CONTACT: SHERI ANNIS (213) 627-0005

September 11, 1997.

Sacramento, CA---Federal District Judge William B. Shubb Wednesday lifted a state court injunction blocking the Orange Unified School District's move toward English immersion classes. The ruling effectively ends "bilingual education" programs for the 29,000 students in Orange. Shubb's 17-page decision stated that any federal legal challenge against replacing "bilingual" programs with English immersion had "a low probability of success."

According to Ron Unz, Chairman of "English for the Children," Judge Shubb's ruling confirms both the lack of any federal basis for native-language instruction programs and the solid legal foundation of his proposed initiative. "Bilingual education is based on state law, and our initiative will change that state law. Children in the District of Orange will now be allowed to learn English when they enter public schools, but 99% of California schoolchildren are still trapped in districts where "bilingual education" is mandatory, and our initiative is their only hope of rescue. Our initiative will become law on the day it wins at the polls." The "English for the Children" initiative has now reached the 350,000 signature half-way point in its drive to qualify for the June 1998 ballot.

The previous day, a vote of the State Assembly effectively killed SB 6, the Alpert-Firestone measure, which would have provided increased flexibility in "bilingual education" programs. This represented the tenth consecutive year that the California Legislature had deadlocked over attempts to modify or reform "bilingual education." The education of California schoolchildren not fluent in English is currently governed by the Chacon-Moscone law, which requires native-language instruction for all English learners, with limited exceptions. Although the law expired in 1987, it has never been replaced and therefore remains in effect.

Unz suggests that the bizarre nature of this government program underscores the need to allow a direct vote of the California's citizens on the issue. "Today, nearly a quarter of all California schoolchildren are legally prevented from learning English when they enter school because of a state law which expired before most of them were even born. This is a perfect example of the Alice-in-Wonderland mess which only our initiative can clean up."