Boston Globe

English Immersion Plans Wins over Bilingual Ed
By ANAND VAISHNAV, Globe Staff

Massachusetts voters last night overwhelmingly rejected bilingual education and replaced it with all-English classes, defying educators and politicians who had warned the contentious measure would spell disaster for thousands of students struggling to learn English.

Returns showed Question 2 winning with 70 percent of the vote, including victories in heavily minority communities such as Lawrence and Lynn. The ballot initiative calls for placing non-English speakers in English immersion classes for a year, with some exceptions.

Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to enact bilingual education 31 years ago, is now the latest one successfully targeted by Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz. He financed similar measures that also passed in California and Arizona. Yet even as Unz's supporters basked in their triumph, lawmakers vowed a top-to-bottom review of the ballot initiative. State Senator Robert A. Antonioni, cochairman of the Legislature's education committee, predicted "potentially significant change," although he stopped short of calling for a repeal.

"I think people just saw this as a quick fix, and I don't think they ever got into the details of this plan," said Antonioni, a Leominster Democrat.

In Massachusetts, Unz galvanized a coalition of teachers, unions, immigrants' rights activists, and community groups to oppose him. The polarizing clash was often suffused with emotion, with bilingual proponents branding the measure racist, anti-immigrant, and educationally misguided. It ignited massive opposition from Latino voters, according to preliminary exit polls.

But Unz dismissed critics and stuck to his all-English message. Last night, about 25 supporters attended his party at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, eating fajitas and antipasti off a buffet table that sported two sombreros. Unz said he hopes a Massachusetts win will launch his crusade to a national level."I just wonder if there ever really was that much support for bilingual education in Massachusetts," Unz said.

Afterward, Lincoln Tamayo, chairman of Unz's local campaign, stood in a corner with supporters' arms around him and shed tears. "We did what the politicians were not willing to do," said Tamayo, a Cuban immigrant and former principal of Chelsea High School.

Yesterday, opponents of Question 2 - who pounced on the measure's uncertain impact in California and its seizing of authority typically left to local schools - gathered at downtown bar Jose McIntyre's. The subdued crowd of about 20 ate beef and chicken skewers. But with returns showing a huge loss, campaign volunteers and staff began putting on their coats just after 10 p.m.

"We're going to continue to fight for the education of immigrant children . . ." said Daniel Navisky, spokesman for the Committee for Fairness to Children and Teachers, the leading Unz opponents. "Kids are not going to do as well as people expect, and it's going to cost taxpayers money."

In Massachusetts bilingual classes, non-English speakers take subjects such as math or science in their native tongues while easing into English over months or years. About 30,000 students, or 3 percent of the Bay State's total K-12 enrollment, are in such programs. Other bilingual initiatives include popular "two-way" classes in which English- and non-English speakers learn each other's languages simultaneously.

Question 2 will probably eliminate most of these programs, placing bilingual students into immersion classes with all books, materials, and instruction in English. Teachers can use a "minimal" amount of a student's native language. Students also can get waivers if they are 10 or older, or if they have other academic needs. Teachers can be sued for "willfully and repeatedly" violating Question 2.

The Unz measure also trumps a bill signed in August that tightens bilingual programs and increases state oversight. The bill was touted as a less draconian alternative to the Unz measure.

Unz announced his plans to scrap bilingual education in Massachusetts in August 2001. At the same time he also launched a similar effort in Colorado, where voters yesterday were poised to defeat it.

In Massachusetts, Unz's opponents sponsored marches statewide and estimated immersion would cost the state as much as $125 million.

Yet media polls showed that Unz's slogan - "English for the children" - resonated with voters. Many said yesterday they had not heard of the specifics of Question 2 or of the Legislature's new bill. Instead, they saw the initiative in terms of immigrants' assimilation, not just bilingual education.

"They get all the benefits of living in this country. They should learn the language," said Isabelle Swartz, 87, of Marlborough.

Still, Question 2 also seemed to draw minority voters who had previously skipped elections - people like Luz Maria Lau, of Boston, a first-time voter opposed to Question 2.

"For some people it's really hard to study for all of their classes in English," said Lau, a native of Puerto Rico. "It's unfair to force them."

Michele Kurtz and Megan Tench of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Bill Dedman contributed to this report.