bilingelim

June 04, 1998

Vote to Eliminate Bilingual Education In
California Resonates Nationwide

Daniel B. Wood, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

(LOS ANGELES) For the past year, states nationwide have been closely
watching California's battle over bilingual education, hoping to catch a
glimpse of how Americans view the controversial programs.

On Tuesday, the message delivered by California voters could hardly have
been more clear. Their decision to virtually eliminate bilingual education is
a signal to states across the US: reform or die.

"People in all these states are getting a wake-up call that if things aren't
fixed in a hurry, they risk losing the whole ball of wax," says Tim Schultz,
director of US English, a citizen action group dedicated to preserving
English usage in all 50 states.

The proposition, which passed by a 61-to-39 percent margin, will
undoubtedly face court challenges that could tie up implementation of the
law for some time. But experts say the vote is significant because about
two-thirds of the state's Latino voters supported the proposition.

"This is the first time that those most affected by bilingual programs have
spoken so clearly that they don't want them," says Jorge Amselle,
spokesman for the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Washington think tank
that examines issues of race and public policy. Furthermore, he says that
Latino activists who challenge the new law will be in the "awkward
position" of going against the majority of their communities.

"This has undermined the argument that immigrants don't want to
assimilate," he adds.

Inside California, the new law will abolish bilingual education - the use of
two languages for instruction - for the state's 1.3 million limited-English
students, mandating that all public-school children be taught in English.
After a one-year English immersion program, these students will be asked
to study all subjects in English. Parents who still want bilingual education
can still sign a special request, but conditions for approval will be limited.

The right answer?

For opponents of the initiative, called Proposition 227, the end of almost all
the state's bilingual-education programs is a simplistic answer to a complex
issue.

"We feel this one-size-fits-all mandate unfairly eliminates even those
programs that work well," says Emily Palacio, assistant superintendent of
the Calexico Unified School district, which has won national awards for its
bilingual programs during the past 25 years. Indeed, some teachers there -
as well as other districts - have stated they may try to circumvent the new
law.

Now faced with throwing out thousands of dollars of textbooks and
teaching materials and starting over, Ms. Palacio says: "We have no idea
how we are going to proceed, or who is going to pay for new materials. The
state didn't think about that."

Elsewhere

Outside California, where there are about 1.5 million limited-English
elementary and secondary students, the vote is giving added momentum to
various reform efforts in states from Washington to Massachusetts.

* In Chicago, reformers are limiting the amount of time a student may stay
in a bilingual program from the current maximum of six years down to
three.

* In Arizona, officials are trying to deter lengthy bilingual-education
programs by only giving four years' worth of funding to schools that offer
such programs.

* Proposed changes to bilingual programs that have met wide resistance in
Massachusetts are now expected to get a nudge from the California vote.

Other implications of the vote include signals to both major parties,
observers say.

"As much as the GOP alienated Hispanics in the past election cycles, if they
can show a passion to support this vote, that is something Hispanics would
respond very well to," says Mr. Schultz. "If Democrats continue to support
bilingual education blindly as they have, and don't want to reform, they are
going to have wonder if Hispanics will continue to support them as in the
past."

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