|
The Proposition 227 Enforcement Project FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: RON UNZ
FEBRUARY 7, 2002 PR #26 California State Board of Education Proposes to Restore Bilingual Education by Nullifying Crucial Elements of Prop. 227 In a stunning move to reopen a closed political issue, Gov. Gray Davis’s appointees to the California State Board of Education are now considering regulations that would effectively restore the state’s system of bilingual education by nullifying crucial provisions of the 1998 ballot initiative that dismantled that program. In the three years since the enactment of the measure, the test scores of California’s younger limited English students have nearly doubled, a result frequently connected to the widespread replacement of bilingual education with intensive English immersion. Furthermore, data recently released by the California Department of Education shows huge differences between the test scores of limited English (LEP) students in bilingual education and those not in bilingual education. For example, nearly three times as many LEP second graders taught in English score at or above grade level in reading as those in bilingual classes. These results have led the Latino founder of the California Association of Bilingual Educators to renounce his thirty years of support for bilingual education and instead become a leading supporter of Proposition 227 and a national advocate of English immersion for immigrant students. Despite the apparent success of Proposition 227, the staff of the California State Board of Education has now quietly proposed new regulations that would nullify crucial elements of the initiative. Under these new regulations, Proposition 227’s requirement that younger English learners spend the first thirty days of each school year in an English immersion program would be eliminated. Furthermore, the proposed regulations would grant bilingual education teachers rather than immigrant parents the authority to place students in bilingual education programs. According to Ron Unz, Chairman of English for the Children and author of Proposition 227, the combination of these two major changes could effectively restore California’s previous system of Spanish-almost-only bilingual education. "Gray Davis had been a leading opponent of Proposition 227 in 1998, but afterward he repeatedly pledged to obey the will of the voters and fully enforce the measure as Governor. Therefore, I’m very surprised at his complete silence while his appointees and their staff appear on the verge of using completely unconstitutional means to break that promise." During the original Proposition 227 campaign, Gray Davis had starred in the multi-million dollar advertising campaign against the measure, while then-Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan had funded and starred in the television commercials supporting Proposition 227. The measure passed in a 61% to 39% landslide, despite being outspent nearly 25-to-1 in advertising. Riordan has repeatedly cited his leadership in the campaign to dismantle bilingual education as one of his proudest educational achievements. English for the Children -- Proposition 227 555 Bryant St., #371, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Tel: 650-853-0365 Fax: 650-853-0362
|