TWO WEEKS after the Senate passed a measure that would cripple the state’s bilingual education system, a more sensible Assembly bill is attracting support in both parties.

The Assembly bill would move students quickly into English-speaking classes, while relieving schools of the onerous burdens imposed by existing law. Drafted by Assemblyman Rudy Garcia, D-Union City, it won unanimous backing in committee, and has the support of Education Commissioner Leo Klagholz.

The Legislature must act soon because Attorney General Deborah Poritz has ruled the current system illegal. A 1974 law imposes such huge demands on schools that 241 districts have received waivers, enabling them to ignore it. Ms. Poritz put an end to that, ruling that bureaucrats cannot grant permission to bypass the law. She said, in effect, that the law must be changed or obeyed.

The Senate passed a new law that lets schools off the hook. It would empower the Education Department to continue granting waivers.

That would allow schools to disregard the needs of students who don’t speak English. It could put an effective education out of their reach, increasing the risk that they will fail or quit school. Nobody would gain.

Mr. Garcia, instead, worked with Republicans to write a better law.

His bill would ensure that students get enough instruction in their native tongues to give them a chance to succeed. Aimed at making the transition to English, the bill prevents students from staying for too long in a program that caters to their inability to speak English.

Here are the key provisions:

Students would have to join English-speaking classes after two years, with a third year granted on appeal in special cases. Now, some students stay in bilingual programs for six or seven years.

Schools would have to offer a full curriculum in a foreign language only if that language is relied on by 20 students within two grade levels, or in a high school. Now, the law says schools must do this if 20 students in the whole district speak the same foreign language. That asks too much.

Parents could withdraw their children from bilingual programs, subject to an appeal by educators, with time limits.

New Jersey schools have 50,000 students who depend on a foreign tongue. They shouldn’t be written off, just to save money.



Comments are closed.