Bilingual Education

High schools throughout Orange County are struggling to teach basic subjects to teenagers who speak little or no English, while teachers weigh whether to flunk bright students who work hard but cannot comprehend the lessons at hand. "The situation is just awful," said Newport Harbor High School history teacher Angela Newman, burying her face in her hands.

Twenty kindergartners gathered expectantly around their teacher Wednesday, the first day of an urban experiment nearly two years in the making at Aldama Elementary School in Highland Park.

It's an unlikely spot to find an educational cause celebre--a poor and sun-scorched farm town on the Mexican border. Yet the school district here has achieved renown far beyond its alfalfa and hay fields.

Take a seat and brace yourself: This is no ordinary classroom. "What are you, some stupid kid?" the teacher blasts. Then, to another student: "Look at me when I look at you.

Jaime Escalante--California's most famous high school math teacher, and probably the planet's--has plenty of what he preaches: Ganas. Desire. Desire to challenge students so they'll achieve beyond anyone's dreams.

Several politicians and educators called on the governor Thursday to support legislation that would allow school districts to include extra reading and writing lessons for elementary students struggling to learn English, in a debate that has rekindled California's dormant language wars.