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Published on 03/09/1998 All articles from this issue

Bilingual reform initiative sparks differing local viewpoints

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Debates over language programs have played out all over the state since the introduction of Ron Unz's bilingual reform initiative last year. As part of Los Altos High School's annual multicultural week, students last week discussed the possible effects the initiative could have at their school.

Jorge Paez Salinas told his classmates that he moved to the United States almost three years ago, knowing only how to say "hamburger" in English. Though he watched children's television shows and read stacks of magazines to help expand his English vocabulary, Salinas said he doubts that he would be able to graduate with his class if not for the high school's English Language Development Program.

His classmate, Eunpi Cho, disagrees. Cho spoke only Korean when she moved to Los Altos at age 2. She has never taken bilingual classes and says she has had no problems learning English or keeping up in school. She said students should be able to learn English in mainstream classes.

The "English as Required Language of Instruction" initiative - which is on the June 2 primary election ballot - calls for an end to bilingual programs in California's public schools, and requires all children speaking limited English to be put into regular classes after one year of English instruction.

"We all want children to learn English," said Los Altos High teacher Carmen Gomez.

But the initiative offers no recourse for students who don't learn English within one year, according to Gomez.

"It's basically sink or swim," she said.

Gomez said studies show that students take an average of four to seven years to learn a language cognitively.

"Students may know conversational English, but not enough to write an essay about the French Revolution or to learn a higher level of thinking and analysis," she said.

Gomez knows first-hand about the difficulties of learning a foreign language. She learned to speak English after moving to California from Mexico when she was a teen.

Gomez said she worries that the initiative could put students in classes of mixed abilities and ages as happened when she first attended school in California. A fourth grader could be placed in class with kindergartners, she said.

Gomez said the initiative would remove local control from school districts, ending the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District's English Language Development Program and bilingual classes.

The one-size-fits-all mentality cheats children out of successful education, Gomez said, and eliminates the ability of local schools to determine the most effective way for teaching students.

Gomez said under the current language program, students learn in English. She said instructors speak English in a way students can understand. The courses help students learn English while keeping up on their academics, she said.

For students who can't wait until their English is fluent enough to take a core class, the district offers bilingual classes, she said.