Whats Wrong with
The Unz Initiative

Developed by Mass. Coalition for Bilingual Education
c/o Mass. English Plus, 18 Tremont St., Ste. 320
Boston, MA 02108 -- (617) 227-3000

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1. Unz’s one year English immersion provision is based totally on ideological grounds and not based on any reputable education theory or research. Ron Unz, author of Proposition 227, is not an educator and has never stepped inside a bilingual education classroom. A neo-conservative libertarian who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the Governorship of California, Unz is using his successful campaign against bilingual education to give him a higher political profile for a future run for national office.



2. Unz offers no flexibility to districts to deal with the diverse backgrounds of our limited English proficient students, including students who have had very little or no formal education or those who came from lower socio-economic settings.



3. Unz outlaws innovative 2-way bilingual programs (such as programs in Boston, Cambridge, Framingham, and Salem) where native English speakers and bilingual students are learning in 2 languages in the same classroom. Research has shown children in 2-way bilingual programs actually outperform their mainstream peers in English by the sixth grade as measured by standardized tests in a longitudinal study. (Collier & Thomas, 1998)



4. Unz will increase language minority student drop-outs and language minority student failures in the state’s high stakes tests. Quality bilingual education programs offers comprehensible academic instructions while the student is learning English. It helps to ensure Limited English Proficient (LEP) students to not fall behind in academics while they are mastering a new language. We had sink or swim approaches before and the result was disastrous- 80 - 90% drop-out rates.



5. Unz will be an administrative nightmare and will lead to educational disruptions. Among some of the nonsensical provisions include such items as: requiring a 30-day waiting period before students are allowed to be transferred into a bilingual education program under a very strict waiver process and having principals and superintendents decide on a case by case basis the status of the waivers.



6. Unz will creating stress and disruptions in the mainstream classes. Mainstream teachers, most of whom are not trained in second language acquisition or multicultural issues ill not be able to address the diverse educational needs of students at various levels of English language proficiency and literacy plus the educational outcomes of the mainstream students. It will be an unfair and unjust situation for all.



7. Unz provides no certification requirements for teachers who will be teaching in the English immersion program. The only requirement is that they have a "good knowledge of English".



8. Unz Denies equal educational opportunities for limited English proficient students. It does not provide for any mechanism for LEP students to access academics or an adequate system for English language development beyond the one year of sheltered English instructions. There is no provision even for an English as a Second Language Program.