Response to Paul A. Garcia on Statistical Data From Dual Bilingual Program

By Alita Warner

As a community we need to stop arguing over past efforts and get on with the future ,finding successful schools and programs that do work within the framework of the new law. We owe it to our students, community and country.

Absolutely, our students and children are not tires that can be recalled. All students deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Human dignity, intelligence and ability are not determined by economic background, national origin, or primary language. This is a very clear expectation and attitude that all personnel serving our students should manifest. How our public education system assists students to achieve the goals that they, their families, and society share for them, is widely disputed. Bilingual education is a very clear example of this. In discussing Bilingual Education and English Immersion, the end goal is the same, English proficiency.

Worldwide, English is considered to be the dominate language of commerce. American education must meet the requirement of English proficiency for full participation in the American life. We cannot allow language and economic barriers to trap vast numbers of our population and brainpower in low paying jobs and dead-end life circumstances. Our nation cannot afford to waste these minds. For California, the stakes are particularly high with the number of people that face these two challenges, language and poverty. Our community of Fresno falls right in line with these high stakes.

Bilingual Education has been in place for 20 years. The public and many educators feel Bilingual has not worked;at least not well enough. Lack of accountability for the programs contributed to the passage of 227, the elimination of bilingual education except by parental request. Our district too had problems in our own programs. In 1995 our programs for English Language Learners were deemed to be out of compliance with both the State Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights.

Public education is struggling. Vouchers, home schooling, and privatization have many supporters who hold very strongly to their view, just as Mr. Garcia does in Bilingual Education.

The push for accountability in public education I believe to be a positive one that will benefit these students with language learning issues. Blandina Cardenas, Director of the Center for Hispanic Research at the University of Texas, San Antonio, while not thrilled with standardized testing, states, " it has forced school districts to bring to light a pattern of underachievement that had been accepted as the way things were supposed to be for too long".

The passage of NAFTA and the rise of the Internet are creating a global marketplace. Last Friday, I was speaking to a business acquaintance about how their business is going international. Her company has developed reading programs for grades 3-6. They have now opened a school in Mexico to teach English. NAFTA's effects there are requiring Mexicans to become fluent in English to get a job in Central Mexico!

As we begin a new era in Fresno Unified under the leadership of Dr. Wood, let's return our focus to our students. Let's get off of the ideological soap boxes and focus on the majority of our students. Not the 50 students or so that are in a special program that no matter how successful cannot be duplicated in mass due to Proposition 227 and the estimated 50+ languages we are working with. How can we improve academic achievement and English proficiency from the beginning of schooling? How can we have our teaching match student needs? We cannot afford to lose 1 in 5 of our high school students. The break down of our testing data available now gives us another tool to sharpen our focus.

And in our discussions, let's talk in a language that the members of our community can understand. Let's break down what has been called "edubabble " to language the business leaders, community members and parents can understand. In order to achieve our goals, we will need all these people on board. Let's include them in all our conversations.

As a community we need to stop arguing over past efforts and get on with the future, finding successful schools and programs that do work within the framework of the new law. We owe it to our students, community and country.