Bilingual Reform
There is no question that children with Limited English Proficiency
(LEP) require special assistance to learn English. U.S.ENGLISH strongly supports full
funding for programs that quickly and effectively teach children English.
The role of the schools should be to provide students with the English
language skills necessary to succeed in American society. The more quickly LEP children
learn enough English to transfer into mainstream classes, the better off they are.
Unfortunately, too many LEP students are trapped for too long in programs that teach them
too little English. Despite the claims of bilingual education proponents, research has not
proven native language instruction to be superior to other forms of instructionif
fact, many studies show that these programs are inferior to programs that are more
English-intensive.
U.S.ENGLISH advocates the following reforms that will continue funding
for programs that effectively teach English to children and will give parents an
increased voice in determining how their children will be taught:
- Increase local control. The federal government currently earmarks at least 75%
of its bilingual education funding for programs that spend most of the time teaching
children in their native language. Funding should continue, but the federal government
will allow the local school jurisdiction to choose the education program they find most
effective.
- Make schools accountable. Require schools to track and report on the progress of
students in each type of program for LEP students. Funding should be withdrawn from
programs that are not succeeding at rapidly teaching English and given to programs that
are.
- Give parents a choice. Require educators to get consent from parents of LEP
children before placing them in bilingual education programs. Parents must also have the
right to withdraw their children from such programs.
In the 105th Congress, U.S.ENGLISH supported H.R. 3892, "The
English Language Fluency Act." The bill incorporated the reforms listed above and
passed in the House of Representatives in 1998 with a vote of 221-189. Unfortunately, the
Senate did not vote on the bill before the end of the session.
Since the Bilingual Education Act is up for reauthorization by Congress
in 1999, U.S.ENGLISH is working with Chairman Bill Goodling (R-PA) of the Education and
Workforce Committee to ensure that the necessary reforms are written into federal law.
U.S.ENGLISH is also working on reform at the state level.
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