While Obama and McCain slug it out on the national stage, voters in individual states are considering legislation that could have widespread repercussions. In the first of a special election series, Opposing Views examines Oregon’s Measure 58, a proposal that would require “English immersion” in Oregon public schools while limiting foreign language instruction. Do English immersion laws help or harm students? Figure out where you stand now; your state may be next. (Editor's Note: On November 4th, Oregon voters rejected Measure 58)
The mission of the Oregon Department of Education should be to set up policies to prepare students to be successful Americans. The best way to accomplish that task is to insure that students can speak English fluently and that they are at grade level. It is not ODE’s responsibility to indulge parents or students if their wish is to maintain cultural connections to the country they immigrated from.
It is obvious that the current programs have failed English Language learners. We need to put the interests of students first and not the vested monetary interests of the ESL/ELL/etc. bureaucrats or the ethnocentric community that seeks to divide us.
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