Napa High students march for teacher facing deportation (Napa Valley Register)

Napa High students march for teacher facing deportation

Thursday, March 20, 2008
By JILLIAN JONES, Register Staff Writer

With neon-colored signs made from poster board and markers, with cut-out photos of Spanish teacher Esther Colorado, with chants of “Let her stay!” about 50 students marched through the Napa High campus Wednesday, to the district building where three assistant superintendents waited.

The student protest was a last ditch effort to save Colorado, the Spanish teacher who will be deported to Spain at the end of June.
Colorado, 33, arrived at Napa High six years ago on a temporary visa as part of a teaching program. Equipped with master’s degrees in Spanish and English, and an infectious personally, Colorado became a favorite among students, teaching Spanish to both native and non-native speakers.

She became enamored with the country and the school, she said, and obtained a professional visa that would allow her to legally continue teaching at Napa High for up to six years.

But in order for Colorado to renew her visa at the three-year mark, she needed Napa Valley Unified School District to sign a document declaring that no resident job seeker would be qualified to replace her.

“The way the (immigration) system works, the district has to be able to declare there is no one who can fill her position,” said Sharyn Lindsey, NVUSD assistant superintendent of human resources. “We can’t say that.”

On Feb. 17, Colorado heard the news.“They told me they’re not going to sponsor me any longer,” she said. In June, when the school year ends, she must return with her husband and 1-year-old baby to her hometown of Talavera in Toledo, Spain.

“It’s really amazing to have to change your life and you only have four months to think about leaving your life for six years,” she said.

In Spain, she will be unemployed, she said, noting that the public education system requires teachers to take an exam before they can get a teaching job. The exam is only offered every two years, and the next exam is in June.

Colorado will miss the exam while finishing the year at Napa High, and then must wait a minimum of two years before she can teach at a Spanish public school. To teach at private school, she said, she would have to move to Madrid, because there are no private schools in Talavera.

“I feel stranded,” said Colorado. “(I have) no control when it comes to my family and what’s going to happen in my life.”

“They have the right,” she said of the district’s decision, but “if they had a little bit more humanity, I don’t know.”

She has grown to love her school, she said, her colleagues and her students.

“They were crying” when they found out, Colorado said. “Some could not believe it. They wanted to know why, and if there was something they could do.”

So on Wednesday, students, former students and even a sprinkling of teachers grabbed signs, pulled on walking shoes and marched through campus yelling, “Miss Colorado! Miss Colorado! Let her stay! Let her stay!”

At the sound of the lunch bell, they marched from the gym, through the quad, to the principal’s office and down Jefferson Street to the white pillars of the district office.

There, three assistant superintendents, who met with students that morning to establish guidelines for the protest, heard their cries and answered their questions.

Lindsey thanked the students, but told them policies set by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency dictated the outcome.

“I admire the support you’re giving Mrs. Colorado. … It’s not about her teaching ability,” she said to the emotional crowd. “We’re as sad as you are.”

Elena Toscano, NVUSD assistant superintendent of instruction, commended the protesters. “I’m proud to see you are exercising your civic right,” she said. “I’m proud of the fact that you are here.”

Toscano, who praised Colorado as an excellent teacher and phenomenal role model, said later that students earned “an A-plus in civic awareness of their right to protest.”

“Unfortunately,” said Lindsey, “we are legally precluded from being able to keep (Colorado) here at this time. … I don’t know what more you can do. I don’t know what more I can do.”

Junior Ricky Hurtado, protest leader and next year’s student body president, stood on the steps with the district officials, explaining to students that the district is in a legal bind.

“We’re here to let the legal system know we’re supporting her,” he shouted, before leading a chant.

“What do we want?” he shouted from the steps.

“Mrs. Colorado!” students called back.

“Mrs. Colorado! Mrs. Colorado!” they broke out in unison.

“She’s always there for her students,” yelled Hurtado. “We want to show that we are there for her, too.”

After the protest, Colorado sat with colleagues, crying in her classroom. Fellow teachers rallied to her support.

“The (Spanish) program has grown 100 percent since Esther came on board,” said teacher J.E. Buckingham, noting the importance of cultural instruction that only a native speaker can provide. The district “talks about how we want an educated workforce. I wonder how much of that is rhetoric,” she said, adding, “If it was a reality they would be doing everything they could.”

Sophomore Marissa Castaneda said “none can compare” to Colorado, explaining that even if the district can replace her on paper, no one will replace the relationships she has built with her students.

“I’m happy to have been able to be here for six years,” said Colorado, wiping tears from her eyes. “Some day maybe I’ll be back with a green card. … Yes, I will be back, but maybe not in Napa.”