Pros And Cons Of Proposition 227

Before and after of proposition 227, bilingual education is one of most controversial educational issue in California. This issue naturally provokes many following issues since California is one of states that have a high population of immigrants. There are many pros and cons of banning the bilingual education. This paper examines how California’s decision of ending the bilingual education influences the elementary school students, especially the English learner students. In order to do so, historical background needs to be explained. In historical context, politics plays significant role in approving the Proposition 227. Due to this background, the Proposition 227 has not served effectively as it meant to be.

Keywords: bilingual, ESL, elementary

In this sense, California encounters many English learner students in schools. Before the passing of the proposition 227, California embraces the bilingual education system. However, it is also true that the term bilingual education is quite elusive and uncertain. Tay Lesley (1971) explains that sometimes bilingual education refers as “simply to the education of non-English speaking or bilingual children, whether or not the curriculum or type of instruction is actually bilingual.” (P. 12) Lesley continues on to explain how this misleading definition of bilingual education transformed into a proper meaning. Lesley states that bilingual education is “an educational program in which two languages are medium of instruction.” (P. 11) Before specifically discuss about California, as a whole, the United States never has been officially announced as a bilingual or multilingual country. Despite the fact that the U.S. adapts the method of assimilation, bilingual schools exist early as pre-World War I (P. 18). And then, with Bilingual Education Act of 1967 brings a rebirth and structural bilingual education back to schools and districts (P.

While percentage of No is 38.72%, roughly 61% of California residents vote for Yes to stop bilingual education in California. As much as the ballot title indicates, English Language in Public Schools. Initiative Statute., it requires “all public school instruction be conducted in English.” (Ballotpedia, 2009) This changes the direction of public education in California completely. In 2000, Gandara, Maxwell-Jolly, Garcia, Asato, Gutierrez, Strikus and Curry examine the initial impact of proposition 227 on English learners (P. 5). Soon after the implementation of the proposition 227, “29 percent of English learners were in a primary language program prior to 227, and only 12 percent were assigned to one after the implementation of 227.” (P. 4) 17 Percent of English learners needed to retreat from a primary language program due to the proposition 227. Also, this proposition triggers a great confusion amongst parents and teachers. Because “only 67 percent of districts formally notified parents” about this dramatic changes in educational system, parents are unable to aid their child to prepare for a changes. Similar to the previous point, teachers also express their frustration due to forcefully limiting their skills and ability to instruct students in a foreign language (P. 4). Additionally, the California Teachers Association comes out in “strong opposition because