Below, I have placed an article from the San Antonio paper, that
contrasts bilingual education programs in Texas with those of
California.       What is core to the difference in results, is the
attitude of the different business communities.

Its not that Al Gore and George Bush both support bilingual education,
as is asserted in the article.    Since both are at best neutral to the
presence of these programs coming out of the communities.       But
neutral is better than outright hostile.       What is the difference
between California and Texas, then?

It has to do with the Texas business community seeing profit to be made
off of bi-national commerce, as being a primary goal.     Northeastern
Mexico is the industrial powerhouse of Mexico, whereas California has no
trading partner of similar status, sitting south of its border in
Tijuana.

Add to this, the fact that South Texas is predominantly
Mexican-American, and this is an even further incentive to back off from
overt opposition to bilingual education.       These communities can
design bilingual education programs run by the parents, not just a group
of 'bilingual specialists', like in the California schools.

And the parents use common sense to design the programs where Spanish
language kids, are placed in an EQUAL status with the Anglo kids.     In
other words, English is not given preferential status.

Guess what?      This system works.     And the big difference simply
being, that the economic eiltes here don't actively work to sabotage the
program.     There's money to be made by leaving it alone.

Tony Abdo
__________________________________
Bilingual programs thriving
By Edmund S. Tijerina
Express-News Staff Writer

While opponents of bilingual education are basking in news from
California that appears to support them, a much quieter movement is
building in South Texas among affluent and low-income parents alike —
to make sure their children know both English and Spanish.

Ana McDonald: Learning should be forever "The upper class has always
known and acknowledged the need for another language," said Ellen Riojas
Clark, a bicultural studies professor at the University of Texas at San
Antonio. "Now we're seeing other people realizing this."

In California, limited English speakers posted dramatically higher test
scores two years after bilingual education was curtailed. Opponents of
bilingual education say the test results only prove that children don't
need those programs.
But others, including Texas educators, say California's numbers aren't
that clear-cut.
And many Texas parents apparently support learning in two languages.

In districts as disparate as Alamo Heights — with its Spanish
immersion program — and Edgewood — where students at Burleson
Elementary say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning twice, in English
and again as the juramento a la bandera — dual-language programs are
emerging.
At Bonham Elementary School in the San Antonio School District, many
parents want the program to follow their kids into middle school.

The sentiment differs greatly from California. In 1998, voters approved
Proposition 227, a measure that dramatically curtailed bilingual
education. Instead, the state encouraged immersion in English.

After that vote, bilingual education supporters had predicted that
Spanish-speaking children would perform miserably on state-mandated
standardized tests. They didn't. In some districts that abandoned
bilingual education, the scores went up.

Supporters dispute those figures.
"What is occurring in California gives Texans very little to learn,"
said María "Cuca" Robledo Montecel, executive director of the
Intercultural Development Research Association, a group that studies
education issues. "The state of California can learn a lot from the
state of Texas, in terms of developing good bilingual education that
helps students learn English and achieve academically."

But while California's action has spawned similar referendums in Arizona
and Colorado, movements to do away with bilingual education have not
sprouted here.

"I don't get the impression that bilingual programs in Texas are as bad
as they are in California," said Ron Unz, the Silicon Valley
entrepreneur behind the measure.
One obstacle for opponents is that Texas does not have a way for
residents to place measures on the ballot.

"In California, without the initiative process, nothing would have
happened," Unz said. "After what happened here, we would hope that the
politicians would find the courage to introduce it."

If Texas did have one, such a measure might very well succeed, said Joe
Bernal, former state legislator and current member of the State Board of
Education.
"An issue like that would bring out the worst in people rather than the
best," Bernal said.

On the other hand, politicians and businesses support knowing two
languages. Both Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore
support bilingual education.

In South Texas, businesses are expanding into northern Mexico and
advertising for bilingual workers. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's
bilingual initiative, Imagínate San Antonio, has wide support.

Beyond the boardrooms, the drive for children to grow up bilingual is
spreading. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley
called for creating 1,000 dual-language immersion programs, where
students learn both English and another language, in the next five
years.

In addition to programs in Alamo Heights, Edgewood and San Antonio,
dual-language is operating in the South San Antonio, Pearsall and Ysleta
school districts. Next year, Northside is to start a dual-language pilot
program at two elementary schools in response to a "growing interest,"
said Pat Blattman, deputy superintendent for instruction.
North East offers only the more traditional bilingual focus, teaching
subjects in a native language while easing English into the lessons.

"While we're teaching them to read in Spanish, we're going to have a
strong English component," said Elmosa Herrera, a bilingual specialist
at Stahl Elementary. "You can't have a program where you do all Spanish
and then magically they're going to learn English."

In the dual-language programs, the ideal mix of students combines native
Spanish and English speakers. From pre-kindergarten to fifth grade, the
students go from having most of their lessons in Spanish to an equal mix
of both languages.

At Burleson Elementary, Principal Delma Luna said her kindergarten class
scored on the third-grade level in math and reading abilities.

"When they're young, our kids pass the TAAS (Texas Assessment of
Academic Skills) in Spanish," she said. "By fourth grade, they can pass
it in English or Spanish."

But ironically, the parents often most resistant to dual-language
efforts are those who speak Spanish as their first language. They
remember the days when their tongue was something shameful.

"We have parents who say, 'They already know Spanish,' but what they
know is conversational Spanish. They don't know the academic language,"
Luna said. "In December, we have a program where the children read to
their parents. They read a book in Spanish and then they read a book in
English. At that point, we don't have to sell it to the parents. They
sell it to each other."

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09/02/2000