03/12/08 Bilingual Education

The bilingual education debate is a very heated subject across the nation. Whether to pass initiatives abolishing bilingual education all together, direct school districts to offer sheltered English immersion programs, or continue with bilingual education programs as they stand now is a question more in depth than the average citizen can imagine and has even the experienced and seasoned lawmakers in a quandary. More complex than a simple "yes, our children will be taught in English; or no they won't, when peeled like an onion, the layers are thick and numerous encompassing funding, district and teacher accountability, teacher qualifications, quality and equality issues and so much more. Today's programs are mostly a product of the Bilingual Education Act passed in 1968 as part of Civil Rights Title VI prohibiting discrimination based on race, color or national origin. Should it really be as simple then as the old adage "throw them in the middle of a very deep and swift river; they'll either learn to swim or drown"?