Language of the law
What changes would amendment bring?
What changes would English-only amendment bring in Oklahoma?
Comments 
104
By John Greiner, Susan Simpson and Wendy K. Kleinman
Published: April 24, 2008
Proposed English-only legislation would seriously affect public health and probably eliminate some other state documents translated into Spanish, state officials said Wednesday.
Advertisement
Public health
Public health would be compromised by English-only restrictions, said Leslea Bennett-Webb, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Health. "We are in the prevention business. We want to be accessible to all populations to help them from getting sick.”
She said 57 percent of her agency's funding comes from federal sources and many of those programs mandate material for non-English speakers.
This wouldn't change if the English-only proposal became law, she said.
Many materials are offered in Spanish, including newborn screening and injury prevention pamphlets, vaccination forms and disease-related fact sheets.
The Oklahoma County Health Department employs six full-time Spanish translators and a person who speaks Vietnamese.
Schools
Oklahoma Department of Education officials don't anticipate the legislation having any effect on the agency's work, spokeswoman Shelly Hickman said.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that schools communicate "to the extent practicable in a language that parents can understand.”
Oklahoma City School District spokeswoman Kathleen Kennedy said it's important for districts to do that.
"In order for students to be academically successful, we need to be able to communicate with all of the parents,” Kennedy said.
The district translates documents such as a Student and Parent Handbook into Spanish and Vietnamese.
Colleges and universities
The state regents print many student forms in Spanish to help Spanish-speaking parents prepare their children for college and seek financial aid.
"This is a family issue, so we talk to parents, and we talk to students, and we want them to be able to access the same information,” said Ben Hardcastle, spokesman.
Driver's licenses
The state Department of Public Safety has been providing driver's manuals and driver's tests in Spanish since 2004.
The agency spent more than $22,000 for 20,000 driver's manuals in Spanish in 2005 and an initial $52,000 for equipment for people to take their driver's tests in English or Spanish.
If the English-only plan becomes law, the department will just take the Spanish part of the testing off the machines in driver's examiner's offices, said Karen Gentry, driver's license examining division chief.
The division ran out of manuals in Spanish recently and hasn't reordered.
July 2007 to March 2008, 2,257 people took the driver's exam in Spanish, she said. About 900 were at an Oklahoma City site and more than 500 were in Tulsa.
Elections
The English-only legislation will not affect Oklahoma's election system if it becomes law, said Michael Clingman, state Election Board secretary.
The Federal Voting Rights Act requires ballots be printed in Spanish in Harmon and Texas counties, he said.
The law says if 5 percent of a county's population based on the last census speaks a different language, ballots must be written in that language as well as English, he said.
Related Topics:
Culture and Lifestyle, Language and Linguistics, Politics, Elections and Voting, Spanish Language
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).
TA, I don't speak Russian either. I am a redneck sometimes. But no red.