Bilingual Education

Re “Dole Calls for Ending Most Bilingual Classes,” Sept. 5:

Three cheers for Sen. Bob Dole! I am glad to see a presidential candidate addressing bilingual education.

As an American citizen, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that we spend millions of dollars on this subject. Immigrants coming to this country need to understand that we speak English. If you don’t know English, then don’t come! If you are already here, learn English.

We have catered to immigrants for too long. Making American citizens learn foreign languages to teach immigrant children is too much. Make them pay for bilingual classes. Don’t force Americans to learn Spanish, force Spanish-speaking immigrants to learn English. The burden should be on them, not on American taxpayers.

WILLIAM R. SANCHEZ

Los Angeles

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* The genie of American cultural diversity will not go back into the bottle. The days of unchecked power in the hands of white males are gone. We need leaders who recognize and embrace reality. Dole’s fear-mongering rhetoric will only get him the presidency of his local militia.

Wake up and smell the java, Bob. The melting pot is bubbling over and we need intelligent, fearless leaders who can help invent the future, not just rake through the ashes of the past. If you can’t accept the reality of change, retire, because your narrow point of view is becoming a big part of the problem.

PEG COLEMAN

Santa Barbara

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* So Dole has joined Lynne Cheney and Rush Limbaugh in attacking the national standards for teaching United States history. In reporting this story, The Times misleadingly suggested that the standards had been widely attacked. More accurately, they have been narrowly criticized by Cheney et al. and that criticism has been widely publicized. Seventeen past presidents of the American Historical Assn. and the Organization of American Historians have written enthusiastic letters of support, along with literally hundreds of historians.

But readers of The Times need not rely on experts. The National History Standards, a 246-page guide for teachers, is available by mail at the National Center for History in the Schools, UCLA, Los Angeles 90024 at a cost of $18.95 plus $5 postage and handling. They can judge for themselves. Surely most of them have put in their time in American history classes!

JOYCE APPLEBY

Professor of History, UCLA

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* I agree with Dole on this issue.

Kids in American schools with mother tongues other than English must first attain proficiency in this language to be able to gain from what this country is so readily prepared to offer. Many nations, including Japan, France, Germany and Russia, do first require intensive training in their native languages before integrating outsiders into the educational system.

I was lucky I had learned English before I entered my alma mater at Berkeley. The Civil Engineering Graduate School does not offer classes in my mother tongue, Urdu.

SYED SAULAT SHERE

South Pasadena

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* Dole has no idea how kids should be educated in California schools. Bilingual education is a state and local decision. The federal government has no business interfering in local matters. After immigrant bashing by Gov. Pete Wilson, Dole starts his attack on multiculturalism and multilingualism. He may get some votes, but this will divide the country.

DINESH GHIYA

Whittier