Bilingual Education
Your editorial “Bilingual Teachers Needed” (June 6) shows a misunderstanding of the intent and impact of Proposition 227. Proclaiming that 227’s “sponge methodology” is working as predicted, The Times says that Santa Paula and Fillmore have eliminated bilingual education while Ventura, Port Hueneme and Oxnard have reinstated bilingual classes.
Santa Paula and Fillmore do have programs, but only after denying most parents the decision to place their children into bilingual education classes. Santa Paula made the waiver very difficult to get and in many cases talked students and parents out of considering the waiver before they could follow the due process of their parental decision.
In contrast, the other districts’ officials did not reinstate the bilingual classes; the parents were given the power to decide. Just as co-chairman of the Proposition 227 campaign Jaime Escalante stated prior to the election, “We give choice to parents, not administrators.” These districts are implementing the law and intent established by Proposition 227.
The successes of Proposition 227’s sponge methodology have been greatly overstated. The Santa Paula Elementary School District has taken all the English Language Learner students (including the few who were allowed into a bilingual program along with the majority who were denied) and given them the Spanish academic SABE test to augment the predicted low scores on the English STAT 9 test. The district is being allowed to replace the Spanish test scores for the English test scores.
As a bilingual teacher in the Santa Paula Elementary School District, I ask why the district was so eager to change the scores if the sponge methodology was working so well?
Contrary to The Times’ death announcement, Santa Paula has not eliminated all its bilingual classes. Few students were allowed choice. Many were denied, then placed with bilingual teachers who were asked to speak Spanish when necessary. These are violations of Proposition 227. Where parents were given free choice, they overwhelmingly chose bilingual instruction. This goes in contrast to Ron Unz’s dogma of status quo and how parents were forced into a failing system.
Is bilingual education a failing system? Many studies have shown that bilingual students do better than their one-language, English-speaking counterparts. Public and media fears that somehow English is not taught in English are wrong. That is the only way to teach English, and is used in bilingual instruction. The idea that being simply exposed to a language will somehow teach fluency would not allow the reader to understand this letter if The Times had the nerve to print this letter in Spanish.
Why isn’t biliteracy a goal in our educational system? Intensive study could be implemented in all classrooms and all students could be fluent in one year. In fact, the state’s voting population could demand intensive study in all subjects. California would be No. 1!
California’s public school system does need to be pushed and mandated to better our educational system. Why was xenophobia the basis of the first public mandate?
Proposition 227 has nothing to do with solid academic methodology, and The Times’ support has everything to do with selling English-language newspapers.
DENIS O’LEARY, Santa Paula
