The California State Board of Education has proposed new regulations that would undo the reform of bilingual education enacted by the state in 1998 after voters passed Proposition 227. That ballot measure limited native language instruction in public schools to a single year, unless parents requested a waiver. It had previously been routine in California to keep children in Spanish language instruction for years and years, and as a result the English language skills of many Latino students suffered greatly. Since Prop 227 ended this practice, Latino test scores have shot upward in California. But, as Michael Barone writes in USNews.com, these gains are now jeopardized by regulations proposed by the state board that would 1) give teachers rather than parents the right to apply for waivers to place students in bilingual programs and 2) eliminate the requirement that all limited-English students under the age of 10 spend the first 30 days of every school year in an English-language program before a waiver allowing them into Spanish-language instruction could be obtained. Combined, these two changes would undermine the whole reform, Barone notes, as many teachers and administrators will try to keep children in Spanish-language instruction for ideological reasons or to keep more money coming into the building, since Spanish-language teachers are paid a premium. Will California Governor Gray Davis keep his pledge to carry out the letter and intent of Prop 227, or will he allow his own appointees on the state board to break that promise and undercut the will of the voters? Stay tuned. "Debating bilingual education," by Michael Barone, USNews.com, February 8, 2002.
