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Debate heats up over the fate of bilingual classes
By Anand Vaishnav and Benjamin Gedan, Globe Staff, 10/23/2002
The debate over a ballot initiative to replace bilingual education with
English immersion escalated dramatically yesterday as supporters and
opponents hit the airwaves, university campuses, and downtown breakfast
gatherings, drumming up support as the election nears.
Those on opposite sides of Question 2, financed by
multimillionaire Ron Unz, faced off in a live television forum over whether
a year of English immersion is enough, and over its results after four years
in
''We shouldn't trust bilingual educators and administrators who continue to
believe that the best program for immigrant children is a native language
program,'' Lincoln Tamayo, chairman of English for the Children of
Massachusetts, said on the 10-minute discussion on WBZ-TV (Channel 4).
Tim Duncan, chairman of the Committee for Fairness to Children and Teachers,
or FACT, replied that school districts should be able to pick bilingual
programs that best suit them. ''We trust our own communities, educators, the
people we elect, to make these decisions for us,'' he said.
A blitz of events, including more rallies and forums scheduled for today, is
intensifying the wrangling over Question 2. Much of the debate comes from
educators and activists fighting a measure that media and campaign polls
show has strong support statewide.
At an early-morning panel, bilingual proponents accused the Question 2
campaign of accepting a $5,000 donation from a group led by a
doctor who they say is a leading antiimmigration activist. Later in the day,
the
against the Unz initiative.
Also yesterday, state Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll announced
that he opposes Question 2, as does
McKenna, who will ask the presidents of
and
initiative. It's the first time in recent memory that Lesley has taken an
institutional stance on a controversial public policy issue, university
officials said.
Unz, meanwhile, seemed half-amused at the storm his initiative has spurred.
He sat unnoticed during the morning panel sponsored by the Pioneer Institute
and the Boston Municipal Research Bureau about his measure. Shuttling
between media interviews, he voiced confidence in a victory for English
immersion. A similar measure is on the ballot in
plans passed in
''I'm tending to doubt that a couple of weeks of radio or TV advertisements
could really sway that many voters,'' Unz said. ''I'd say we have a good
chance of winning.''
Currently,
native tongue while easing into English over several years - a method that
works if done well, its proponents say. But Question 2 backers prefer
placing students in
all-English classes right away, saying students learn English best when
they're taught in the language. Students currently stay in bilingual classes
in
At the WBZ-TV studios in
as the other recited what are becoming familiar arguments.
percent of students there are ready to enter mainstream classes after one
year of English immersion. But Tamayo said schools have a financial
incentive to keep students classified as ''limited English proficient''
because those students get more state and federal funds.
Tamayo noted that no teacher in
Tamayo, a native of
experience as an immigrant was not applicable to other immigrant groups.
Tamayo said immigrants from Asian countries have succeeded without bilingual
education.
''How can they possibly explain the fact that these students are doing
well?'' he asked. ''They're in English immersion.''
After the debate, Tamayo denied that Question 2 is an oversimplified
solution. And the issue hits home personally. ''I have lived this,'' he
said.
inform voters on how complex bilingual education really is.
''The problem is that it's an education issue,'' he said. ''It's very
complicated. It's been very difficult for anyone to get an idea of what we
even have now'' in bilingual programs. In August, state legislators approved
a new law giving districts more leeway in choosing bilingual programs in
exchange for tighter state oversight.
Earlier in the day, Tamayo sat on a panel with Thomas W. Payzant and
Wilfredo T. Laboy, school superintendents in
Glenn, the
bilingual law in 1971, and Peter J. Larkin, the state lawmaker who
coauthored the new law that replaced it.
Larkin, chairman of the Legislature's joint Education Committee, said voters
essentially will kill the new bilingual law if they approve Question 2.
But Glenn wondered whether the new legislation will be enforced, noting that
the Commonwealth's 1971 bilingual education initiative had accountability
planks few had followed. Glenn said yesterday he remains undecided on
Question 2.
Payzant urged the audience of about 100 business people and educators not to
make public policy by popular vote. And Laboy said he prefers elementary
immersion the way his city does it: English all day, except for 45 minutes
daily reading in the students' native tongue, and assistance in the language
for up to three years.
''We put them in the water. We immerse them. But we give them oxygen. We
give them goggles. We support them,'' said Laboy, who does not back Question
2.
At the panel, Charles Glick, a consultant for FACT, asked why the Unz
campaign accepted a $5,000 donation from an
ProEnglish. One of the board members of ProEnglish - which advocates
English-only policies - is
a group he founded, US English, after memos he wrote caused a stir. One memo
linked immigration to the high Hispanic birth rate, and some of his
colleagues in the group, including conservative columnist Linda Chavez, resigned
in protest.
Yesterday, FACT called on Tamayo to return the donation, calling Tanton's
writings anti-Latino and anti-Catholic. Tanton was traveling yesterday and
couldn't be reached for comment, said K.C. McAlpin, executive director of
ProEnglish. He dismissed FACT's assertions about Tanton.
Tamayo also returned fire, charging that FACT took $125,000 from The Shefa
Fund, a nonprofit group active in Jewish philanthropy that he termed
''ultraliberal.'' Tamayo has filed a state complaint charging that the gift
is illegal because The Shefa Fund is a tax-exempt nonprofit, although IRS
rules allow some donations by such groups.
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.