Be An Informed Voter
Some Facts About Bilingual Education In Arizona
     The November 2000 Arizona election has an initiative (Prop 203) seeking to abolish Bilingual Education. If you plan to vote please take a little time and read the following facts about Bilingual Education in Arizona. Web sites are listed at the end so you can confirm these facts. Thank you for being a conscientious voter.
Bilingual Education Students Outperform English-Only 
In ENGLISH Reading Scores In All Grades
     In 1998-1999, for the third year in a row, students learning English in Bilingual Education programs scored significantly higher in English reading than students enrolled in English-Only programs, according to the Arizona Dept of Education (ADE). 
Stanford 9 Reading Scores for LEP Students in Arizona Programs School Year 1998-99 
(NCE = Normal Curve Equivalents)*	
Grade
	Bilingual Ed	Bilingual
Ed	English Only	English
Only	Bilingual Edge	
	Num of Students	NCE
Score	Num of Students	NCE
Score		
2	1,029	37.2	3,594	37.0	+ 1 %	
3	1,213	35.9	4,150	32.2	+ 11 %	
4	1,247	38.4	4,021	33.8	+ 14 %	
5	2,026	32.4	4,775	31.6	+ 3 %	
6	1,506	34.7	4,327	34.3	+ 1 %	
7	1,257	33.4	3,891	31.8	+ 5 %	
8	1,016	35.4	3,798	32.6	+ 9 %	
9	768	33.4	2,613	27.7	+ 21 %	
10	708	33.6	2,196	25.5	+ 32 %	
11	564	33.4	1,681	26.9	+ 24 %	
Total	11,334		35,046			
Avg		34.7		32.0	+ 8 %	
  *Average scores weighted to account for students tested.	
  Source: Arizona Department of Education, English Acquisition Services: A Summary of Bilingual Education Programs and English As A Second Language Programs for School Year 1998-99
(Report Jan 2000)	
     The superiority of Bilingual Ed was remarkably consistent. English learners in Bilingual Education scored at higher levels than their English-Only counterparts at every grade level, for the third consecutive year – as long as the ADE has been reporting these scores. (Note: Less than 6% of AZ students are in Bilingual Ed.) 
Reclassification Rates For Bilingual Education
Are Significantly Higher Than For English-Only 
     Reclassification rate is the percentage at which English learners reach a specific English reading threshold (NCE=43 in Arizona), at which point the student can be placed in a regular classroom. Nogales Unified School District (other AZ School Districts are similar) reported a reclassification rate of 12% for Bilingual Education students as compared to a rate of 3% for English-Only students.  (Arizona Daily Star, March 18, 2000) 
Abolishing Bilingual Education Will NOT Save Money
     In Arizona, the Bilingual Education budget is only 0.1% of the total education budget. This is based on figures reported to the U.S. District Court (Jan 2000, Judge Alfredo Marquez). There it was reported that only $150/yr per student was allocated for English Learners – whether they were in Bilingual Education or English-Only programs. Getting rid of Bilingual Education will only abolish a proven and superior form of teaching English-Learners – it would not save money (it would even cost more) since the student would have to be moved over to the English-Only form in which the student would have to stay longer since reclassification rates are much lower for English-Only programs. In addition to the above realities, Prop 203 does not call for any reduction in spending (Sect 15-752): “Current Per Capita Supplemental Funding For English Learners Shall Be Maintained”. In short, getting rid of Bilingual Education would not save the taxpayer any money and would in fact cost the taxpayer more. (Note: For all student types education cost per student = $6000/yr)
Bilingual Ed Students Have Lower Drop-Out Rates
   Between the years 1917 and 1967 Tucson, AZ had a 1-Year English Immersion program called “1C” virtually identical to the one being proposed in Prop 203. During this period of time, the Hispanic Drop-Out rate was over 60% and for Native-Americans it was even higher. In more recent data, AZ Statewide Hispanic Dropout Rate is 17%, whereas the Hispanic Bilingual student dropout rate is less than 6%. (Tucson Unified School District) Clearly, Bilingual Education results in much lower dropout rates.
Native American Tribes OPPOSE Prop 203
    The following excerpt, from the Navajo Nation Council resolution, exemplifies the view of Native Americans: “Passage of the AZ Unz initiative [Prop 203] would place Arizona Navajo public schools in a difficult position between conflicting Arizona and Navajo Nation laws; and...The Navajo Nation is much more concerned about the continuing loss of the Navajo language and the relative lack of quality Navajo and English bilingual education programs. These ideological attacks on bilingual education are understood as attacks on the rights of Navajo children and Navajo parents, and on the future of the Navajo language and way of life.” (Resolution at Website below)
Parents Should Decide For Their Own Children
     Currently Arizona statutes give parents the right to decide to put their children in Bilingual Education or English-Only programs. The worst and most dangerous aspect of Prop 203 is that, it would strip the parents of their rights to decide the best education program for their children. This is one place where we need to be fair minded to minority groups. Although the children in the majority may not need Bilingual Education to succeed, there are many other parents who need this option for their children. 
     In an initiative, a majority can always over-rule and suppress the rights of a minority. Let us be careful not to do this. Let us keep the decision of what educational programs to give the children in the hands of their parents and local school boards. Currently this is the choice parents have. In fact, in 1999 of the 16,000 parents with children in Bilingual Education only 120 chose to pull their children from Bilingual Ed. The rest (99.3%) freely chose to keep their children in Bilingual Ed (Leonard Basurto,Tucson Unified School District).
     Prop 203 allows a waiver only under 3 very restrictive conditions: 1. If children already know English, 2. If they are 10 years or older, or 3. If they have “special psychological needs” (i.e. mentally retarded) which they must permanently record in the child’s record thereby fixing a stigma to the student. Even when a parent goes through all the waiver requirements, the initiative states (Sect 15-753.B.3): “Teachers And Local School Districts May Reject Waiver Requests Without Explanation Or Legal Consequence.” As you can see, this initiative indeed strips parents of their rights. 
     In addition to being mean-spirited to parents and children, for the first time in legal history -- the initiative could personally bankrupt School Board members, Elected Officials, Administrators, as well as threaten teachers’ jobs. In the initiative it reads (Sect 15-754): “Any School Board Member or Other Elected Official or Administrator Who Willfully And Repeatedly Refuses To Implement The Terms Of This Statute May Be Held Personally Liable For Fees And Actual And Compensatory Damages..And Cannot Be Subsequently Indemnified For Such Assessed Damages By Any Public or Private Third Party.”  Notice here that they cannot even get insurance against lawsuits [Cannot Be Indemnified]. Indeed, this initiative is extremely mean-spirited to those who are trying to educate our children.
Protect Parental Rights  -  Vote NO on Prop 203
     Prop 203 allows only 1 year (165 school days) for students to learn English. All language experts state that this is not even close to enough time. The problem with Prop 203 is that when it starts failing children (or even to improve it) --  parents, teachers, and school boards will have no power to change the policy. It could only be amended by the Arizona legislature (Sect 15-755). But for an amendment it takes a vote of at least three-fourths of members of each house of legislature and approval by the governor – a very difficult prospect. 
     Prop 203 is a direct assault on parental rights and Native American rights. This time it may be about a program that doesn’t affect your children, but there may come a day when another may affect your children. As voters let us send a clear message to all initiative proposers that we will not allow parental rights to be infringed – for any group of parents. Vote NO on Prop 203.
ADE Report:   www.ade.az.gov/asd/englishacquisition2000.htm
Initiative:        www.sosaz.com/election/2000/info/pubpamphlet/
                        prop1-I-2000.htm
More Info:       www.EnglishPlusMore.org 

Paid for by English Plus More / P.O. Box 2662 / Tucson, AZ 85726
Richard Fimbres, Treasurer