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Subject: [NIFL-ESL:1472] California's English Only Initiative
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As it will appear on the June, 1998 California Ballot
The Unz Initiative
by Ron K. Unz and Gloria Matta Tuchman
Text:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 300) is added to Part 1
of the Educational
Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3. ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
ARTICLE 1. Findings and Declarations
300. The People of California find and declare as follows:
(a) WHEREAS the English language is the national public language of the
United States of
America and of the state of California, is spoken by the vast majority
of California residents, and
is also the leading world language for science, technology, and
international business, thereby
being the language of economic opportunity; and
(b) WHEREAS immigrant parents are eager to have their children acquire
a good knowledge of
English, thereby allowing them to fully participate in the American
Dream of economic and social
advancement; and
(c) WHEREAS the government and the public schools of California have a
moral obligation and
a constitutional duty to provide all of Californiaís children,
regardless of their ethnicity or national
origins, with the skills necessary to become productive members of our
society, and of these
skills, literacy in the English language is among the most important;
and
(d) WHEREAS the public schools of California currently do a poor job of
educating immigrant
children, wasting financial resources on costly experimental language
programs whose failure
over the past two decades is demonstrated by the current high drop-out
rates and low English
literacy levels of many immigrant children; and
(e) WHEREAS young immigrant children can easily acquire full fluency in
a new language, such
as English, if they are heavily exposed to that language in the
classroom at an early age.
(f) THEREFORE it is resolved that: all children in California public
schools shall be taught English
as rapidly and effectively as possible.
ARTICLE 2. English Language Education
305. Subject to the exceptions provided in Article 3 (commencing with
Section 310), all children
in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in
English. In particular, this
shall require that all children be placed in English language
classrooms. Children who are English
learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion during a
temporary transition
period not normally intended to exceed one year. Local schools shall be
permitted to place in the
same classroom English learners of different ages but whose degree of
English proficiency is
similar. Local schools shall be encouraged to mix together in the same
classroom English learners
from different native-language groups but with the same degree of
English fluency. Once English
learners have acquired a good working knowledge of English, they shall
be transferred to English
language mainstream classrooms. As much as possible, current
supplemental funding for English
learners shall be maintained, subject to possible modification under
Article 8 (commencing with
Section 335) below.
306. The definitions of the terms used in this article and in Article 3
(commencing with Section
310) are as follows:
(a) "English learner" means a child who does not speak English or whose
native language is not
English and who is not currently able to perform ordinary classroom
work in English, also known
as a Limited English Proficiency or LEP child.
(b) "English language classroom" means a classroom in which the
language of instruction used by
the teaching personnel is overwhelmingly the English language, and in
which such teaching
personnel possess a good knowledge of the English language.
(c) "English language mainstream classroom" means a classroom in which
the students either are
native English language speakers or already have acquired reasonable
fluency in English.
(d) "Sheltered English immersion" or "structured English immersion"
means an English language
acquisition process for young children in which nearly all classroom
instruction is in English but
with the curriculum and presentation designed for children who are
learning the language.
(e) "Bilingual education/native language instruction" means a language
acquisition process for
students in which much or all instruction, textbooks, and teaching
materials are in the childís
native language.
ARTICLE 3. Parental Exceptions
310. The requirements of Section 305 may be waived with the prior
written informed consent, to
be provided annually, of the childís parents or legal guardian under
the circumstances specified
below and in Section 311. Such informed consent shall require that said
parents or legal guardian
personally visit the school to apply for the waiver and that they there
be provided a full
description of the educational materials to be used in the different
educational program choices
and all the educational opportunities available to the child. Under
such parental waiver
conditions, children may be transferred to classes where they are
taught English and other
subjects through bilingual education techniques or other generally
recognized educational
methodologies permitted by law. Individual schools in which 20 students
or more of a given
grade level receive a waiver shall be required to offer such a class;
otherwise, they must allow the
students to transfer to a public school in which such a class is
offered.
311. The circumstances in which a parental exception waiver may be
granted under Section 310
are as follows:
(a) Children who already know English: the child already possesses good
English language skills,
as measured by standardized tests of English vocabulary comprehension,
reading, and writing, in
which the child scores at or above the state average for his grade
level or at or above the 5th
grade average, whichever is lower; or
(b) Older children: the child is age 10 years or older, and it is the
informed belief of the school
principal and educational staff that an alternate course of educational
study would be better
suited to the childís rapid acquisition of basic English language
skills; or
(c) Children with special needs: the child already has been placed for
a period of not less than
thirty days during that school year in an English language classroom
and it is subsequently the
informed belief of the school principal and educational staff that the
child has such special
physical, emotional, psychological, or educational needs that an
alternate course of educational
study would be better suited to the childís overall educational
development. A written description
of these special needs must be provided and any such decision is to be
made subject to the
examination and approval of the local school superintendent, under
guidelines established by and
subject to the review of the local Board of Education and ultimately
the State Board of
Education. The existence of such special needs shall not compel
issuance of a waiver, and the
parents shall be fully informed of their right to refuse to agree to a
waiver.
ARTICLE 4. Community-Based English Tutoring
315. In furtherance of its constitutional and legal requirement to
offer special language assistance
to children coming from backgrounds of limited English proficiency, the
state shall encourage
family members and others to provide personal English language tutoring
to such children, and
support these efforts by raising the general level of English language
knowledge in the community.
Commencing with the fiscal year in which this initiative is enacted and
for each of the nine fiscal
years following thereafter, a sum of fifty million dollars
($50,000,000) per year is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund for the purpose of providing
additional funding for free or
subsidized programs of adult English language instruction to parents or
other members of the
community who pledge to provide personal English language tutoring to
California school
children with limited English proficiency.
316. Programs funded pursuant to this section shall be provided through
schools or community
organizations. Funding for these programs shall be administered by the
Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and shall be disbursed at the
discretion of the local school
boards, under reasonable guidelines established by, and subject to the
review of, the State Board
of Education.
ARTICLE 5. Legal Standing and Parental Enforcement
320. As detailed in Article 2 (commencing with Section 305) and Article
3 (commencing with
Section 310), all California school children have the right to be
provided with an English language
public education. If a California school child has been denied the
option of an English language
instructional curriculum in public school, the childís parent or legal
guardian shall have legal
standing to sue for enforcement of the provisions of this statute, and
if successful shall be
awarded normal and customary attorneyís fees and actual damages, but
not punitive or
consequential damages. Any school board member or other elected
official or public school
teacher or administrator who willfully and repeatedly refuses to
implement the terms of this
statute by providing such an English language educational option at an
available public school to a
California school child may be held personally liable for fees and
actual damages by the childís
parents or legal guardian.
ARTICLE 6. Severability
325. If any part or parts of this statute are found to be in conflict
with federal law or the United
States or the California State Constitution, the statute shall be
implemented to the maximum
extent that federal law, and the United States and the California State
Constitution permit. Any
provision held invalid shall be severed from the remaining portions of
this statute.
ARTICLE 7. Operative Date
330. This initiative shall become operative for all school terms which
begin more than sixty days
following the date at which it becomes effective.
ARTICLE 8. Amendment.
335. The provisions of this act may be amended by a statute that
becomes effective upon
approval by the electorate or by a statute to further the actís purpose
passed by a two-thirds
vote of each house of the Legislature and signed by the Governor.
ARTICLE 9. Interpretation
340. Under circumstances in which portions of this statute are
subject to conflicting
interpretations, Section 300 shall be assumed to contain the
governing intent of the statute.
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