Panel Description
Unz’santi-bilingual education language policies were recently passed into law in California, Arizona and Massachusetts, but failed to pass in Colorado. An expert panel representing each state explores this pressing issue from educational, legal, political, ideological, and personal perspectives to better understand its implications and share the important lessons learned in these states.

Panel Members
• Patricia Loera
  National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)
• Kathy Escamilla
  University of Colorado at Boulder
• Eugene Garcia
  Arizona State University
• Josué González
  Arizona State University
• Roger Rice
  Multicultural Education, Training and Advocacy (META) Associates, MA

Welcome and Opening Remarks

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The National Scene
Impact of Ballot Initiatives on NABE and English Language Learners

Patricia Loera
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)

Synopsis: Patricia Loera, NABE’s Legislative Analysis, describes NABE’s efforts at the national level to protect services for English language learning students. NABE’s efforts fall into three categories: (1) ESEA Reauthorization, (2) Appropriations, and (3) Implementation of Laws and Regulations. In the ESEA Reauthorization, NABE was successful in blocking efforts to restrict L1 instruction or place time limits on bilingual programs. However, there were several other areas NABE was unsuccessful. In terms of appropriations for bilingual education NABE continues to advocate for more funding, but the recent initiatives have made this more challenging. In terms of Implementation of Law and Regulations, NABE is providing assistance to help states and districts with implementing No Child Left Behind, to make sure they fully understand the law as it applies to English language learning students.

Background on National Anti-Bilingual Education Movement

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Colorado—Amendment 31
The Defeat of Unz

Kathy Escamilla
University of Colorado at Boulder

Synopsis: Kathy Escamilla describes the success of defeating Question 31, the Unz initiative in Colorado. She attributes the success to strong grassroots support, the extra time gained by challenging the initial bill in court, a substantial gift from a parent of a student in a dual-immersion program, and developing a message that appealed to mainstream Colorado. Escamilla responds to some of the criticism regarding their approach, and provides advice for educators, parents, and community leaders in other states to protect equitable programs for ELL students.

A web version of Kathy Escamilla's PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from this point.

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California—Proposition 227

Eugene Garcia
Arizona State University

Synopsis: Eugene Garcia discusses the aftermath of Proposition 227 in California. He describes research he and others conducted to document the response of individual school districts, schools, and teachers after the passage of Prop. 227. Garcia and his colleagues found that the response has varied greatly, and while many districts did end their bilingual programs, those districts and schools that were committed to their bilingual programs and had seen them succeed, continued their programs utilizing the waiver process.

See the special issue of the Bilingual Research Journal 24(1-2), on the Implementation of California's Proposition 227 (1998-2000) (guest edited by Eugene Garcia) for the articles referred to in this presentation.

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Arizona—Proposition 203
The Benefits of Unz

Josué González
Arizona State University

Synopsis: Josué González briefly describes the passage and effects of Proposition 203, the Unz initiative in Arizona. However, González then departs from this subject to contextualize the attack on bilingual education within the overarching issues of demographic change in the U.S. He argues that knee jerk reactions such as the Unz initiatives are out of sync with the currently reality of language diversity in the United States, and argues his initiatives will ultimately become irrelevant as the demographic shift continues. González concludes with an argument that there are actually several benefits of Unz initiatives.

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Massachusetts—Question 2

Roger Rice
Multicultural Education, Training and Advocacy (META) Associates

Synopsis: Roger Rice describes the efforts to defeat Question 2, the Unz initiative in Massachusetts. Rice draws several comparisons with the campaign which took place in Colorado at the same time, and argues that the main differences were the extra year Colorado was able to gain through the lawsuit, and most importantly, the large donation the campaign received from the mother of a student in a dual-immersion program. Rice also debunks the myth that the majority of Hispanics support Unz initiatives by showing election results by precincts revealing that areas with large Hispanic populations voted no on Question 2.

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