Yearly Archives: 1999

English Beats Bilingual in California

Today’s San Jose Mercury News contained a excellent banner headline entitled “English-only test scores up.” The article in question showed that an extensive analysis of the test scores of individual immigrant students by the newspaper had revealed that those attending … Continue reading

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Prop. 227 in Los Angeles

For those of you skeptical of whether legal changes through initiative ever have actual impact, the following article from today’s Los Angeles Times is quite heartening.

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Uncommon Knowledge Television – A Level Playing Field

“A Level Playing Field – Campaign Finance Reform” with Bruce Cain, Jerry Lubenow, and Ron Unz Uncommon Knowledge/Hoover Institution, December 9, 1999 In 2000, the amount of money spent in political campaigns in the United States may reach three billion dollars. Is … Continue reading

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Prop. 227 Resistance in LA

Here’s a scathing attack against the bureaucratic and legal resistance to Prop. 227 implementation in Los Angeles, delivered by Jill Stewart, one of California’s most forthright and fearless political columnists. In interests of full disclosure, I’m also including her column … Continue reading

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McCain-Feingold Loses; There Is an Alternative

McCain-Feingold Loses; There Is an Alternative by Ron Unz Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, October 20, 1999 Everyone agrees that the current campaign-finance system is dreadfully flawed, consisting as it does of a mishmash of contribution limits unadjusted for 25 years of … Continue reading

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“California and the End of White America”

As most of you are aware, the past few years have seen a wave of important and controversial issues connected with race, ethnicity, and social policy sweep over both the California and the national political landscape—immigration, affirmative action, bilingual education—as … Continue reading

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California and the End of White America

California and the End of White America by Ron Unz Commentary, November 1999, COVER STORY SUMMARY Californians of European ancestry—“whites”—became a minority near the end of the 1980s, and this unprecedented ethnic transformation is probably responsible for the rise of a … Continue reading

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Gay Marriages Today, Polygamy Tomorrow?

Gay Marriages Today, Polygamy Tomorrow? by Ron Unz San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, October 8, 1999 WITH THE DEFENSE of the Marriage Act on California’s March ballot, the subject of gay rights is likely to move to the forefront of the political … Continue reading

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Another Court Backs Prop. 227

Earlier this week, a state Appeals Court unanimously overturned a judge’s previous ruling that individual school districts could apply for “blanket waivers” to Prop. 227. Although individual parental waivers for bilingual programs are an integral part of Prop. 227, blanket … Continue reading

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Too Many Guns and Too Many Gun Laws

“Too Many Guns and Too Many Gun Laws” by Ron Unz Unpublished, September 1999 The reaction to last week’s shooting massacre in Hawaii—among the worst in American history—indicates that our national gun control debate is driven less by reasoned analysis … Continue reading

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Politics is Up for Sale in California

Politics is Up for Sale in California by Ron Unz The flow of money to candidates and causes calls the idea of the people’s best interests into question Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, August 26, 1999 There are many areas of the … Continue reading

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California Republicans as the Party of the Poor

California Republicans as the Party of the Poor by Ron Unz Sacramento Bee, Sunday, August 22, 1999 The recent release of campaign finance reports for the first half of 1999 has revealed a surprising fact: unlike its national counterpart, the California … Continue reading

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NYT: “A Many-Tongued City Hears a Cry for English”

Here’s an excellent piece from the front page of today’s New York Times Metro section discussing the first stages of our efforts to bring “English for the Children” to New York City, the heart of America’s traditional immigrant melting pot. … Continue reading

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National Journal Article

As many of you may have noticed, much of the immediate press coverage following the release of the new post-227 student test scores seemed to miss the forest for the trees. The general focus seemed to be on whether the … Continue reading

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Oakland Tribune Profile

Here’s another nice profile of my activities which just appeared in the Sunday edition of the Oakland Tribune and the other newspapers of the Alameda Newspaper Group. I’m glad that I was able to provide Kinko’s Copies with some free … Continue reading

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Immigrant Test Scores Jump After 1st Year of Prop. 227

Immigrant Student Test Scores Reveal Large Increase After First Year of Prop. 227 English Immersion Classes  English for the Children, Thursday, July 22, 1999 STAR Test scores and percentage increases for Selected Districts

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Changing of the Guard

Under many circumstances, strong praise from one’s opponents is a very significant means of political validation. I attach below excepts from the remarks of James Crawford, one of America’s most prominent pro-bilingual activist/organizers, delivered at a national bilingual education conference … Continue reading

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New Republic Profile

I’m attaching below a very comprehensive and generally rather positive profile of my activities which just appeared as the cover story of the current issue of The New Republic. I’ve been a subscriber to TNR for almost fifteen years—it’s long … Continue reading

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Unfortunate California Testing Errors

As many of you may have already heard, Harcourt Educational Measurement, the company retained by the California Department of Education to administer and analyze the Stanford-9 STAR tests to California students late yesterday evening announced that it had made a … Continue reading

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Immigrant Test Scores Jump after Prop. 227

More test score data has now been released, again showing an astonishing rise in immigrant student scores in the wake of Prop. 227, which dismantled bilingual education last year. Oceanside district, which had most strictly complied with Prop. 227, raised … Continue reading

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Avoiding a New Cold War with China

Avoiding a New Cold War with China by Ron Unz AsianWeek, Thursday, June 24, 1999 With the release of the Cox Commission report, the growing national hysteria regarding relations with China has reached troubling, even alarming, proportions. Growing international hostility between … Continue reading

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$4 BILLION versus…Nothing

This morning all of California’s major newspapers carried front page stories presenting the conclusions of a multi-million dollar study of California’s vaunted class-size reduction program, which has spent some $4 BILLION since 1996 on ensuring that most elementary school classrooms … Continue reading

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Prop. 227 DOUBLES or TRIPLES Immigrant Test Scores After Six Months!!

One year after the landslide victory of Prop. 227 in California, the first new test scores have now just been released, those of Oceanside, and they are nothing short of remarkable. The Oceanside school district had become notorious and controversial … Continue reading

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Federalism vs. Roe. vs. Wade

Federalism vs. Roe. vs. Wade by Ron Unz Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, June 16, 1999 Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush has now announced that he will not impose an abortion litmus test on his Supreme Court nominees. Such views may … Continue reading

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Washington Post Retraction

As most of your are already aware, this Tuesday’s Washington Post contained an appallingly negative story on myself and our political reform initiative effort. The article—which more or less portrayed me as the devil incarnate—described me as a “skinny nerd” … Continue reading

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