Current bilingual education fails
Guy W. Glodis
I have filed legislation that will reform bilingual education in Massachusetts because statistic after statistic, fact after fact, has clearly demonstrated the inability of our current system to meet the needs of today's students. Our reliance on the current format is a mistake of epic proportions and we, as a government and as a society, have an obligation to correct a system that has done such a grave disservice to the very students it was intended to help. By secluding students for four, five, six and even seven years away from mainstream classes, the bilingual system has prevented these kids from access to the English language. In fact, today's bilingual students graduate to mainstream English classes at a dismal 10 percent annual rate, which equals a 90 percent failure rate. FAILURE TO MAINSTREAM Contrary to bilingual advocates who gaze upon English as a privilege, I consider it a right that minority and immigrant children deserve, and we must guarantee this right as quickly and effectively as possible. With over 45,000 bilingual education students in the state, an increase of 10,000 in 10 years, we are compelled to reform this process now, before we are faced with a rising population of students who are unnecessarily retained. My bill will eliminate the current three-year enrollment structure and replace it with a one-year structured immersion program in which students are taught in an intensive learning environment. Parents can likewise seek a waiver to either advance their child more quickly or retain their students for additional bilingual education. I consider the current system to be more anti-immigrant and anti- minority than any other educational infrastructure we have. The continued defense of a 28-year-old program that has yielded such abysmal failure is, in my view, an exceptional mistake. When 58 percent of our eligible limited English proficient third- graders are excused from taking the Iowa Reading Test by their own teachers (up from 42 percent the previous year) because of their inability to understand the English language, we know a serious problem exists. And this year's MCAS testing results, as well as the first year's results, paint a clear picture of a limited English proficient student population that is grossly under served by the current format: 47 percent of limited English proficient eighth-grade students failed English Language Arts, 87 percent failed mathematics, 91 percent failed science and technology and 91 percent failed history. Conversely, students who are limited English proficient in California and transferred to structured immersion classes under Proposition 227, scored 20 percent, 50 percent and sometimes 100 percent higher than their peers who remained in bilingual education classes. The commonwealth's students have the chance to experience these same successes, and to develop and comprehend the English language faster and with more effectiveness than ever before in the program's history. Why anyone would fight to keep our system stagnant and work to retain our students in a seemingly endless cycle of failure and segregation is beyond reason. DOOMED TO FAILURE With over 100 different language backgrounds in the commonwealth, Spanish-speaking students comprise the highest percentage of students that receive some form of transitional bilingual education. However, these same students have the lowest test scores, the highest dropout rate and the lowest college admission rate. If we fail to address this most obvious of problems, we are dooming these kids to failure. If the existing system were successful, I would support it with every ounce of energy that I have. But it isn't. It is incumbent upon us as a state government and as citizens of the commonwealth to directly address this problem, and not to focus our efforts on the maintenance of a failing system. It is our responsibility to teach English to those children that require it, and to provide them the greatest tool they need to succeed in a truly competitive world. To neglect this duty is to fail our students. |