"BOSTON -- Should a teacher who can't speak fluent English to her students be allowed to stay in the classroom?
The outcome of Phanna Rem Robishaw's case against the Lowell School Department and Lowell School Committee holds statewide ramifications for the state's educational system.
Today, the state Supreme Judicial Court was scheduled to hear arguments from Robishaw, a former Lowell teacher who was fired for failing an English-fluency test, after a lower-court judge upheld the firing, saying the teacher's English proficiency was 'utterly incomprehensible.'
In 2002, Massachusetts' voters passed Question 2, requiring all school superintendents to attest to the English fluency and literacy of their teachers where 'the teacher's fluency is not apparent through classroom observation and assessment or interview assessment.'"
The outcome of Phanna Rem Robishaw's case against the Lowell School Department and Lowell School Committee holds statewide ramifications for the state's educational system.
Today, the state Supreme Judicial Court was scheduled to hear arguments from Robishaw, a former Lowell teacher who was fired for failing an English-fluency test, after a lower-court judge upheld the firing, saying the teacher's English proficiency was 'utterly incomprehensible.'
In 2002, Massachusetts' voters passed Question 2, requiring all school superintendents to attest to the English fluency and literacy of their teachers where 'the teacher's fluency is not apparent through classroom observation and assessment or interview assessment.'"
