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OAKLAND, August 30 -- Supporters of bilingual education won a victory last week when a
judge ordered the California Board of Education to consider allowing school districts to keep
bilingual programs despite voter approval of the anti-bilingual Proposition 227. Alameda
County Superior Court Judge Henry Needham refused to block local enforcement of
Proposition 227, which requires districts to replace bilingual education with ``English
immersion.'' But he ruled that the state Board of Education must consider a school district's
request for a waiver, which would let it keep its entire bilingual program. Prop 227,
approved by 61 percent of the voters in June, has been upheld by federal courts and takes
effect with the new school term, already under way in some parts of California. The Alameda
ruling pleased backers of bilingual education. (The Miami Herald)
SACRAMENTO, August 27 -- School districts throughout the state may be able to seek
district wide waivers from implementing Proposition 227 -- the anti-bilingual education
initiative -- under a tentative ruling issued by an Alameda County Superior Court judge.
The state Board of Education earlier this summer determined it did not have the authority to
grant waivers to districts that didn't want to comply with the voter-approved initiative that
took effect Aug. 2, mandating replacement of bilingual education with "English immersion."
But Judge Henry Needham Jr. indicated in a tentative ruling this week that he likely will
decide the state board must hear such waiver requests. Oral arguments are scheduled for
today in Oakland, after which Needham will issue a final ruling. "We're very happy. We
believe (the tentative ruling) is consistent with local flexibility and control," said Celia
Ruiz, attorney for the Berkeley, Oakland and Hayward school districts. Those three districts
sued the state board, its members, the California Department of Education and state schools
chief Delaine Eastin, arguing that the state education code empowers the state board to issue
waivers. The districts also are seeking a preliminary injunction from implementing the
initiative until their waiver requests are resolved. (Sacramento Bee)
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. August 25 -- Parents at two Orange County schools begged state
Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin to save their bilingual programs from
Proposition 227. Parents and teachers on Monday praised the dual-language immersion
programs at Las Palmas Elementary School in San Clemente and Gates Elementary School in
Lake Forest. "How could you break our hearts and our children's hearts?" asked Tonya
Iribane, a mother of three Gates students. About 400 people gathered at Wood Canyon
Elementary School here to defend the programs. Ms. Eastin indicated she will grant the
request before school starts on Sept. 10. (Sacramento Bee)
LOS ANGELES, August 23 -- A Texas school district's drive to recruit bilingual teachers in
Southern California in the wake of Proposition 227's passage yielded few takers. School
officials spent three days in June interviewing applicants in Los Angeles, Orange and San
Diego counties, hoping to hire an estimated 20 bilingual and 25 English as a second language
(ESL) teachers. Five teachers signed letters of commitment during the recruitment drive,
but only three have gone to Texas so far, said Charlene Robertson, a spokeswoman for the
Arlington Independent School District. (Los Angeles Times)
SAN JOSE, August 19 -- Despite a voter-approved ban on bilingual education in most public
classrooms, a federal judge has temporarily ordered San Jose schools to offer bilingual
classes for Spanish-speaking students when school begins next month. In an order made
public Monday, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ruled that Proposition 227, approved by
voters in November, conflicts with existing federal anti-discrimination measures imposed
on the San Jose Unified School District in 1994. Whyte ordered the district to obey the
federal measures and offer bilingual education until a final decision is issued, possibly in
November. (Sacramento Bee)
LOS ANGELES, August 17 -- Businessman Ron K. Unz and his allies had at least two goals in
mind last year when they drafted Proposition 227: to end bilingual education in California
and to ensure that the initiative would withstand a court challenge if it won voter approval.
Those diverging aims produced a law with some internal conflicts. There is no mistaking the
sweeping mandate--"all children in California public schools shall be taught English by
being taught in English." Just as apparent are several loopholes and points of flexibility
hedging that mandate. Lawyers were arguing over Proposition 227 even before its passage
at the polls June 2. Now emergency regulations have been adopted by the State Board of
Education to give school districts some guidance before implementation begins next week.
(Los Angeles Times)
LOS ANGELES, August 8 -- A dozen teachers opposed to the state's new anti-bilingual
education law gathered at a downtown elementary school Friday to protest a so-called gag
order barring them from advising parents to seek exemptions from English immersion
classes created under Proposition 227 guidelines. In fact, Los Angeles Unified School
District officials already appeared to be relaxing their hard-line stance against teachers
advising parents whether to seek such waivers. (Los Angeles Times)
LOS ANGELES, August 8 -- She despises the new law. Dictionaries and textbooks from the
now-junked bilingual program still sit on her classroom shelves. Spanish slips easily into
her speech. But no one can accuse Yvette Olivares-Estrada, a home-grown teacher from the
barrio, of failing to carry out Proposition 227 with vigor. Here in Room 17 of Christopher
Dena Elementary School in East Los Angeles, Olivares-Estrada this week introduced her
second- and third-grade students to the wall posters on which they would compile their new
English vocabulary, starting with "I" and "My." She read "There's a Nightmare in My Closet"
and led a quick game of "Simon Says." Almost everything was done in English--by someone
who disdains English immersion. "I'm still going to be the best teacher that I can be,"
Olivares-Estrada said, "knowing full well that this program has no goals at this point. It's
vague. It's sketchy." (Los Angeles Times)
LOS ANGELES, August 5 -- After a third spirited debate over Proposition 227, the anti
bilingual education law, the Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to join a lawsuit
opposing the controversial measure. The council essentially voted to file an amicus brief in
the case, but not to join the main litigants. But a majority of the council members said they
firmly believe that the city must make a stand on the issue because they say it affects city
residents. Councilman Richard Alatorre spoke with particular passion against the law,
urging his colleagues to stand up for the civil rights of children and not to be afraid to go
against a majority of voters. (Los Angeles Times)
WASHINGTON, August 5 -- As students in California get ready to return to school,
administrators are preparing to carry out a new state law that calls for limited-English
proficient children to be taught in English-immersion programs, rather than bilingual
education. The first s tep is informing parents of the changes and offering them the
opportunity to seek a waiver to exempt their children from English immersion. (Education
Week)
LOS ANGELES, August 4 -- The post-bilingual age began in Los Angeles schools Monday with
uncertainty, improvisation and a good many hand gestures--but seemingly none of the chaos
predicted by apprehensive educators. To be sure, there were glazed looks of
incomprehension and worry in some classrooms as teachers and students at 47 year-round
elementary schools started a new semester, making them among the first in the state to
return to class under Proposition 227, the June initiative that essentially eliminated
bilingual education in California's public schools. But the morning went surprisingly
smoothly at seven schools visited by Times reporters. There was no flood of requests for
waivers to dodge the English-immersion instruction that is now the state mandate. There
was no defiant flouting of the initiative. (Los Angeles Times)
LOS ANGELES, August 4 -- The sweeping social experiment known as bilingual education
officially ended today in the state where it began. Confusion reigned in many California
school districts and defiance in others as teachers struggled to switch from Korean,
Armenian and Spanish to all-English, all the time, often without the help of textbooks or
lesson plans. In Oakland and San Francisco, where schools do not open for another few weeks,
officials were still holding out against implementation of Proposition 227, the voter
initiative that passed with overwhelming support on June 2. The initiative, sponsored by
Silicon Valley software entrepreneur Ron Unz, replaced bilingual education with a year of
English language immersion. Except in charter schools, students are then to be pushed into
mainstream all-English classes. The end of bilingual education in California, the largest
state in the union and the one with the largest immigrant population, is being closely
watched by other states also facing influxes of immigrant children. Reflecting resentment
over the spreading challenge, a bill curtailing funding for bilingual education has been
introduced in Congress. But in the meantime, the change began today in Los Angeles.
(Washington Post)
LOS ANGELES, August 4 -- Esther Castruita's convictions took a back seat to reality on the
first day of classes under a law mandating English-only instruction. Calling the switch
``more emotional than hectic,'' Ms. Castruita -- principal of Hughes Elementary School in
Cudahy and a bilingual education supporter -- vowed Monday to adapt to the new law that
virtually eliminates classes not taught in English. Nevertheless, she said: ``We are bidding
farewell to a very dear friend, a bilingual friend that we believe in. It's like mourning, but
now the denial phase is over.'' Her school is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District,
the nation's second largest. Of its 687,000 students, about 312,000 have limited English
proficiency. Monday, the first day of class at 50 schools, was also the first school day under
the new law. (New York Times)
SAN DIEGO, August 3 -- When Kacy Kiggens opens the door for her first-grade class today,
the former bilingual education teacher will welcome her Spanish-speaking students to a new
school year -- and to a whole new way of learning English. Instead of gradually teaching
English over four to six years, as was done in most bilingual education programs until today,
California's public school students will get a year of English-language boot camp with the
aim of moving them to regular classes the following year. "It's going to be interesting to see
how long it takes these kids to get up to par with their English-speaking counterparts," said
Kiggens, who teaches at Lincoln Elementary School in Escondido. "Our kids are ready to read
in Spanish, but now we have to teach them sounds in English before they can even get to that
point" of reading in English. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
SAN JOSE, Calif. August 2 -- The end of statewide bilingual education hasn't diminished the
demand for trained bilingual teachers in California schools. In local schools ranging from
San Jose to San Mateo, district officials say language skills are still viewed as a plus for a
teacher just entering the job market. Despite the June passage of Proposition 227 -- the
initiative banning most bilingual education programs -- many school officials say there
will always be a need for teachers fluent in more than one language. District officials say
that a teacher might not use that second language in the classroom, but it's likely to prove
beneficial in other ways. (San Jose Mercury News)
BERKELEY August 2 -- In June, voters passed Proposition 227, which virtually eliminated
bilingual education classes with its decree that all children should be taught
"overwhelmingly" in English. The measure formally takes effect this week, leaving teachers
and administrators across the state struggling for answers to a big question: How will
Proposition 227 translate in the classroom? "Some teachers are definitely pulling their
hair out," said Dale Martin, a spokeswoman for the California Teachers Association. "They're
lost," agreed Jim Sweeney, superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District. "I
can't remember anything like this." Delaine Eastin, the state superintendent of public
instruction, is starting a task force to help schools adjust. She said it will recommend
effective programs and materials to quickly upgrade pupils' English skills. Its first meeting
is scheduled for Sept. 3. (Contra Costa Times)
TUCSON, August 2 -- There's talk of a voter initiative to stop bilingual education, and much
of it is in Spanish. Ten Tucson people - most Spanish-speakers, about half of them educators
- started a movement to fight bilingual education about six weeks ago. Since then, English
for the Children Arizona has gained members in Glendale and Nogales - as well as the
interest of a millionaire who backed a successful California proposition on the same issue.
Members have met with legislators and Lisa Graham Keegan, state Superintendent of Public
Instruction. They were visited last month by Ron Unz, the Orange County software
millionaire who is the father of California's Proposition 227. Mendoza called him soon after
the California effort passed June 2. Arizona's effort is the first he has considered helping,
although he has spoken with others in Colorado, Texas, Washington and New York. (Arizona
Daily Star)
LOS ANGELES, August 1 -- A federal appeals court refused yesterday to block Proposition
227, the voter-approved initiative that bans bilingual education in California. The 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied, without comment, a request by bilingual
education advocates for an injunction that would have prevented the measure from taking
effect Monday. Under Prop 227, instead of being taught simultaneously in two languages,
often for years, the more than 1.4 million California students who are not fluent in English
will be placed in a year of intensive immersion in English and then moved to regular classes.
(Seattle Times)
SACRAMENTO, August 1 -- Up and down the state, public school officials have clamored for
answers to a question posed by the passage of Proposition 227: If not bilingual education,
then what? Although the initiative approved by voters in June was a loud statement against
teaching children in two languages, the program it required instead--"structured English
immersion"--remains suspect to many California educators. A federal appeals court Friday
refused to put the initiative on hold statewide, and another judge turned down an eleventh
hour effort by civil rights groups to delay its implementation in Los Angeles. The ruling by
U.S. District Judge Lourdes Gillespie Baird means that on Monday, 47 campuses in Los
Angeles Unified School District will lead the first wave of conversion from bilingual
teaching as the initiative begins to take effect around the state. (Los Angeles Times)
