Econ-Atrocity Bulletins

By Rob Fetter and Stephanie Luce, CPE Staff Economists

Since the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 provided federal funding to school districts to assist them in adopting bilingual education programs, bilingual programs in many languages across the U.S. have flourished. Those committed to bilingual education continue to push their states and school districts to improve their programs, but bilingual education advocates have a new challenge: to fight off ballot initiatives that would eliminate the successes won to date.

On November 5, voters in Massachusetts and Colorado will vote on ballot initiatives that would end existing bilingual education programs in both states. The proposed initiatives - Constitutional Amendment 31 in Colorado and Question 2 in Massachusetts - would require students to go through a one-year “structured English immersion” program. Teaching materials would be in English only. After the first year, students would be integrated into regular classrooms and be prohibited from speaking in their native language. Further, teachers could be personally sued if found speaking in other languages in the classroom, and barred from public employment for five years. English learners in grades 2 and higher would have to take an annual test for English proficiency. Read more »