Officials
weigh changes to English immersion
By
Michele Kurtz, Globe Staff,
A
day after voters overwhelmingly decided to end bilingual education in public
schools and replace it with English immersion, some key state officials began
tinkering with the law.
Governer-elect Mitt Romney, who supported the initiative, said he will work to
drop the provision allowing parents to sue teachers who teach in a language
other than English.
State Senator Robert A. Antonioni, cochairman of the Legislature's Education
Committee and an opponent of the ballot initiative, said he will examine the
possibility of making it easier for students to obtain waivers of the English
immersion requirement.
State Representative Peter J. Larkin, the other education panel cochairman,
acknowledged that adjusting a measure that appealed to voters but was disliked
among lawmakers could produce a political nightmare. ''The Legislature's in a
no-win situation,'' said Larkin, a Pittsfield Democrat. ''The Legislature has
answered an initiative petition before and is always lambasted by the press to
correct something that is wrong.''
Supporters of English immersion warned officials yesterday against making
changes.
''It seems to me a little bit doubtful to say people can vote however they want,
but the Legislature can and will undo all that,'' said
Under the initiative, approved by 68 percent of
But monitoring how the state implements Question 2 could be tricky for those who
spearheaded it. That's partly because Lincoln Tamayo, chairman of Unz's local
campaign, is moving to
Unz said he'll replace Tamayo with another supporter to see how the state
implements the law, similar to initiatives he successfully pushed in
''We are not at all comfortable with the notion of the Department of Education
monitoring this law,'' Tamayo said. ''We are far more comfortable with the
ability of parents at the local level and the school level making sure that
school administrators are doing what they are supposed to do.''
Antonioni, a Leominster Democrat, stressed that any changes would not gut the
law's intent to immerse students in English. ''I think we'd be making any
changes not with a hammer and a chisel but more with a scalpel and fine tools,''
Antonioni said.
Lawmakers tried to head off the ballot question by approving another law
reforming bilingual education coauthored by Antonioni and Larkin. Yesterday,
Larkin said he wants to still see school districts abide by some pieces of that
legislation, including holding schools accountable based on new annual
assessments of students with limited English.
While lawmakers considered changes to Question 2, school administrators explored
how to implement the new law, which takes effect in September 2003.
''We're getting hundreds of phone calls today from districts. The reality has
hit,'' said state Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll, who plans to propose
guidelines this month to the State Board of Education.
Some school officials yesterday bemoaned the dollars it will take to switch to
English immersion, even though supporters said funds simply can be redirected
from bilingual programs.
At a news conference, Boston Superintendent of Schools Thomas W. Payzant said
the district will have to spend $31 million over two years, mainly for teacher
training and textbooks. ''The big issue is going to be the budget and where the
cuts are going to come,'' said Payzant, who opposed Question 2.
Rick Klein, Megan Tench, and Anand Vaishnav of the Globe Staff contributed to
this report.
This story ran on page B9 of the Boston Globe on