August 11, 2006
Dear Ms. Rivera,
I appreciate your article today on SB 1769. However, as president of the California Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL) I am very concerned with the misleading focus of your title: "Proposal Revives Bilingual Education Debate". The focus of this bill is NOT in relation to bilingual education, rather it is as you state to address the concern that present curricula "do not address the needs of California's 1.6 million English learners, who trail their English-speaking counterparts on standardized test scores". It is equally important for your readers to understand that since the passage of Proposition 227 the state of California adopted English Language Development standards, and an assessment, but never supported a state adopted curriculum. It is inappropriate to have an assessment and standards and no curriculum designed to teach students to those standards.
What is needed presently in our K-12 schools is a solid curriculum based on the California ELD standards. That is what Senate Bill 1769 requests. Presently in our state we have curriculum that is aligned only with English Language Arts standards. Without an ELD curriculum we risk subjecting our EL children and youth to a sink or swim environment, where there is no programmatic curriculum to ensure students are being taught to high standards to acquire and master English.
Further, without subject-matter certified teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) in K-12 public school settings, our only mechanism in California to ensure appropriate instruction of ELLs is via curriculum and professional development. It is imperative that SB 1759 be understood as a mechanism leading towards English proficiency. Teachers of ELLs require quality standards based curriculum materials that are designed to ensure academic success in English of ALL English language learners. To place this issue into a debate on bilingual education is to mislead the public and policy makers. By misrepresenting AB1759 you do a great disservice not only to the children working to learn English, but to their teachers who are committed to teaching English utilizing materials that will best help them teach children for academic success.
Finally, the Governor's fear that "using separate books and curriculum for subjects that all students take will lead to segregating and separating kids just because English is not their first language," is an inaccurate perception. That is, AB1759 is not asking that a curriculum be developed for "all subjects", only for English. AB 1759 will ensure that teachers have the appropriate materials to teach the English language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in their mainstream classrooms so that all students can access to the core curriculum in English.
I can reached for further comment at the above email address and phone # below.
Sincerely,
Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, Ph.D.
CATESOL President 2006-07
Proposal Revives Bilingual Education Debate
A state Senate bill would add special reading and writing lessons for English learners. Foes say measure would lead to unequal standards.
by Carla Rivera
Times Staff Writer
August 11, 2006
Several politicians and educators called on the governor Thursday to support legislation that would allow school districts to include extra reading and writing lessons for elementary students struggling to learn English, in a debate that has rekindled California's dormant language wars.
The bill, SB 1769, sponsored by state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), additionally would restore about $1.6 million in funding for the state Board of Education that was eliminated in the 2006-07 budget, when a compromise could not be reached on textbook criteria.
Supporters of the bill argue that recently adopted standards for textbook materials do not address the needs of California's 1.6 million English learners, who trail their English-speaking counterparts on standardized test scores.
The new standards will govern textbook materials for elementary and middle school students from 2008 through 2014. They call for a curriculum of English and reading lessons geared to all students during the regular class period, plus an additional hour of instruction targeted at English learners.
Supporters of the legislation want to include an option allowing textbook publishers to submit materials designed to accelerate English reading, writing and comprehension skills for English learners during the regular class period, by incorporating more pictures and simple vocabulary.
Districts could choose to use the new materials, but they would not be mandatory. The Assn. of California School Administrators and more then 40 school districts have endorsed the legislation.
"Districts cannot continue to risk the development of literacy among English learners because of a lack of appropriate materials," Rosa Molina, associate superintendent of the San Jose Unified School District, said at a Sacramento news conference. "We want to move past the rhetoric and debate because we have the reality of children walking through our doors in September."
Escutia alluded to the politically charged nature of the debate. "There are people who look at this and say, 'Oh there she goes again with English learners, she must be pushing bilingual education,' but nothing could be further from the truth," Escutia said.
Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), chairwoman of the Assembly's Appropriations Committee, said that textbooks cost California $500 million, and she said the state can't afford to spend resources on books that don't address student achievement gaps. The question of how best to teach English skills has devolved into a debate over bilingual education, a contentious issue in California. Opponents accuse the bill's supporters of fostering a bilingual approach and say it would lead to separate classrooms and unequal standards for English learners.
Proposition 227, which passed in 1998, mandates that all students learn to read and write in English. Ron Unz, who drafted that measure, said he suspects that SB 1769 is a stealthy attempt to bypass some of its provisions.
"I'm awfully suspicious that this may, in fact, represent an attempt to sneak bilingual education back into California through the back door," said Unz, a Palo Alto software developer who is chairman of the group English for the Children. "All of the leading people pushing this effort were among the leading advocates of bilingualism."
It is a politically sensitive issue for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself an immigrant, who has spoken of his struggle to learn English. And recently, former Govs. Pete Wilson and Gray Davis sent an open letter to Schwarzenegger expressing their support for uniform standards and defending the state board's English-language curriculum.
The governor has taken no formal position on the legislation but is concerned that it might lead to isolating students based on their language ability, said spokeswoman Margita Thompson.
"He fears that using separate books and curriculum for subjects that all students take will lead to segregating and separating kids just because English is not their first language," Thompson said.
The governor is open to working with Latino legislators to explore other options, including after-school programs or supplemental materials to assist students, said Thompson. He has also included $20 million in this year's budget for a pilot project to help identify the best teaching practices for English learners.
Schwarzenegger is also intent on restoring funding to the state board and its nine staff members, whose salaries have been picked up by the administration and the state Department of Education. Roger Magyar, the board's executive director, said his office is continuing to function but that the impasse threatens to hamper other critical work such as overseeing the state's testing system and implementation of the education code.
He said the board is not inclined to give in to the demands of SB 1769 supporters but is hoping for some sort of compromise.
"Perhaps," Magyar said, "we can give some instructions to publishers to help clarify issues and bridge some of the gap."