This country has long been known as a melting pot, a haven for those from around the world seeking freedom and opportunity. For generations of immigrants, the first challenge was learning a new language.

But learn they did, from Germans to Italians to Chinese to Slavs. The pattern was familiar: hard work during the day at whatever job they could find, and classes at night to master this new language. Coupled with their inestimable work ethic, the fluency usually resulted in better jobs and prosperity for their families.

But when Spanish-speaking newcomers began to flood California over the past couple of decades, a different attitude began to take shape. It was fueled, in part, by exploitative politicians eager to court the Hispanic vote. Office holders began to push for bilingual education so that Spanish-speaking students could continue to learn in their native tongue. It was something that would be unthinkable in, say, France, Germany or really any other country in the world — tax your citizens and then burden your education system with two separate languages.

Then, a counter-movement arose in California to stop bilingual education. Some educators howled, predicting catastrophe for the students whose native tongue was Spanish. And yet, two years after bilingual education was stopped, native Spanish-speaking students are improving at rapid rates, according to a recent story in The New York Times.

Ken Noonan, superintendent of schools in Oceanside, a small town north of San Diego and founder of the California Association of Bilingual Educators 30 years ago, now admits he was wrong when he opposed Proposition 277, which ended his state’s bilingual education in 1998.

“I thought it would hurt kids,” he told The Times. “The exact reverse occurred, totally unexpected by me. The kids began to learn — not pick up, but learn — formal English, oral and written, far more quickly than I ever thought they would.”

Oceanside second-graders who were classified as limited in English had average reading score increases of 19%. In the nearby district of Vista, where the superintendent continued bilingual education, the grade increases were half that of Oceanside, in every grade.

It shows that something that has worked very well in America throughout its history will continue to work, if left alone by politicians and self-styled crusaders.



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