A Denver school district has drafted a policy to adopt "language justice" in order to help non-English speaking students to be able to use their native language when learning versus being educated in English.

If it adopts the policy, it will make it the first school district in the nation to establish a "language justice" policy.

WHAT TO KNOW AS OPEC+ WEIGHS EXTENDING OR DEEPENING SUPPLY CUTS THROUGH 2024

The Community Language Cooperative and the Colorado chapter of the education advocacy organization Stand For Children have both advocated language justice and tout their work in Denver in the embrace of the concept.

The Community Language Cooperative defines "language justice" as a "key practice used in social justice movements in order to create shared power, practice inclusion, and dismantle traditional systems of oppression that have traditionally disenfranchised non-English speakers."

The CLC described how they started spreading this concept in Denver.

"[A group of community members] were hosting meetings with various city departments and they asked us to give the English speakers a headset. That it was time for them to lead the meeting and that they needed to be heard. This is when the CLC started working on Language Justice. Everyone in the room who was not bilingual was asked to take a headset and a space for Language Justice was created, where everyone could speak in the language that they felt most comfortable and by using simultaneous interpretation for everyone," the CLC said on its website, written in English.

"We will continue to work with school leaders and staff to help provide knowledge of these policies and strategies to accomplish language justice in every classroom and school," Colorado Stand For Children said on its website.

As of 2022, the school district has 35,000 multilingual learners with home languages other than English. Over 200 languages are spoken across the district.

"Denver Public schools will be a district that is free of oppressive systems and structures rooted in racism and one which centers students and team members with a focus on racial and educational equity, enabling students to ultimately become conscientious global citizens and collaborative leaders," the equity draft of the school district proposal said in the Nov. 16 school board agenda.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The document continued, "DPS has a collective responsibility to uphold the practice of Racial Equity, and Educational and Language Justice in all of its forms by honoring language and culture as fundamental human rights."

The equity proposal states that "equity" will be achieved by identifying and removing "deeply rooted systems of oppression that have historically resulted in inequitable access and distribution of opportunities and resources for those who represent marginalized identities, including but not limited to race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, language and ability."