English for the Children is an irresistible promise. Who among us would want to do anything to hurt our children? We all want them to be fluent in English. If Proposition 227 only could deliver on its auspicious promise, we would solve one significant problem now facing our schools.
The sad fact is, though, that Proposition 227 is deeply flawed, both in concept and application. Two of its core premises are that "literacy in the English language is among the most important" of those "skills necessary to become productive members of our society" and that English is the "language of economic opportunity." While no one would argue against the tremendous value of English fluency in social mobility, we wonder about the underlying logic of these premises. If language is the determining factor in economic and social success, how do we account for the lagging economic advancement of African Americans, contrasted with the accelerated advancement of Asians and Asian Americans? Are there other factors at work?
Not according to Proposition 227, which lays the blame for the slow academic advancement of many English language learners on bilingual education. The initiative states that "the public schools currently do a poor job of educating immigrant children, wasting financial resources on costly experimental language programs . . , " resulting in high dropout rates. This is a powerful and concise indictment of bilingual education, one that seems reasonable on its face. But the accusation is both mistaken and misdirected.
In 1997, bilingual education claimed $96 million in state funds, or less than one-half of 1% of the total K-12 budget of $26.8 billion. The federal government contributes only 6% of the bilingual budget. Remaining money is provided by local districts, whose funding levels have been constrained by Proposition 13. Those schools that educate some of our state's poorest students, many of whom are English language learners, have the lowest tax base and therefore the fewest resources to meet the educational needs of their students. In fact, we have not provided adequate funding for bilingual education to sustain its effectiveness.
The truth is that bilingual education barely exists in California. Each year we fall short of needed bilingual teachers by more than 20,000. Immersion programs, which will be mandatory under Proposition 227, have contributed substantially to historically high dropout rates of English language learners.
