Oregon Ballot Measure Seeks to Limit Bilingual Education

An initiative limiting bilingual education will appear on the Oregon ballot on November 4, 2008, along with several other initiatives (ballot measure numbers will be assigned August 2). This measure, if passed, would limit bilingual education, in which students are taught entirely in their non-English native language for all or part of the school day, to one to two years, after which time, students would be mainstreamed into regular, English-language classes for all subjects.

Proponents of English-only instruction say that instructing students in a native language only hinders their progress in learning the English language. According to ProEnglish, a national organization promoting English as the official language of the United States, students taught through bilingual instruction have lower test scores, higher dropout rates, remain socially isolated, and often graduate from high school without learning basic English skills. They cite reports of test score increases among ELL (English Language Learner) students in California after a similar measure was passed.

Opponents of the bilingual education ballot measure, including the Oregon Education Association, say that this would take away local control from school districts and individuals, preventing them from using the most appropriate method for each individual student. Critics also say that California's ELL student test scores have not actually improved (SF Gate).

Oregon school districts currently use a wide variety of methods to teach ELL students, including ESL (English as a Second Language) pull-out programs, classroom assistants who work with ELL students in their regular classrooms, sheltered instruction in certain content areas (in which students learn the same content, like math and social studies, as their English-speaking peers, but instruction is tailored to their needs), and some actual bilingual instruction, in which students receive content-area instruction in their native languages.