Prop. 203 argued at ASU debate
Peter Ortiz
The man who engineered a proposition that would end bilingual education in the state defended his idea as he faced a heated audience Thursday at Arizona State University. Ron Unz of California also ushered the passage of a similar initiative in his state two years ago. He cited bilingual education as failing to teach Spanish-speaking immigrant children English and urged audience members to vote for the proposition Nov.7. "The way you make those children bilingual is to teach them in another language, and that language is English," Unz told a packed lecture hall at the ASU Law School Federalist Society-sponsored debate. If Proposition 203 passes, 140,000 Arizona students who are not proficient in English would be placed in a one-year English immersion program. Opponents say Unz is trying to bamboozle Arizona residents into supporting a plan that would cause non-English-speaking students to fall behind in other subjects by not allowing them to learn in their native languages. "He is an excellent public-relations person but a complete failure as an educator," said Jeff MacSwan, an ASU assistant professor of education who debated Unz. About 200 people protested against Proposition 203 in a morning rally outside the Hayden Library on campus. They included Navajos who are worried that the proposition would keep their children from learning their native language. Rudy Perez Jr., director of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund in Arizona, said Proposition 203 will succeed in teaching only "playground English" and lead to a poorly educated workforce. He said Latinos who are against the measure need the support of the entire community if they hope to defeat the proposition. "Even if 100 percent of our (Latino) community goes out to vote, they still won't defeat it," Perez said as he sat in the lecture room. "We need the mainstream community to understand this is bad public policy." Unz also argued that his initiative would not apply to Native Americans because of tribal sovereignty, but Wayne Holm, a Window Rock educator, had strong doubts. Holm said many Native American children are in state public schools and not tribally controlled schools, which may fall outside of Proposition 203 requirements. Kelsey Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation, told The Arizona Republic last week that there is no clear legal opinion on whether federally recognized tribal sovereignty would allow any tribe in Arizona to override Proposition 203. Eleven lawyers are studying the issue, he said. |