Should Oregon Pass the English Immersion Measure?

Every child in America should learn English. But let me be clear, Measure 58 does nothing to help Oregon kids learn English. Here are the primary reasons why Stand for Children members believe Measure 58 would be a disaster for Oregon schools:

1) One Size Does Not Fit All

    - We know that not all children learn in exactly the same way. Their unique abilities deserve individual review, not the mandates that Measure 58 would use to force them all into one rigid structure.   Measure 58 makes no exceptions for students with special needs or learning disabilities. By mandating a one-size-fits-all system for all children, Measure 58 will not allow us to meet the needs of all students.

2) Our Communities Know Best

·       Stand for Children is made up of local groups throughout the state because we know that the people who are closest to our kids in their communities are the ones who understand their needs the best. Measure 58 would take away local control and force every community, from Portland to Prineville to Prairie City , into the same program.

3) Too Many Unintended Consequences

·        Measure 58 is so vague and poorly written that its consequences are actually unknown. It doesn’t say how its system would work, who qualifies for it or how it would be implemented.   Let’s not risk our kids to an untried and unproven scheme.

4) Expensive to Oregon Taxpayers

·        Measure 58 would cost Oregon schools and Oregon taxpayers $253 million in each of the first two years.   That is over a half billion dollars – a half billion dollars out of an education budget that totals $6 billion.   This is money better spent reinvesting in smaller class sizes, adding back lost programs, hiring more teachers, fixing leaky roofs or buying new textbooks.

We at Stand for Children and Parents and Teachers Know Better believe that learning English maximizes every student’s chance for success.   The state of Oregon requires all students to learn English, and our schools are meeting that challenge.   Measure 58 would undermine the hard work of the teachers who instruct English as a second language and the administrators who develop those programs for learning.   W e don’t need another unfunded mandate that would cost millions with no evidence it will be better for students.  

Please side with parents, teachers and education experts from across the state.

Please join us in opposing Measure 58.

Dana Hepper

Stand For Children