ELPAC Report June 1999

The ELPAC Report June 1999

California Rejects Bilingual Education
A Special Report: One Year Later

It's been a year since California voters voted almost 2-to-1 to reject bilingual education and teach children in English. (ELPAC was a strong supporter of the California initiative to end bilingual education.) How are the kids doing?

Quite well, it appears. Ron Unz, who headed the California initiative, told The ELPAC Report that the results were "near total victory in California, near as I can tell."

Six months ago, placed in an all-Spanish class, Rigo Ureno of Anaheim, California (home to Disneyland), was doing so poorly that administrators at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School lumped him with the lowest achievers. Then his Orange County school began to teach Rigo in English. Today he is one of the top three students in his class.

And Rigo is not alone. The Los Angeles Times reports: "midway through the first school year under the state's English-immersion law, teachers say there are [children like Rigo] at elementary schools across Orange County. Children are absorbing English at such a rapid rate that in many places it is the language of choice on the playground, at the lunch table and in line for the bus."

The Orange County Register reports that skeptics "have been converted to believers in the new law." The Los Angeles Times, for example, quoted Gail Reed, director of the "English-plus" program at La Habra City School District: "Even some of us that have been really strong, strong advocates of bilingual education are pleasantly surprised." And Jose Posada, bilingual education coordinator at Los Angeles Elementary School said, "I honestly didn't expect to see them achieve as well as they are doing. Many of us who believed in the bilingual education program were scared about the unknowns. Now we're saying, `Well, maybe it's not so bad. Maybe it's time we start talking about the positives.'"

Part of the initiative was to provide funds for adult education for those who would pledge to tutor children. These programs didn't start until last October, but school systems are finding parents eager and effective participants in teaching their children English. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Ricki Martinez, administrator for adult school programs in San Diego, called the parent involvement "one of the No. 1 factors in how well students learn" English. Sophia Bouvier, director of projects for San Ysidro School District (right next to the Mexican-US border), said "when they see their parents learning English, that adds more credibility to the children learning English and having success in English." And the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported that Edda Caraballo, from the California Department of Education, said the programs "are flourishing rather nicely. I think the need has been there, but there hasn't been the resources. In a few years, I think this is going to be a really great parent, school, community partnership."

Not everyone is pleased with the childrens' and parents' progress, however. Several northern California school districts, including San Francisco, have successfully sued to escape the English-instruction mandate. Other school districts have issued blanket waivers of the English instruction policy, leading to a few districts where 90% of the students are still in Spanish-language classes.

And the federal Department of Education, still in thrall to the bilingual education industry, is actively persecuting school districts which are teaching in English. If a federal "study team" finds that children are not being taught in Spanish, the school can lose federal funding.

The Clinton Administration released its proposals for bilingual education reform on May 19, but the proposals offered nothing new. Notable by their absence were a return to English-language instruction or time limits on non-English instruction. Linda Chavez, President of the Center for Equal Opportunity, responded: "the President's proposal promotes teaching children in their native language, not English, and actually encourages schools to delay reading instruction in English."

Congress is unlikely to respond to the President's proposal. A few bills to eliminate bilingual education nationwide are languishing in Congress, victim to the congressional Republican leadership's misguided and unsupported fear of antagonizing Hispanic voters.

Nevertheless, the effort to eliminate bilingual education is slowly spreading. Ron Unz, who spearheaded the California drive, has joined with a group of Hispanic parents to promote a similar initiative in Arizona. Public opinion polls in New York state show an astounding 79% support for eliminating bilingual education.