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Clinton Administration Legal Analysts Conclude Prop. 227 is fully Constitutional

CONTACT: SHERI ANNIS
(213) 627-2913

MAY 4, 1998.

Although the Clinton Administration has publicly declared its opposition to California's Proposition 227---the "English for the Children" initiative against bilingual education---administration legal analysts have concluded that the measure would not violate any federal civil rights laws and therefore could not be challenged in court. In particular, the intensive English immersion programs established by Prop. 227 are fully consistent with Lau v. Nichols, the 1974 Supreme Court ruling which represents the legal foundation for language programs aimed at limited-English children (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/28/98).

Despite the clear constitutionality of Prop. 227, Secretary of Education Richard Riley has warned that the federal government would closely monitor California schools following the passage of Prop. 227 to ensure that the measure is properly implemented.

Ron Unz, Chairman of the Prop. 227 Campaign, welcomed White House support for the constitutionality of Prop. 227. "We have been saying all along that Prop. 227 is absolutely constitutional under Lau v. Nichols and Guadaloupe v. Tempe, and won't be tied up in court like various past initiatives. We are very glad that the Clinton Administration now agrees with us on this point, and won't try to block implementation of Prop. 227. Therefore, California voters can rest assured that their decision on June 2nd will be final. We are also happy that the Clinton Administration will work with California to ensure that our initiative is properly implemented, and we only regret that Bill Clinton never made any similar effort in the past to ensure that California's bilingual education programs were properly implemented."

Secretary Riley also assured Californians that passage of Prop. 227 would lead to no loss of federal funds to California school districts.