Editor’s note: A “My Turn” column by Arizona State University assistant professor Jeff MacSwan opposing Proposition 203 ran on Oct. 26.

Partially as a result of the failure of our educational system to teach Limited English Proficient (LEP) children English, thousands of lucrative high-technology jobs remain unfilled each year. To respond to this shortfall, Congress passed legislation to increase the number of visa slots available to highly skilled workers from other nations.

Wouldn’t it be better policy to immerse English language learners in English so that they have the opportunity to fill these jobs? I believe so. That’s why I support Proposition 203, which will dismantle bilingual programs in Arizona that target Spanish speakers and keep them in segregated classrooms for years. (Students who speak the 40 or so other languages in Arizona’s public schools are educated in English.)

In the place of bilingual education programs, which are heavily financed and directed from Washington, all of the state’s English learners will be taught in structured immersion programs not normally to exceed one year. Although the proposition polls strongly, there are several inaccuracies that continue to persist.

One oft-cited figure erroneously states that, according to an Arizona Department of Education report, students in bilingual education outperform their peers in English as Second Language (ESL) classes. The reported scores for children in bilingual programs place these children in the bottom quartile. But, all told, less than half of Arizona’s LEP students were included in the Stanford 9 test assessment, making valid comparisons among programs impossible.

Not surprisingly, Superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan’s Department of Education warns that the report data are “self-reported and unaudited (and we should be) extremely cautious in drawing any conclusions from them.”

An important element of Proposition 203 is that it would hold schools accountable by requiring annual testing of all English language learners. The failure rate of bilingual programs is far greater than its supporters admit. Less than 3 percent of children in K-6 bilingual programs graduate to mainstream classes each year, a rate half that of the state average reclassification rate.

Some never learn proper English. Children in the Tucson Unified School District spend an average of nine years or more in what might best be called English-avoidance classes. A child in Beijing or virtually any other major international city is more likely to learn English at an early age than one trapped in a bilingual education program in Tucson.

More reliable indicators of the success of Arizona’s bilingual education program are the reports of districts receiving federal bilingual grants. According to an analysis by Don Soifer of the Lexington Institute, nearly all of these programs failed to achieve major student performance objectives. Some wasted money on activities such as ballroom dancing, traveling to out-of-state teacher conferences and seminars on the “Cultural Teaching of Wildlife.”

Another misperception is that Proposition 203 will diminish Native American languages. But federal law, which supersedes state law, apparently protects the language rights of Native Americans. Specifically, the Native American Languages Act provides that “the right of Native Americans to express themselves through the use of Native American languages shall not be restricted in any public proceeding, including publicly supported education programs.”

As to choice, the waiver provision for children 10 years or older simply requires a determination by school officials that an alternative method of instruction is in the student’s academic interest. For younger children, when it is much easier for students to acquire English, the waiver process is far more rigorous.

Bilingual education has failed in its mission to teach children English, denying thousands of young Americans the opportunity to fully realize the American dream. A similar initiative passed in California in 1998 and has contributed to rising test scores. By passing Proposition 203, we can end this failed experiment and ensure that every child in Arizona will be limited only by his or her dreams.



Comments are closed.