This article recounts a community's struggle for access to biliteracy in one of the largest urban school districts in the country. The authors examine the roles school personnel assume, the symbols they employ, and the scripts they follow in their efforts to deny English Learners (ELs) access to quality programs and due process of rights. At a deeper level, the authors highlight the impact institutional inertia plays, within the backdrop of an educational reform movement, in thwarting the educational choices of ELs and their parents' rights to make pedagogical decisions on their behalf. (Contains 6 notes.)