| San Diego County, CA | November 7, 2006 Election |
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Bilingual Education Must Come to an End!By Jim GibsonCandidate for Board Member; Vista Unified School District |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227. Prop 227 clearly states that California's bilingual education program has failed to teach Spanish speakers to read and write in English, and therefore should no longer be the standard by which we educate our children. English immersion works and is now the state standard. For the last eight years, I have been working hard to implement English immersion at Vista Unified School District. Oceanside Unified School District immediately implemented this law for its children. Vista Unified School District (VUSD) persisted to teach "English language learners" with the failed program. After eight years of continuing to teach a failed program, VUSD has seen scores continue to drop on all tests. We now have twelve schools that are sanctioned by the federal government, and eighteen failing schools. Yet, individuals within VUSD doggedly try to prop up the bilingual program through waivers. Waivers are allowed under a clause in Proposition 227 which gives parents the option of enrolling their children in a bilingual program, but it also gives local school-district officials have the final say in approving that waiver. Waivers were to be the exception. At VUSD, district employees push these "exceptions" on trusting parents. Non-English speaking parents are told that their children can learn English only through the bilingual program. Concerned parents who desperately want their children to learn English are applying for and demanding the failed bilingual program. Our sister district, Oceanside Unified, has not granted one waiver in 4 years and has shown progress in educating Spanish speakers. VUSD's student body comprises 31 native language groups. 30 of these groups are introduced to and educated in English only. They function at normal levels after a year of English immersion. The Spanish-speakers who are tricked into the bilingual program spend most of their days reading and writing in Spanish and are separated from their English-speaking peers for many of their school years. The results show in their low standardized test scores. Without learning English, they cannot achieve on tests, and will not achieve the American dream. I have addressed this issue continuously during my eight years as a VUSD trustee. In return, I have been protested by activists supporting the failed bilingual program. Last year, a board majority supported scrapping the failed bilingual program; however, a majority cannot agree to eliminate the granting of waivers, provide complete English immersion, and comply with state law. In one school, we have a 17% literacy rate. This means only 17% of its students can read at their grade level. Despite this dire state of affairs, three of my colleagues have put forth a "bridging program" to help the Spanish speakers cross into English. This is only a renaming of the failed bilingual program. No other group of non-native English speakers in Vista schools has a "bridging program" - yet they are all learning English. This bridging program is simply another attempt to hold back the Spanish-speaking children for purely political and philosophical reasons and to create a subculture of Spanish-only speakers. During a recent VUSD board meeting I noticed two posters in the district offices. They were identical posters describing the requirements to apply to the California State University system. One was in English, the other in Spanish. There was visible proof that we were failing our kids. If a student cannot read and write proficiently in English by the time he or she wants to apply to college, we have failed. Every child in the Vista Unified School District must learn to speak, read and write in English, at his or her grade level, without excuse this year. The failed, illegal bilingual program needs to come to an end. Spanish-speakers must be given the same respect and opportunities the other 31 language groups are given. |
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ca/sd Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 20, 2006 19:18
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