LATINO STUDENTS TAKE ISSUE WITH LIMITED CLASSES.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer

When you get right down to it, English is more of a foreign language for Jose Perez than Spanish is.

So when he entered North Hollywood High School, he hoped to learn Italian or French but was dismayed to learn his only choice was to study his native tongue.

``It's like they're saying we're not smart enough to learn another language,'' Perez complained. ``How can Spanish be considered a foreign language when it's not foreign to us?

``How can I put on my college application that I learned a foreign language, when this is a language I grew up with?''

Perez is one of a group of disgruntled North Hollywood High students trying to raise awareness about what they say is an inequity in education offerings: They only have one choice in foreign language -- Spanish -- while counterparts at Canoga Park High could choose from German, Spanish, French and Italian.

The high school senior with a 3.7 GPA has collected nearly 90 surveys of students in Spanish classes asking whether they were happy with the course and would like a shot at something else. He will submit the results to the administration after he conducts the same survey in coming weeks of students on another track at the school.

An overwhelming majority said they did not want Spanish and would have preferred French, Italian or German, saying the Spanish classes were simply not challenging enough.

About 72 percent of the 4,333-student campus is Latino, school officials said.

Only the 310 students in North Hollywood High's Highly Gifted Magnet -- which requires an IQ of 145 to be accepted -- have the option of learning French.

North Hollywood assistant Principal Virginia Hall said they once offered Italian for two years, but due to attrition, they were not able to offer a third year. Years ago they also had French classes, but the program was closed due to a high dropout rate and problems with the instructor.

``When we offer a foreign language, we need to make a commitment to students to be able to offer at least three years of that language because of the University of California requirements,'' Hall said. ``We certainly anticipate when we go to a traditional schedule, we'll be able to offer more than Spanish in 2007 or 2008.''

It's not the first time students have demanded another foreign language at the school. In 2004, another student presented to the administration a petition signed by about 200 students asking for another foreign language -- but it did not produce a change.

Foreign language offerings are directly related to demand, district officials said.

``Student demand for foreign language courses is what directs the number and types of courses offered,'' said LAUSD spokeswoman Stephanie Brady. ``And at most of our schools, students may speak Spanish but they don't have the grammatical essentials that they learn from a Spanish class.''

Students have turned to community colleges to take French classes.

``I'm kind of freaked out about it because I'm concerned about getting into a good college because there's so much competition,'' said freshman Silvia Orellana, 14. ``A lot of colleges and universities are not taking Spanish as a foreign language anymore.''

Her mother, Maria, said she's saddened that her daughter is not afforded the same opportunities as other students in the district.

``I wish she had more language options, especially since we live in a country that has so many cultures and people speak more than Spanish and English,'' she said.

Straight-A sophomore William Vega said school brochures promised French, but the class was never offered.

He took the high school proficiency exam, passed, and will begin attending community college this year to eventually transfer to UC Berkeley -- to major in French. He hopes to study law at Harvard or the University of Pennsylvania.

But the inequity goes beyond foreign language courses, students complain. They feel the lack of access to rigorous, college-preparatory classes makes them fall far short of the top high school students in the nation.

Even students at the same school don't have the same access to education, with the curriculum offered at his academy not matching that at the Highly Gifted Magnet -- leaving him at a built-in disadvantage, Vega said.

``I'm not going back. I don't want to be part of all that mediocrity. We're compromising our standards,'' said Vega, 15. ``We're not competition to anyone unless we're given choices. We're pretty much at the bottom of the barrel.''

Perez said his counselor kept pushing him to consider California State University, Northridge. Only through a teacher did he recently find out about the option of enrolling in a community college program, where if successful, he would be guaranteed a spot at a UC school.

Now, he's planning on attending Santa Monica Community College, in the hopes of transferring to UCLA.

It's very difficult to determine inequities between and within schools because of limited reporting, said John Rogers, associate director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.

``I do think there are some serious issues there and it's a real concern,'' he said.

``No matter what neighborhood you grow up in in California, you should have a meaningful opportunity to be exposed to an education that will prepare you for access to any public university in the state.''

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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Students Jose Perez, right, and William Vega want North Hollywood High to expand its foreign language curriculum. Perez is surveying classmates about the issue.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

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