English For Whose Children

The ballot initiative would close off language opportunities

To give our children every advantage possible as they grow is to help set the stage to make the world a better place. We try to create advantages for them so that they’ll maximize their potential and become effective learners, respectful and productive citizens and motivated individuals.

That’s what I did last summer when I decided to enroll my kindergarten daughter in a wonderful, proven, two-way language immersion program at our local school, Gates Elementary, in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. But before I made the decision, I researched the program and talked to parents who raved about it. I talked with teachers; I grilled the principal.

With every question I raised about the challenge of language immersion learning _ especially for a kindergartner _ I found opportunity.

I also realized that I would have to explain the concept to people who would question my judgment when I told them that my daughter would read with comprehension in Spanish before she would be able to do the same in English. “Why not,” I asked.

“We Americans emulate European culture, trends and innovations. We crave ‘European styling’ in cars, clothing, furniture and cuisine.

So why not also emulate what’s common practice in European education children, from a young age _ learning several languages simultaneously. ” “Hmm,” my friends and relatives said. “Makes good sense. ” It made even more sense when I explained that by the time my daughter completes third grade, she’ll be able to read, write, speak and think in two languages _ Spanish and English.

But now this golden opportunity is in danger of becoming a casualty of the war being waged by Ron Unz and supporters of Proposition 227. This initiative, slated for the June ballot, would, if passed, effectively eliminate all forms of bilingual education. Alert! The program at Gates and those like it in other Orange County school districts are in grave danger.

Superficially, Prop. 227 probably seems like a good idea to many people. Problem is, it doesn’t fix what’s broken. Without benefit of broad-based data to support it, 227 says that there is only one way to teach all children. It says that local schools don’t know what works for the families and communities they serve, which is in direct opposition to the April 8 decision by the State Board of Education decision calling for school districts to have local control in determining the best way to educate their limited English proficient students.

Prop. 227 is politically motivated as opposed to educationally based. It would make my daughter’s program illegal. It would also set my daughter, who is excelling, backwards in her education.

Ouch! I can’t stand by and let that happen, and neither should you.

Half of the kids in the immersion classes speak English, the other half are native Spanish speakers, and this two-way program at Gates offers benefits for both groups.

Perhaps that’s why the huge waiting list for this voluntary public school program includes 2-year olds, and even pregnant women have inquired about it. Kindergartners and first-graders are taught in Spanish for 90 percent of their academic day. The percentage of English-Spanish shifts toward 50-50 every year after that. And every day the Spanish speakers learn from the English speakers and vice versa.

It enables native English speakers to add a language; it allows Spanish speakers to learn English and be fully literate in their native language.

That’s the beauty of the program; it holds the promise of making these kids fully bilingual and biliterate, able to use proper grammar and context in both languages. It also holds the promise of helping to bridge the gaps that continue to keep global citizenship a misty, far-off mission as opposed to a tangible reality.

Don’t get me wrong here. I would be just fine if English was deemed the official language of the United States of America. This might mean that everyone, regardless of their native language, could have equal access to opportunity. It might even mean that tax dollars would not have to be spent on government forms in dual languages. But the concept doesn’t mean that we have to eliminate all forms of bilingual education. We simply have to maximize opportunities, and the 333 immersion students at Gates are defining this opportunity every day.

Their young minds have a great advantage; they soak in learning at warp-speed compared to what it takes for an adult to learn a second language. I should know; I’m struggling with my Spanish class. The business world craves the advantages that multi-language, multi-literacy programs produce.

Who supports Prop. 227? People who may be well-meaning, yet are short-sighted. They have blindly launched a change agent, unaware that a potential solution to the problems of bilingual education already exists. That solution is two-way immersion, and the Gates program is an award-winning example. Prop. 227 writers have generalized that bilingual programs are one-size-fits-all and ineffective. One need look no further than the hard data which clearly indicate that programs such as the one at Gates produce students who are on par with or above others.

For example, Spanish Assessment of Basic Education testing was administered in May 1997. Results of the testing show that students with limited English proficiency who were enrolled in the dual-immersion met or exceeded national norms at all grade levels and in all subjects when compared with other native Spanish-speakers. The English speakers in immersion scored higher than their counterparts in regular English-only classrooms in reading, language and math.

So keep Gates School in mind as you consider your vote on Prop.

227. Be an informed voter: To vote yes is to squash opportunity; to vote no is to support giving kids the advantages they deserve.

Vote yes to opportunity; vote no on 227.

Ms. Wardwell, who lives in Orange, is the mother of two girls and works at Chapman University.



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