Bilingual tenets spur heated clash
BOSTON — In plain English, Faduma M. Ahmed, who five years ago fled the ravages of the wars in her native Somalia and settled in Massachusetts, yesterday urged members of a key legislative committee to protect the state's bilingual education program. Ahmed, 18, will attend Northeastern University in Boston this fall, an accomplishment she attributes to the help she received in a Somali bilingual program in a Boston middle school for two years. "I am here today to implore you not to dilute or abolish the incredible good work . . . in educating thousands of new immigrants like me through bilingual programs," she told the Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities. During yesterday's hearing at the Statehouse, Ahmed and other supporters of bilingual education clashed with opponents who pushed for significant changes in the state's bilingual requirements. "Transitional bilingual education was enacted in 1971 with good intentions and high hopes for education of non-English speaking children, but it has failed those children," said state Rep. Mary S. Rogeness, R-Longmeadow. Rogeness is sponsoring a bill that would mandate a bilingual program in a school district if a minimum of 15 students in the same grade speak the same foreign language. Currently, school districts must offer such classes when at least 20 students in the entire district speak the same non-English language. Other lawmakers said bilingual education needs to be modernized. Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, offered a bill that would bring bilingual education up to the same standards required under the state's 1993 Education Reform Act. Cabral's bill would mandate professional development for bilingual teachers, annual assessments of students for English proficiency and MCAS math, science and history tests in their native languages. "Just because they are not good in English does not mean they are not good in math," Cabral said. "Let's utilize that as a strength." School districts in Western Massachusetts with bilingual programs include Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, Agawam, Amherst, Greenfield, Ludlow, Northampton, Westfield and West Springfield. Most of the state's estimated 40,000 bilingual students take their major subjects in their native language for two years and are gradually "mainstreamed" into the regular curriculum. Sen. Guy W. Glodis, D-Worcester, offered a bill that would establish a one-year rapid immersion in English for students instead of the state's current program. At the end of the year, a parent or teacher could require a student to remain in the program if necessary. "What do we have to lose?" Glodis said. "The current system is not working. It's a disaster." Glodis and other critics said the current system allows children to linger too long in bilingual programs, leading to high dropout rates and low rates of college admissions. They pointed to Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test scores showing that 79 percent of Latino students failed the 10th-grade math exam last year. Glodis said he may sponsor a ballot question next year on bilingual education if state lawmakers make no changes themselves. Glodis pointed to a 1998 California referendum, which overhauled that state's bilingual education program. "Help these kids compete, not only academically but professionally when they enter the workplace," Glodis said. |