As legislators use anecdotes to argue a ballot measure that would change the way English is taught in California schools, a personal grudge keeps the governor from lending his support. His campaign is based largely on the anecdotes of a handful of angry parents.
Evidence is hard to find.
But many backers of those measures, most notably Governor Pete Wilson, have not eagerly jumped aboard the Unz initiative. Unz says his measure is inspired by the protests of parents at an elementary school in the poorest precincts of downtown Los Angeles with a high percentage of Spanish-speaking pupils. Last winter, a group of parents led a boycott of classes because school administrators refused to overhaul the district's bilingual education program to their liking. The district says the learning of English is best accomplished if pupils learn how to read and write in their native languages first. Exactly how many parents really wanted immersion classes is open to debate.