Glodis may take bilingual ed to voters
BOSTON---State Sen. Guy W. Glodis is on a mission. For the second year in a row, the Worcester Democrat is pushing controversial legislation to that would require most students for whom English is a second language to attend regular classes after only one year of bilingual instruction. If the bill dies in the Legislature, as it did last year, Mr. Glodis vows that he will bring the issue of bilingual reform'' directly to voters in 2002 via a statewide ballot referendum. There is every reason to believe that Mr. Glodis has the firepower to make good on his promise. California multimillionaire Ronald Unz, who led a similar initiative to overwhelming success at the polls in California in 1998, has pledged to apply his considerable financial resources and fund-raising capabilities to such a campaign here, Mr. Glodis said. Mr. Glodis also is lining up support in other nonlegislative quarters, including the conservative group Citizens for Limited Taxation. Critics say the idea is anti-immigrant and unnecessarily harsh on students who need time to learn English. Mr. Glodis counters by pointing to the apparent success that Proposition 227 has had in California in raising academic performance of students for whom English is a second language. The bill is expected to be considered this year by the Education Committee. However, it is likely to be overshadowed by deliberations on a new formula for education funding, just as it took a back seat last year to reform of special education laws. And so far the measure has not received the crucial nod of approval from Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, D-Chelsea, an all-but-announced gubernatorial candidate who probably cannot be counted on to support such a controversial proposal in an election year. While trimming bilingual education efforts would save millions of dollars, Mr. Glodis maintains that his main goal is to help minority students in bilingual programs who have fared poorly on statewide educational assessment tests. Tens of thousands of students are being segregated and ostracized by not taking advantage of mainstream educational opportunities,'' according to Mr. Glodis, who represents a district with a fast-growing minority population. No one can argue that bilingual education has been a success. What was originally intended to be a rapid transition program has become a handicap and a disservice to the very students it was intended to help,'' he said. Under Mr. Glodis' proposal, parents could seek a waiver that would allow a student to spend a second or a third year in a bilingual program. After that, the student would be required to move into a regular classroom. |