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End District's English-Only Policy: School Secretary Fired for Speaking Spanish to Parents
  1. Signatures
    4,068 out of 5,000
    Petitioning
    1. District Executive Director of Communications (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • District Executive Director of Communications (LaTarzja Henry)
      • Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District Superintendent (Dr. Peter C. Gorman)
  2. Created By
    Change.org
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
Why This Is Important

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district has been accused of firing school secretary Ana Ligia Mateo for speaking Spanish to parents of students in her school.

In a particularly brazen act of insensitivity the school principal told Ms. Mateo not to translate in communicating with parents who had come to school to investigate whether someone at the school had sexually assaulted their child.

42 percent of the school’s students are Hispanic and Ms. Mateo was originally hired to be a bilingual secretary.

English only rules like this in our schools only serve to marginalize both parents and students and fail to accommodate our diverse population.

Send a letter to the school district demanding an immediate end to any English-only policies in school. Schools should serve and communicate with all parent and students rather than enforce intolerant and counter-productive language bans.

Recent Signatures

Don’t Ban Spanish in Your Schools

Greetings,

I am writing because I have just learned about the case of Ana Ligia Mateo, a secretary in your district that was fired for speaking Spanish to parents of students at her school.

Our communities are diverse and our public schools ought to serve all students and all parents. Refusing to communicate with parents simply because they speak Spanish does a disservice to all students and couldn’t possibly help your educational goals.

I am calling on your district to immediately and publically renounce all English-only rules in your schools. Education is too important to exclude and alienate significant numbers of students and parents.

[Your name]