For starters, pull the plug on federal support for bilingual education . As the evidence has become overwhelming that bilingual education just doesn t work, states across the nation from California and Arizona to New York and Connecticut have undertaken major reforms. Replacing bilingual education with structured English immersion is the critical next step to helping our nation s Hispanic and other language-minority young people. Get help to classroom teachers, as opposed to education bureaucracies. Limited federal resources instead should be put at the disposal of local reformers, including teachers, who implement proven practices keyed to local needs.
Charter schools are one valuable means to that end.
Va. Don Soifer is Executive Vice President of the Lexington Institute.