In addition to ending automatic placement, the new policy limits students to three years in the bilingual program and eases testing requirements in order to get students out of bilingual classes sooner. Currently there are 160,000 students in the program out of a total school enrollment of 1.1 million.

The changes adopted by the Board of Education came at the initiative of a panel appointed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Top officials of his administration have stated that they had hoped to overturn the bilingual program as a whole, as was done in California and New Mexico. But they ran into widespread support for the program, which was won through struggles in the 1970s. A 1974 court-sanctioned consent decree mandated school boards in the state to enroll students who are not proficient in English into a bilingual program.

The city instead took the tack of limiting how long students can stay in the progam, and adding on an "English immersion" track as a substitute for bilingual programs. Parents can currently enroll children in bilingual classes, English as a second language (ESL) courses, or a dual language program, where courses are taught one day in English the next in Spanish. Levy is increasing the $169 million bilingual education budget by $75 million--44 percent--to expand the dual-language program, to hire and train teachers, and to create an intensive English-language program.

The Board of Education's rush to approve the bill got bogged down when some board members pointed out that the new program may violate the 1974 consent decree. Board president William Thompson added the language, "The chancellor is directed to inform parents that they are entitled to bilingual education and their right to opt out of bilingual education," and declared the provision in conformance with state law. Giuliani appointee Ninfa Segarra called the final changes in the bilingual program "a real compromise."

Assessing the outcome of the effort to erode bilingual education in New York, conservative columnist Carol Iannone said press coverage about parents who want their children to learn both English and their native language came as a "shock" to her. In a column, "Bilingual Ed Exposed" published in National Review Online, Iannone wrote that she was appalled that bilingual programs are seen not only as a way to learn English but "as means of retaining the first language." She attacked the dual language system as one that promotes this goal and raised the alarm, "What is to prevent the dozens of language groups across New York from demanding it?"

Iannone also worried about the "sheer numbers of Spanish-speaking immigrants" who are "creating a qualitatively different situation from anything America has seen before," including Spanish becoming "the primary language in many parts of America." This, she warned, has led to "self-contained Spanish language enclaves," that, "could mean disunity and divisiveness ahead."  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home