That's a nonsensical standard. Jaime Escalante, the legendary math teacher who joined Unz's campaign, admits his own son needed three years to learn English. It would be far more plausible to place the blame on the shortage of such classrooms. No one is clamoring to tackle these issues with a statewide ballot initiative. Rejecting the research Bilingual education isn't teaching English fast enough, the governor insists.
Research shows that such results take time.
English learners in San Francisco needed 4.8 years of special programs, on average, to master English, according to Ramirez's latest study, released this month. But after doing so, they equaled or surpassed the academic performance of all other groups, including native English speakers. Unz doesn't argue with the research, because he can't. What's remarkable here is not one politician's descent into demagoguery. It's how otherwise responsible Californians have failed to challenge it.