Bilingual Education

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- The Rogan-Schiff contest is well on its way to breaking congressional campaign spending records. With the election more than five months away, U.S. Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) and state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) are spending thousands of dollars to deluge local cable television channels with advertisements in the hopes of catching the attention of 27th Congressional District voters. What may turn out to be an ad war began in mid-May when the Rogan campaign spent about $120,000 for three weeks' worth of commercials attacking Schiff on HMO reform.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- State Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) is getting more than a little help from some important friends in his effort to become the area's congressional representative. Organized labor is putting time and money into opposing Schiff's challenger, Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale), and getting Democrats out to the polls this November. The AFL-CIO on Thursday began running an advertisement on local cable channels attacking the incumbent congressman's record on the issue of prescription drugs for seniors.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE Local political candidates are looking for a little "ayuda." The support of Latino voters could be a deciding factor in the November election, experts say, and office-seekers are hoping to tap into the power of their numbers with Spanish-speaking volunteers, bilingual mailers and targetedadvertising. The United Farm Workers is also seeking out Latinos in the area. The union recently started a campaign to register eligible Latino voters in the 21st State Senate District, which stretches from Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Mountains and includes the four political seats that represent Glendale.

GLENDALE — Six-year-olds are reading German at Franklin Elementary School — and the German government has sent 1,000 euros to keep them going. The money will support the school’s new dual-immersion German language program — taught 90% in German at the kindergarten level — which the Glendale Unified School District offers exclusively at Franklin, said Linda Junge, the district’s public information officer. The gift, along with a $1,500 grant from German parents and families who had heard about the program, will pay for books and other classroom supplies that are not funded by the school, said Barbara Haynes, a German kindergarten teacher at Franklin.

Claudia Peschiutta James Rogan has been pretty quiet lately. It's hard to believe we've been hearing so little about the guy who used to give me enough material to write a story or more a day and once inspired letter-writers to flood the News-Press office with glowing tributes and angry diatribes. But Glendale's former congressman today is making what could turn out to be a big comeback onto the political scene. Rogan plans to kick off his Patriot PAC tonight with a reception in Sacramento, where the California Republican Party is holding its spring convention.

Chuck Sambar The Glendale Unified School District has one of the most diverse student populations of any district in California, or even the nation. The district has an enrollment of 30,260 students, and 71.05% of them have a primary language other than English. Of the total, 11,846 -- or 39.15%, -- are classified as limited English speaking learners. Including English, there are 72 languages spoken by students in Glendale schools. The five primary languages spoken by the greatest number of students in the district are Armenian: 10,388, English: 9,064, Spanish: 5,598, Korean: 2,894 and Tagalog: 805. The five primary languages spoken by the greatest number of limited English speaking students are Armenian, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog and Arabic.

GLENDALE — Alice Petrossian, the assistant superintendent who oversees educational services for the Glendale Unified School District’s 20 elementary schools, will leave the district this summer to take a position as chief academic officer of the Pasadena Unified School District, the districts announced Friday. Petrossian, who has been with Glendale Unified for more than 30 years and has been in her current position for 11, will oversee everything on the education side, from prekindergarten to secondary education, in her new role in Pasadena, she said.

GLENDALE — About 90 parents are organizing a French addition to Glendale Unified's dual language immersion program. French would join Armenian, Spanish, German, Italian, Korean and Japanese in the Foreign Language Academy of Glendale, an instructional track where teaching is delivered in varying percentages of English and foreign language. District officials said parent involvement has always been the key ingredient behind the program's expansion. It's what led to the creation of the Japanese program, which began this year at Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School.

Gary Moskowitz After 13 years working long hours as a dental assistant, Annie Akopyan is ready for a complete change. Akopyan, 35, a wife and mother living in Glendale, decided that teaching was what she wanted to do with her life. So Akopyan went back to school at Mashdots College in Glendale, studied child development and obtained her teaching certificate. She joined the ranks of 350 students who completed coursework and earned diplomas from the school at its 2002 graduation ceremonies Sunday at First United Methodist Church.