Vote YES on Measure 58

Oregon Ballot Measure 58 (IRR 19) is a citizen initiative sponsored by Bill Sizemore that will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Oregon. The goal of the initiative is to create a new Oregon state statute (not a constitutional amendment) to require "English immersion" in Oregon's public schools.

Specific provisions

The measure would limit the use of foreign language instruction in public schools to:
1 year for students in kindergarten to 4th grade.
1.5 years for 5th grade through 8th grade.
2 years for high school students.
It would also prohibit ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching programs for longer than the mandated time.

This is a pro-immigrant, multicultural ethnic unity measure!!

1. This is not a racist proposal. Those who play the "racist" defense on this are mistaken. Being mostly Spanish speakers, they fail to acknowledge the painful truth that even Spanish is a language of their European colonizers. Why not refusing to speak Spanish, while they are at it? Why not make the kids speak Mayan, or Aztec, or Olmecan, or any number of indigenous languages instead? For that matter, is it fair to non-Spanish-speaking immigrants when the bulk of public school resources are put to create Spanish-medium programs when there are also immigrants who only speak Laotian, Hmong, Korean, kiSwahili, isiXhosa, etc. and there is really nothing for them? I am all for making Spanish an official language of Oregon (whether as a co-equal official language or a secondary official language), but until that is done through a constitutional amendment, let's be fair to all immigrants.

2. This is not about freedom of speech or academic freedom. Rather, this is about using wisely limited state funds on public schools that receive quite a lot of state tax revenues. Foreign language education will still be permitted at all private and parochial schools throughout Oregon.

3. This is about American unity among all ethnicities, and about desegregating our schools. In the 1980s Singapore instituted a mandatory English-medium public education for all children even though a minority of them spoke any English at all at home. In so doing Singapore eliminated its ethnically segregated schools (those for Chinese-speakers, Malay-speakers, Tamil-speakers, and so on) and fostered national unity and social harmony. A positive by-product of this scheme was to elevate Singapore into a world-class cosmopolis in which everyone under the 30s now speak good English and be an active part in global commerce and international academics, as English is the de facto language of the world today. In fact, even North Koreans today acknowledge this reality (in the documentary "Crossing the Line" the head of the engineering department at the Kim Il Sung University concedes, "90 percent of all literatures available on the topic of electronics is written in English; thus it's important to study English if we were to stay on top of the latest technological development.") and thus English is taught in their schools and colleges.

4. This is about upholding America's promise and American dream while educating world-class citizens. When I see an immigrant parent speaking to his or her U.S.-born, U.S. citizen children in a foreign language, I must wonder if that should constitute a form of child abuse. After all, the parents are depriving their children of being able to compete in America on an equal footing with other, English-speaking, American children. Unless they are planning on returning to their home countries in a year or so, in which case they should not be using public school systems, they ought to be required to speak English at home and at school.


Vote Yes on Measure 58. Children deserve better than ghettoized classrooms and dumbed down curriculum. Children deserve a school that is not divided along ethnic or linguistic line. Bill Sizemore may be a "racketeer" but this time he's right on this issue.


For the sake of fairness: Opposing views here: http://causaoregon.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-on-measures-58-60-and-64.html