The conservative Republican has acknowledged never having been in a bilingual classroom before embarking on his one-man crusade. Unz, who the New York Times has described as an ideologue, argues that bilingual education is ineffective, claiming the teaching method prevents students from learning English and has a 95 percent failure rate. He also blames bilingual education for poor academic performance among immigrant children. He also reminded voters that in 1994, he opposed Proposition 187, which sought to deny public education and other state services to undocumented immigrants. Opponents think many students will sink.
Supporters rely on anecdotal evidence, popular misconceptions and misleading claims.
Using Unz's own yardstick, the existing immersion programs have a failure rate higher than the 95 percent claimed for bilingual education. There is a large body of theory and research that shows bilingual education works very well when implemented competently. Many programs across the country have produced excellent results. Recent studies find immigrant children doing better in school than native children. It is absurd to blame bilingual education for the educational problems of the state's 1.4 million LEP students when only 30 percent of them are in bilingual programs.