IF only Washington bureaucrats and local administrators would listen to the voices of those whom bilingual education so greatly affects, we might be able to restore the American dream for students who cannot speak, read, and write English.

A recent survey of foreign-born, Hispanic and black parents by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan, nonprofit public-opinion organization, “found a clear-eyed patriotism among parents of all backgrounds.”

The ethnicity-minded Bilingual Ed crowd is wrong. A report based on the survey, “A Lot to Be Thankful For: What Parents Want Children to Learn About America,” confirms that minority parents want precisely what schools have increasingly failed to provide: the “heroes and traditions of America,” and “the common values of American society.” This means American History 101 and, most important, the teaching of English. Parents “express fears about taking the country for granted.” They also worry that “there’s too much emphasis on ‘the things that divide us.”‘

English binds diverse Americans together. The survey found that “parents of all backgrounds firmly believe the schools must teach immigrant children to speak English as quickly as possible, both as a survival skill and as a symbol of their intent to become Americans.” Of the immigrant parents surveyed, 75 percent want schools to teach English “as quickly as possible, even if this means they fall behind in other subjects.” They embrace total immersion, ready to confront adversity like American heroes.

Far from heroic, those who champion bilingual education continue to divide Americans, refusing to let minorities speak for themselves.

The Clinton administration, most notably, strongly supports faulty bilingual-education and diversity programs that undermine the teaching of English and traditional American values. Clinton’s 1999 budget proposes $387 million for bilingual education, up from $261 million in 1997. Last year, Clinton opposed Proposition 227, a successful ballot measure to end bilingual education in California.

Proposition 227 chair Fernando Vega called Clinton “the most misinformed citizen in the United States.” Vega, like the parents interviewed for the Public Agenda survey, understands the problem: “We are losing generations and generations of Latino kids to this program called bilingual education.”

It is “called bilingual,” but it discourages the learning of the second language, English. As many parents know too well, it fails to address the need to prepare immigrant and minority children for entrance into mainstream America.

Marc Berley is president of the New York-based Foundation for Academic Standards & Tradition.



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