STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

Frankly, it was startling.

The Imperial Valley League qualifying track meet for next week’s California Interscholastic Federation quarter-finals at Chaffey High School set at least seven school records and put local performers among the leader a couple of weeks of fluers in the CIF yesterday. The meet was at Spartan Field in El Centro. Leading the way was John Smith of Palo Verde who won the 120 high hurdles in a sterling 14.1 time, third best recorded in the CIF this year. He followed that performance with an 18.7 180 low hurdles, second best in the CIF.

40 years ago

There is absolutely no way a teacher can be fired for not learning Spanish under the Chacon-Moscone Bilingual/Bicultural Education Act.

This is one point that Assemblyman Pete Chacon wanted to be sure was clearly understood Friday night at a special meeting for 130 Imperial County teachers.

Chacon, a San Diego legislator with 15 years experience as a public school teacher, told the group he knew what he was to be out of a job, so he wrote provisions into the bill, (now law) that made it impossible for a teacher to be fired as a result of the act.

“No money used by 1329 can hire a teacher who would supplant an existing district teacher,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize this.”

Chacon was invited to speak to the group at Hedrick School in El Centro by Imperial County Uniserv, a professional teachers organization. He was asked after the recent release of statements by at least two area school superintendents which implied teachers would lose their jobs if they did not become fluent in Spanish, said Richard Schuster, Uniserv executive director.