Bill Would Overhaul Bilingual Education
Hoping to preserve bilingual education by changing it, a state lawmaker last week proposed the first major overhaul of the Commonwealth's bilingual law since it was put on the books in 1971. Representative Antonio Cabral's bill would stiffen some teaching and testing standards while giving schools alternatives to the traditional bilingual formula - allowing, for example, a "two-way" approach that teaches all students two languages. The New Bedford Democrat and his allies hope the measure will fend off a ballot initiative such as the ones that scrapped bilingual education in California and Arizona. The Silicon Valley millionaire who financed those efforts, Ron K. Unz, is considering paying for one in Massachusetts. Representative Jarrett Barrios, who helped Cabral craft the bill, described it as a "third way" between the 30-year-old method of bilingual education practiced in most of the Commonwealth and Unz's plan, which virtually eliminates bilingual instruction. 'Ron Unz is right when he says that we need to reform bilingual education," the Cambridge Democrat said. "But Ron Unz is wrong to throw out transitional bilingual education and replace it with a one-size-fits-all solution that will harm many immigrant children." State Senator Guy Glodis, a leading opponent of bilingual education, said Cabral's measure does not go far enough. As he did last year, Glodis has filed a bill that would eliminate bilingual education. If that bill does not advance or if Cabral's bill is not changed significantly, Glodis said, he would push a ballot initiative - perhaps with Unz's money - next year. "They've been forced to acknowledge that the present bilingual system has not worked. At long last, it's finally getting the attention it deserves," the Worcester Democrat said. "But we still have not found common ground on how to reform the system." Both measures were discussed last week before the Legislature's Joint Education Committee. Under the state's bilingual law, the nation's first, any district with 20 or more children who have a limited grasp of English and speak the same language must provide a transitional bilingual program for up to three years. The students learn English, but they learn math, science, and other subjects in their native tongue until their English improves. But critics say that three years often turn into four, five, or six years and that the system hurts students by coddling them. "It's a failure of epic proportions," said Glodis, noting that many bilingual students do poorly on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam. "What was originally intended to assist bilingual students has ultimately failed bilingual students." |