IT’S LIKE HOOKING up the I.V. after the patient has already been declared dead. In a feeble and belated attempt to derail Proposition 227, the Assembly passed a bill that would give local school districts the flexibility to decide how to teach non-English speaking children.

Nice try folks, but you’re about a year too late.

Prop. 227, which would establish a statewide system of English-immersion instruction, is on the ballot for the simple reason that the Legislature failed to act on this important issue before now.

Last year it was the Senate, including conservative Republican members, that passed the bill and Assembly Democrats that killed it. This year it was Assembly Democrats who by and large favored the bill and Assembly Republicans who opposed it. Most Republicans said they had already thrown their support toward the initiative. Republican Assemblywoman Lynne Leach, R-Walnut Creek, deserves credit for voting for the bill anyway.

While it may not be a perfect bill, as many Assembly members lamented, it would give some decision-making powers back to local school districts where it belongs. Besides, how many bills out of Sacramento are perfect?

SB6, written by Sen. Deirdre Alpert, D-Coronado, most assuredly will be passed again by the Senate. The big question is whether Gov. Pete Wilson will sign it. He has not commented nor has he taken a stand on Prop. 227. His spokesman, Sean Walsh, merely blamed Democrats for the bill’s delay rather than shedding any light on Wilson’s intentions.

Wilson should sign this bill.

Unfortunately, the June 2 primary is rapidly approaching and polls indicate that Prop. 227 is maintaining a solid lead among voters. And it’s highly questionable whether a Johnny-come-lately Legislature can get the electorate to change its mind.

Everyone agrees that the issue of bilingual education is important. Most even admit that many of the current programs used to teach English to non-English-speaking students are not working. But besides the issue of immersion vs. bilingual instruction is the question of whether our schools should have a one-size-fits-all policy or whether districts should have options.

SB6 offers options. Unfortunately, voters may be so fed up with the Legislature’s inability to tackle serious issues that it will opt for a statewide fix that they may regret later.



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