NOGALES, Arizona – Miriam Flores is a 42-year-old Mexican immigrant who has taken the cause of English as a second language to the nation’s highest courts.

This mother of three daughters, who has lived in the border town of Nogales for more than 20 years, is the woman behind the Flores vs. Arizona case, which demands additional funding for ESL programs.

In 1992, Flores and other Hispanic parents sued the Nogales Unified School District for allegedly violating the rights of students in ESL programs.

“My eldest daughter was a good student, by third grade she already knew the multiplication tables, she could add and subtract, something that I taught her in Spanish,” Flores, a native of the Mexican border state of Sonora, told Efe in an interview.

“She started having problems in third grade, she didn’t understand anything the teacher (who spoke only English) said, so she began to get poorer grades. She was afraid to go to school, she had nightmares, a situation that became very difficult for her and for me,” she said.

She added that the teacher thought her daughter Miriam had behavior problems, without understanding that the girl did not understand what they were asking her in the exams, and speaking with other parents she realized that her daughter’s case was by no means unique.

Flores felt very frustrated because the schools’ insufficient funding, the lack of bilingual teachers and of additional aid so that children could learn English was becoming an obstacle for Hispanic students.

When a group of attorneys contacted her about the possibility of taking legal action, Flores did not hesitate.

“I was surprised by the impact this case has had, and above all, the time it has lasted,” Flores, whose daughter, now 23, is studying nursing at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, said.

It was thanks to a great deal of dedication that her daughter could overcome the obstacles and go to college, something that few Hispanic students achieve because, according to Flores, they don’t have the right tools.

After almost two decades of struggle, the Supreme Court ruled in June that a federal district judge in Arizona needed to re-evaluate his decision to place the state’s ESL programs under judicial supervision.

Writing for the 5-4 majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the district judge acted without evidence that Arizona’s public schools were violating the Equal Educational Opportunities Act’s requirements for ESL programs.

“The Supreme Court’s decision was demoralizing, above all because there is still a great deficiency in the schools and our students are the ones paying the price,” Flores, who is still involved in her 5-year-old daughter Isabella’s school, said.

The Supreme Court’s ruling does not signify a rejection of the suit, but it could return to Arizona state legislators the power of determining how much money will be invested in ESL programs.

In 1988, the state gave schools an extra $164 for each ESL student, yet a survey found that the actual per-pupil cost of the additional language instruction was around $450.

At the time, 45,000 students were registered in ESL programs statewide.

When the lawsuit was filed in 1992, the number had increased to 75,000 students, while 143,000 Arizona students are currently enrolled in ESL programs.

“I believe that all Hispanic parents should be involved in our children’s schools and not keep quiet if there’s something we don’t like,” Flores says.

“This case has definitely not ended yet. I don’t know how many years it can last, but if it helps to benefit just one student, it’ll be worth it,” she said. EFE