Noonan co-founded the California Association of Bilingual Education thirty years ago, and once warned of catastrophe if bilingual classes were dismantled. He is now a vocal convert to the merits of 227. An investigation by the California Department of Education has found that Oceanside violates the rights of English-learning students. A recent study of California's standardized test scores found that a sample of the schools spotlighted by proponents of Proposition 227 did not deliver the promised test score gains over bilingual education. Contrary to popular belief, Proposition 227 did not do away with bilingual education.
Parents can sign waivers and place their child in bilingual programs.
But in Oceanside, waivers have been systematically denied. We were given no new training, we were given no new materials. Since the initiative's passage, confusion has erupted all over the state as to how teachers should interpret the ambiguous term. The CDE also found that the district consistently denied waivers. They never intended to grant any waivers.