After a small protest by some dissatisfied Hispanic American parents on their children's bilingual education, Ron Unz, the Chairman of English for the Children wrote and spearheaded a movement for Proposition 227. Under the premise that bilingual education had not relieved high dropout rates and low English literacy of many immigrant children in last 20 years, Proposition 227 advocated a new way of education for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) children. It mandated a uniform solution for all LEP children in that all children will be placed in English language classrooms where "the language of instruction used by the teaching personnel is overwhelmingly the English language,

and in which such teaching personnel possess a good knowledge of the English language." Children who are English learners will be educated through sheltered English immersion during maximum of 1 year. The sheltered English immersion program meant "nearly all classroom instruction is in English but with the curriculum and presentation designed for children who are learning the curriculum and presentation designed for children who are learning the language." Passing of such proposal meant virtual elimination of bilingual education in California.

Even as such, my own experience with bilingual education makes ending bilingual education attractive. I came to the US only knowing my alphabet. And, I do not remember bilingual classes offered to a Korean kid at my junior high school. Yet, I remember stepping into honors English class by the sophomore year of my high school when Latino and Latina kids I knew from ESL classes in junior high school were still in ESL classes and in bilingual classes. While I am not entirely convinced that bilingual education is a failure, I am convinced that public schools need greater emphasis on academic achievements of students rather then simply graduating them on time. If getting rid of bilingual education means unifying standards for all students, hence challenging all students equally, I must favor getting rid of bilingual education. I trust the much the same sentiment was shared by the voters of Proposition 227.

Other critics of proposition include the proponents of bilingual education. They claim that benefits of bilingual education include appreciation for cultures. Because language is most fundamental part of any culture, allowing bilingual education is allowing "the field in which language meets language, culture meets culture, values meet values." Hence, bilingual education has its own educational merits rather than just assisting education in other subjects.

The criticisms for such claims are rather obvious. First, research shows that if anything can be blamed for high illiteracy rate, it is education in whole since "over 60 million Americans are illiterate or functionally illiterate." Also, full literacy in English language may not be necessary for productive members of our society since immigrants from Asia and Europe are succeeding quite nicely in America while it is black Americans, "whose ancestors have been speaking English for over 200 year

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Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)