Clinton official tells Latinos bilingual education will be supported

On the heels of California’s vote to curtail bilingual education in public schools, the Secretary of Education promised national Latino leaders in Houston Friday that the Clinton administration would not abandon support for such programs.

“The people of California made their decision,” Richard W. Riley told members of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, or NALEO. “But I will not be stampeded by those in Congress who now suddenly want to end bilingual education.”

On June 2, Californians approved Proposition 227, a voter-initiative that would allow most students in that state one year of intensive English training before putting them in regular classes.

“President Clinton and I oppose the initiative which is now in the courts,” Riley said. “Bilingual education programs are working well in many states, including Texas, Florida and New York.”

Riley also condemned an amendment to the Higher Education Act proposed by Rep. Frank Riggs, D-Calif., that would ban affirmative action in college admissions nationally. Patterned after Proposition 209, another hot-button initiative approved by California voters, the Riggs amendment has been denounced by Latino groups, including NALEO and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Riley’s remarks received a sustained, standing ovation from NALEO members attending their 15th annual conference at the Doubletree Hotel on Post Oak through today. While United Nations Ambassador Bill Richardson, who was selected by Clinton Thursday to succeed Federico Pena as energy secretary, is a former NALEO board member and current leader of the group, half of the 5,800 NALEO officials are school board members.

Education and affirmative action are major priorities, said NALEO executive director Arturo Vargas Friday.

“The executive branch doesn’t control Congress but the executive branch can veto what Congress does,” Vargas said about Riley’s opposition to the Riggs Amendment. “From the passion and the words that he used, what I understood is that they’re not going to let this happen.”

Also at the conference, state Sen. Mario Gallegos contrasted California’s approval of racial and ethnic wedge issues with Houston’s successful defeat of the petition-driven referendum last November that would have ended the city’s minority contracting program.

“There are two bad words when you compare California and Texas, and those bad words are initiative and referendum,” said Gallegos, the only Hispanic state senator ever elected in Harris County. “As long as I am in the Texas Senate, and I know my colleagues here will back me up on this, we will never see initiative and referendum here in the state of Texas.”

“Initiative and referendum, I don’t care what the issue is, you go out and get a bunch of signatures on a petition and, boom, it’s on the ballot.”

“That’s dangerous.”

Gallegos and former City Councilwoman Gracie Saenz credited former Mayor Bob Lanier with spearheading the drive that saved the city’s affirmative action policies. But even with the program in place, they told NALEO members, Anglo men still get more than 70 percent of all city contracts.



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