Austin, Texas—When high-school principals hand out diplomas on graduation day, they probably assume the recipients can read them.

It seems obvious enough, but apparently not to everyone. Last week, a presidential panel said English-only tests that determine whether a student moves ahead or even graduates may violate Hispanic childrens’ rights and urged the Department of Education to conduct an investigation.

But accommodating children on high-stakes tests only hurts them in the end. In order for students to survive and succeed in American society, they must have a mastery of the English language. Promoting a child to the next grade level when he or she can’t understand the material presented by the teacher serves little purpose.

A number of English-only opponents claim the tests perpetuate racial discrimination. But to say that a student should have the skills to perform basic math and science functions and read and write English isn’t a matter of discrimination, but a matter of practicality.

The presidential panel said many states are failing to adequately prepare non-native English-speaking students for tests that are often tied to their promotion or graduation. This may be true, but the solution isn’t in bypassing English-only testing, but in building better bilingual programs. Educational disparities are a far greater violation of Hispanic childrens’ rights than the administration of English-only tests.

Addressing this problem now is more important than ever — Hispanic enrollment is growing, but overall achievement is not. Hispanics will become the nation’s largest minority group by 2010.

Thankfully, the state of Texas is a step ahead of the rest. Bilingual programs in Texas begin testing in third grade and allow Hispanic students many chances to pass as they master English. Such programs have resulted in increasing Hispanic passing rates on state tests (more than 20 percent from 1994 to 1997 — though maybe with a little boost from AISD).

?Se habla Ingles? If you want that diploma, you do.



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