Oceanside Attacked for Doubling Test Scores

In one of the more bizarre aftermaths to the passage of Prop. 227, California’s State Department of Education has released a report denouncing the Oceanside Unified district for its failure to provide proper educational services for limited-English students. The report condemned Oceanside for dismantling its “bilingual education” programs, although this was required under Prop. 227.

Oceanside Superintendent Ken Noonan recently became an educational hero in the national media for doubling the test scores of his limited-English immigrant students through sheltered English immersion classes. It is believed that immigrant scores in Oceanside rose more rapidly than in any of California’s other thousand-odd school districts.

Apparently the stubborn bureaucrats in the CA Department of Education—a notorious hotbed of near-fanatical pro-bilingual sentiment—spent most of the last year investigating Oceanside’s scandalous pro-English educational practices and drafting a harsh report. Since educational success is obviously no excuse for violating educational orthodoxy, this very critical report—test scores doubled or not—was released without a murmur of self-doubt.

With this 97 page report, Superintendent Delaine Eastin, her Department of Education, and bilingual advocates in general have finally rendered themselves complete laughingstocks.

I am attaching below our press release and the article from the North County Times.

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