system-wide communication or professional development. There are no Deaf education administrators who know about bilingualism on a district level. There are no Deaf professionals in district-level administration. There is a list of issues so this is where we start, with placing the right people who knows ASL/English Bilingual (AEB), Deaf education, to have people in positions who can oversee, evaluate, support, and provide what is appropriate for our programs. That’s where equity starts.
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Alex:
I’ve seen in some people’s testimony and in an article that in LAUSD, some teachers or programs do “ban” ASL. You can’t teach ASL. Have you seen that?
Evans:
Unfortunately, that’s normal. Unfortunately, yes. Not only LAUSD but all over.
Duran-Aguirre:
I’m one of those former students who were banned from signing. It’s traumatizing. Many students, still today, face that. It’s not just our school district that believes that, but it’s all over. That thinking of having to “fit in” with what is considered the standard, to have a chance of success, is through speaking and listening. They really do look down on sign language.
Bogartz:
I’m an itinerant teacher. We have a bad reputation of being called the “hearing aids police.” Where we would check students to make sure they had their hearing equipment. If they didn’t, we would have to ask why. To be clear, I don’t do that. Like what Evans said, I sit down with the students and ask them what they feel. If they can’t hear or can’t understand, I ask what they are doing. I tell them that it’s okay to be deaf. It’s okay. So I have developed relationships with my students. As for the other itinerant teachers, it’s not the same as they are focused on the auditory and the oral components. But I’m all about sign language and the eyes.
Alex:
I saw that ASL will now be the standard for early intervention. Can you explain that part? What will change with early intervention?
Maucere:
Really, firstly, what hit me hard was if you did some research on websites for early intervention and the different services — you’ll see many of them support listening and spoken language development. There’s absolutely nothing about ASL. It’s not even mentioned. How would parents know when they check the website for information on what is provided? There’s nothing. That’s stunning. There is a lot of inequity in that system. We want to change that to make sure that all families are well-informed with the right information.
Alex:
So now, going forward, are you hoping that the websites will include ASL?
Evans:
It’s already changed! It’s already changed, yes. This movement has really made its impact in the early intervention program. They’ve already announced that this fall, there will be a new curriculum introduced for deaf babies that includes ASL. So, wow! But why did they have to wait until this moment to finally change? It should have happened all this time. Now they are admitting they didn’t include all those things. Now, they will offer an appropriate curriculum and ASL classes for parents. So we are already seeing an impact before next year. It’s happening quickly. It’s a huge impact.
Alex:
That process is hard for me to understand. With a Deaf school, if you replace the superintendent or the principal, there can be a big change immediately. But with LAUSD, it’s much more spread out.
Duran-Aguirre:
We definitely want to see more Deaf professionals at the administrative level. On the decision-making table. Right now there are only two Deaf people with an administrative credential. So we need more. One important thing that I want to mention is that I want to recognize the community, the Deaf community, that have expressed concerns about our BIPOC Deaf who are not just bilingual (ASL/English), but they also have other languages. Such as LSM (Mexican Sign Language), Guatemalan Sign Language, El Salvador Sign Language, they want them to be recognized as well. That is something that we are already aware of and plan to include in the future as a part of our Deaf Education Department. We will be considerate and recognize our Deaf students who are multilingual and have intersecting identities. So I want our Deaf community to know they are seen.
Alex:
Thank you so much and congratulations on making such a big impact in Los Angeles!
All:
Thank you!
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Thank you four so much for sharing your thoughts with LAUSD and for explaining the changes that are coming.