DuPage crackdown on drugged drivers
Daily Herald Staff reporter Tona Kunz's article "Stopping those driving drugged," (Sept. 10) was a well-written story that takes an in-depth look at a very serious problem facing motorists today. I am very pleased that the Daily Herald has brought this issue to the public forum with this story and your follow-up editorial on Sept. 11, "Driving under influence of drugs".
In the article, however, Ms. Kunz writes that "Kane County is the only county in the state to send prosecutors, and not just police, to school to find out how to ferret out impaired drivers who think they've found a way around the system."
This statement is incorrect. Unfortunately, Ms. Kunz did not contact my office when researching her story.
For more than a dozen years, my office has offered intensive training to assistant state's attorneys on the prosecution of cases alleging driving under the influence of drugs, and to police and DUI task force personnel on how to detect drug-impaired drivers in both accident scenarios as well as routine traffic stops.
In fact, we have successfully prosecuted dozens of driving under the influence of drug cases, including the 2000 crash in which Richard Gancarz was convicted of reckless homicide in a collision that claimed the life of a 17-year-old high school student. This case, which was covered extensively by your paper, resulted in a 14-year prison sentence for Mr. Gancarz.
I applaud the efforts of Kane County in combating this problem. I want to stress that I point out the oversight in Ms. Kunz's story not to pat ourselves on the back or say "we were here first" but to assure the residents of DuPage County that we have long recognized the seriousness of this problem. The motoring public must understand that it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle when there is any amount of a controlled substance or cannabis in their system.
We will continue to train our staff and other law enforcement agencies across the county on how to detect and prosecute drunk or drugged drivers, as we have for more than a decade.
Joseph E. Birkett DuPage County
State's Attorney
Wheaton
Misplaced nostalgia for language model
In the Hidalgo County model that Mr. Reyes looks fondly back on ("Are Spanish-speaking students 'coddled,' " Daily Herald, Sept. 2), limited English proficient (LEP) students either learned English or "wet" their pants. While this may have been one of the "educational methods" Hidalgo schools used in the 1960s, requiring students to learn English at the expense of having them "wet their pants" is not a "sound educational method" of instruction.
In fact, "sink or swim" models like those in Hidalgo County were soundly rejected in 1974 by the Supreme Court's decision of Lau vs. Nichols.
Moreover, had these methods been successful, there would be many more Latino Ph.D.s today.
Since 1974, schools throughout the United States have been mandated and are required under the law to take "appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students."
And, while it is admirable and appropriate for school districts to implement new educational programs or methods aimed at assisting students acquire language skills more rapidly, programs must nevertheless be recognized as "sound" programs by experts in the field based upon research showing that the method is effective.
Whether or not West Chicago Community School District 94's new program of requiring LEP students to spend the "vast majority" of their day in accelerated programs taught predominately by Anglo teachers is a "sound" educational method based upon research methods proven to be effective by experts in the field is unclear. In any event, LEP students should be offered programs that have been shown to help students acquire English language skills, not programs based upon an individual's personal experiences in the 1960s.
Ricardo Meza
Regional Counsel
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Chicago