Burlingame—CTA President Lois Tinson today announced that the California Teachers Association will oppose the Unz/Tuchman Initiative (also called “English Only” and “English for the Children”) if it qualifies for next year’s election ballot. “CTA State Council of Education voted overwhelmingly to oppose this initiative because it violates some of the deeply held beliefs of CTA and its teacher members,” Tinson said.

“CTA believes that every student is entitled to equal access to all educational opportunities. This initiative arbitrarily limits the access of some students to the curriculum by dictating a single method of language instruction,” Tinson said. “Students do not come in ‘one-size-fits-all’ containers. They are individuals and they need instruction built around their individuality.”

Teachers believe that all programs should enable students to learn English. Also, teachers should participate in decisions regarding which program will best benefit a particular student, as well as the evaluation of programs for helping English learners and the on-going evaluation of students in the programs, Tinson explained. The Unz/Tuchman Initiative will not allow either.

“Further,” Tinson added, “the Unz/Tuchman Initiative is bad public policy.” The initiative process is poorly designed for dealing with complex issues, like language acquisition that require individual flexibility and judgment. In addition, this initiative sets a number of bad precedents, including

  • taking away local control over educational decisions
  • exposing teachers and other educators to lawsuits if they exercise their professional judgment
  • making public policy through mandates from any wealthy individual with enough money to fund an initiative campaign

“Our polling indicates that once the public understands the current program for helping English learners as it actually works in schools, an overwhelming majority of them express support. We believe that when accurate information is available to voters, they will defeat this initiative,” Tinson said.

CTA took the position at the October 26 meeting of the State Council of Education, the nearly 700-member body that sets policy for the 270,000-member association. CTA State Council is composed of representatives elected by local associations throughout the state. It meets four times a year.



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