Maintenance, or developmental, bilingual education, aims to preserve and build on the students' native-language skills as they continue to acquire English as a second language. But advocates say it is not fair to blame bilingual education for the slow progress some students are making. They cite research that indicates that instruction in the native language concurrent with English instruction actually enhances the acquisition of English. The problem is not bilingual education, they say, it's that becoming proficient in any second language takes longer than just one or two years. The idea that English should be the only language taught and spoken in the United States has become an election-year staple.
Opponents call the movement unnecessary, and perhaps xenophobic.
California's vote to virtually eliminate bilingual education is on the lips of educators and policymakers in other states with large immigrant populations. But whether that talk translates into action to retool such education remains to be seen. Bilingual education has become a charged issue in California, reaching beyond pedagogy into politics. Statewide polls show the Hispanic community itself divided on the issue, with those surveyed leaning toward supporting Proposition 227, a measure that would greatly reduce the amount of time students spend in bilingual education classes. Starting next fall, Chicago schools will be expected to move most students out of bilingual education and into mainstream classes after no more than three years, under a hotly debated policy the school board approved last week.