Scene: North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 70, Ed. 1 Friday, February 10, 2006 Page: 2 of 12
twelve pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Scene I NT Daily
February 10-13 2006
DeLay
distances
self from
Ahramoff
WASHINGTON(AP) - U.S.
Rep. Tom DeLay is trying to dis-
tance himself from disgraced
lobbyist Jack A bramoff in letters
to GOP voters.
DeLay sent a nine-page let-
ter to voters saying "the notion
that he was a close friend who
wielded influence over me is ab-
solutely untrue," according to a
report Thursday in Roll Call, a
Capitol Hill newspaper.
But numerous media reports
have said DeLay once described
Abramoff as "one of my closest
and dearest friends."
"This letter simply puts in his
writing what he's been saying
all along to the people back here
in the district," said campaign
spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty.
She said the letter is another way
of DeLay countering "these man-
ufactured Democrat attacks."
DeLay told voters in his letter
that he and Abramoff were not
close personal friends, he only
met with Abramoff occasionally
and did not give him preferential
treatment, Roll Call reported.
"To be certain, I knew nothing
about the crimes for which he
has pled guilty," DeLay wrote.
H ¡spaniic advocates sue exas
over ESL and bilingual programs
TYLER (AP) — Latino advo-
cates filed a federal lawsuit Thurs-
day asking that Texas improve su-
pervision over English as a Second
Language and bilingual education
programs to ensure students who
are learning English don't lag be-
hind others.
The lawsuit contends Texas has
failedfor years to appropriately over-
see the programs at public schools,
leaving thousands of children with
limited English skills to fail exit
tests, drop out or be held back.
Officials with the Texas Educa-
tion Agency had not yet seen the
lawsuit and couldn't comment,
said agency spokeswoman DeEtta
Culbertson.
Filed in federal court in Tyler by
Mexican American Legal Defense
and Educational Fund and the
Multicultural Training, Education
and Advocacy, Inc., the lawsuit
requests that the TEA be ordered
to establish a system to monitor
students who are learning English.
It asks for the agency to monitor
bilingual and ESL programs on-
site, ensure access for students and
make sure the instruction offered is
appropriate.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of
the League of United Latin Ameri-
can Citizens and the American GI
Forum, also wants intervention for
schools where the achievement
gap, retention rate and drop out fig-
ures of students learning English is
significant.
Citing Texas Education Agency
figures from the 2004-2005 school
year, the suit said more than 8 out
of 10 seventh-graders with limited
English proficiency failed to meet
the state s standards on the Texas
Assessment of Knowledge and
Skills test.
By the secondary education level,
studentsmusttaketheTAKS in Eng-
lish to graduate. In the 10th grade, 9
out of 10 non-English speaking stu-
dents failed the exit test.
From the class of 2004, more
than 16 percent of non-English
speaking students dropped out of
school, compared to 1.9 percent of
white students and 3.9 percent of
all students, the suit said.
On the day the suit was filed,
members of the State Board of Ed-
ucation were debating the merits of
bilingual education versus immer-
sion, a method that tries to teach
students a new language by giv-
ing all instruction in that particular
language. Some board members
want Texas schools to have the op-
tion of English immersion instruc-
tion instead of bilingual programs
to teach public school students to
read, write and speak English.
COLORADO COURT
APARTMENTS
The Sexton Community
UNT STUDENTS...
Show your student ID and get
$200 off your first month's rent!*
*Offer valid on select units only. Restrictions may apply.
Immersion proponents beli eve that
students will absorb English when
given constant exposure. Critics say
immersion students can't learn basic
skills when they are being taught in a
language they don't understand.
Following a previous lawsuit, the
United States District Court for the
Eastern District in 1981 found inad-
equacies in the state's bilingual pro-
gram that were made worse by the
state's failure to monitor and enforce
local compliance. An appeals court
later said the program was unsound,
largely unimplemented and yielded
unproductive results.
NORTH TEXAS DAILY
Editorial Office
Advertising Department
GAB Room 117
GAB Room 101
Phone: (940) 565-2353
Phone: (940) 565-2851
Fax: (940) 565-3573
Fax: (940) 565-4659
Editor in Chief
Zachary Austrew
Advertising Manager
Abby Caperton
Managing Editor
Gabriel Monte
Assistant Advertising
Nesha Plouché
Assigning Editor
Jamaal O'Neal
Manager
Student Life Editor
Ashley Hanisko
Outside Sales
John Fossum, Justin
Arts Editor
Alex Taylor
Newberry, Rachel
Sports Editor
Brad McDonnell
Rosenfield, Landon
Views Editor
Ryan Schuette
Sloan, Katie Stinson
Copy Chief
Kevin Zahner
Campus Sales
Sophia Pieh, Chris
Photography Editor
Brittany Dawson
MacLaughlin
Chief Designer
Bobby Travis
Classified Sales
Nesha Plouché
Customer Service
Kendall Pippin, Katie
O'Rear, Collette
Staff Writers
Cartoonist
Thomas
Brandon Kilgore, Pamela Bond, Michael Hernandez, Tony
Michelle Thacker
Gutierrez, Chelsea Douglas, Crystal Barbour, Ryan Jarcy, Amanda
Intern Writers
Koellman, Maria Last, Rachel Routon, Jesse Sldlauskas, Sara South-
Amberlee Sterling, Elizabeth Knighten, Brittany Rasch
erland, Chris Thompson, Erin Trltschier, Mason Canales, Michael
Intern Photographers
Neglla, Blake Abbe, Lindsey Wl
lams
Christina Rowland, Mackenzie Rollins
Staff Photographers
Designers
Anthony Davlla, Liliana Castillo, Katherlne Frye, Shannon Jenkins,
JamesT. Alford, Samantha Courtney, Vickie Nace
Michael Clements
Webmaster
Copy Editors
Jesse Gomez
JamesT. O'Brien, Mary Pharrls
UNIVERSITY 0F NORTH TEXAS1
Department of Dance & Theatre
Faculty Dance Concert
\ '
www.sextonproperties.com
1939 Colorado Blvd., Denton (940) 565-1375
February 17 & 18, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
February 19, 2006 @ 2:30 pm
University Theatre, RTFP Building
Tickets $7.50 & $10
www. danceandtheatre .unt.edu
940.565.2428
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Scene: North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 70, Ed. 1 Friday, February 10, 2006, newspaper, February 10, 2006; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145305/m1/2/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.