Was It Basics or Bilingualism--or Both?

At first blush, results from the Orange Unified School District election seem a resounding endorsement of the budding “back-to-basics” movement in local school politics and a rebuke of teacher unions.

Undoubtedly that is part of the story in a county where education conservatives have made significant electoral gains in recent years.

But analysts said Wednesday that a key factor pushing conservative candidates over the top in four close races might have been an advisory measure on bilingual education.

Measure A, which asked voters whether they support a school board decision to replace bilingual education with an English “immersion” program, won a whopping 86.5% approval Tuesday, according to unofficial final returns.

“People really don’t like bilingual education. That’s what I read,” said Louise Adler, chair of the education faculty at Cal State Fullerton. “That’s a high-profile issue that the board majority got on the right side of. They were the champions for getting rid of bilingual education. And there was a broad base of support for that position.”

Adler and others said the magnitude of the “Yes on A” vote, and the possibility that the measure increased voter turnout, might have had a ripple effect that boosted conservative candidates--even though two incumbent trustees who lost to conservatives also supported the measure.

Indeed, the election appeared to generate unusual interest for an off year with no state or national issues. Turnout was 19.6%, up from 14.3% two years ago. And the margins of victory for the conservative candidates were small--in two cases, fewer than 300 votes out of 17,600.

Rosalyn Lever, the Orange County registrar of voters, said she expects to certify results today. The district serves 29,000 students in Orange, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

Wayne Johnson, vice president of the California Teachers Assn., said the Orange Unified election was the only significant loss for the union among 10 local school contests waged Tuesday statewide. He blamed the defeat here in part on the bilingual measure.

“That obviously pulled out a lot of votes that normally would not have voted in this election,” Johnson said. “It is one of these highly charged, very emotional issues throughout the state. So it generated a lot of interest and a lot of passion.”

State Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange) agreed with Johnson, though he also viewed the vote as an emphatic anti-union statement. Because the bilingual education issue has such a high profile, Lewis said, “it drove up turnout, and it brought out a lot more conservative votes.”

If so, centrist and liberal candidates could face more difficulty next year. A statewide anti-bilingual education initiative has been proposed for the June 1998 ballot. It would be decided at the same time as contests for state superintendent of public instruction, Orange County superintendent of schools and two seats on the county Board of Education.

The CTA opposes the so-called English for the Children measure, but Johnson said he does not believe that stance would hurt union-backed candidates next year. State schools chief Delaine Eastin also opposes the proposed initiative, spokesman Doug Stone said.

Not all observers agreed that bilingual education was the key to the Orange Unified school board contests won Tuesday by incumbent board President Martin Jacobson and newcomers Linda Davis, Terri Sargeant and Kathy Ward.

Scheduled to be sworn in for four-year terms on Dec. 11, the four are likely to be allied with incumbent trustees Maureen Aschoff and Bill Lewis in a 6-1 majority on many issues. However, Trustee Robert H. Viviano, the lone remaining centrist, also endorsed Sargeant, suggesting that votes on some issues could be 5 to 2.

On bilingual education, the school board had already achieved a consensus last spring. Viviano and other centrist members of the board joined the conservatives to oppose dual Spanish-English teaching.

Jacobson said he sensed that voters simply wanted a return to fundamentals. “Just teach basic skills to our kids,” he said was the voter message.

“I think most people are pretty satisfied with their particular school, but in general they look at public education as failing to prepare kids properly.”

Suzanne Vaugine, president of the Orange Unified teachers union affiliate and Jacobson’s chief foe, said teachers are just as eager for students to learn how to read and how to add. But rather than “back to basics,” she said, teachers favor a policy of “basics-plus.”

“We seem to be in a cyclical time of a very ultraconservative mentality,” Vaugine said. “Everything’s polarized. I think most people are fairly moderate. I don’t consider us liberal; I consider us moderate.”

Some observers suggested that the Orange Unified vote represented both a general conservative uprising and a repudiation of bilingual education.

In coming months, political pros will be paying close attention to the sentiments of voters like Douglas and Barbara Ginesi of Orange, who voted Tuesday for the conservative majority and against bilingual education.

“From what we’ve heard, there’s a big push to replace a conservative board with liberals,” said Douglas Ginesi, 46, an aerospace manager. “The last time we had liberals on the board we had red ink.”

His wife, Barbara, a 41-year-old medical worker, added: “The more kids speak English, the better it is.”

Also contributing to this report was Times correspondent Lesley Wright.