Tag Archives: Bilingual Education

English and Meritocracy: The Gullibility of Our Political and Media Elites

Republished from The Unz Review Last week I noted in a column that the California Republicans in the Education Committee of the State Senate had joined an 8-to-0 vote to repeal Proposition 227 and restore Spanish-almost-only “bilingual education” in our schools. The academic … Continue reading

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California Republicans Vote to Restore “Bilingual Education”

Republished from The Unz Review After almost seventeen years history may be about to repeat itself in California politics, though perhaps with a strong element of farce. Late last week, the Senate Education Committee voted 8-to-0 to place a measure on the November … Continue reading

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How I Made Mitt

How I Made Mitt by Ron Unz Romney owes his only win to English for the Children The American Conservative, July 2012 With Mitt Romney now the de facto Republican presidential nominee, I sometimes recall how I inadvertently launched his … Continue reading

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Not With a Bang

Yesterday morning’s San Jose Mercury News (Sharon Noguchi, March 20, 2009) carried a very rare report on the topic of “bilingual education.” Apparently, a decision has been made to reduce and perhaps evntually close one of the last remaining “bilingual” … Continue reading

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As Never Was

A couple of weeks ago, the San Jose Mercury News carried a large, photo-filled front-page “community interest” story, which caught my eye (Latino Baby Boom Changing Demographics in California, Mike Swift, July 29, 2007, Front Page). The focus was on … Continue reading

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California SAT-9 Test Scores

Here’s our latest presentation of the California student test scores, based on the official numbers released by the State Department of Education. For convenience, we’ve provided a graph of the results, broken down between Limited English students in bilingual and … Continue reading

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From Endorsement to Indictment in Seven Short Days

Within political circles, it is widely recognized that the perception of political power is the largest component of political power itself. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of leaders claiming to speak on behalf of large ethnic minority or immigrant groups, … Continue reading

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A Spanish-Speaking Landslide for “English”

Although Wednesday’s headlines were mostly dominated by the unfolding debate surrounding our likely war with Iraq, papers in a large swath of Southern California newspapers carried front-page reports of the conclusion to an equally lopsided contest, a Santa Ana vote … Continue reading

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Liberal Massachusetts and Conservative Colorado

Although Massachusetts and Colorado may not quite be exact ideological polar opposites among American states, they do come pretty close. As one of the few states in which Republicans enjoy a distinct advantage in registration, Colorado forms an important piece of … Continue reading

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Too Close to Call in Colorado

This morning’s Boston Globe poll showed our “English” measure in Massachusetts still enjoying a very comfortable lead of some 27 points among voters, virtually unchanged from its 28 point lead a month earlier in the same poll. To date, we … Continue reading

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Habla Usted Ingles?

Habla Usted Ingles? by Ron Unz Wall Street Journal, Thursday, October 31, 2002 It’s fair to say that when arguably the most liberal Democratic state in the U.S. has abandoned bilingual education, it is indeed an idea whose time has … Continue reading

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“To Undo My Mistake”

One of the rarest characteristics of any prominent individual, especially in the fields of politics, education, or the media, is the willingness to admit a mistake. To read the speeches or media commentary of our national leaders is to be … Continue reading

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The Problem with Bilingual Education

“The Problem with Bilingual Education,” by Ron Unz New York Times (Letters), Sunday, October 27, 2002 In his defense of bilingual education programs (“The Voters’ Prerogatives and Bilingual Education,” Lessons column, Oct. 23), Richard Rothstein implies that previous generations of … Continue reading

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“Our Supporters Are Vicious Liars and Race-Baiters”

Given the abysmal standards of modern political campaigning, it is certainly quite rare for major newspapers to bother devoting their lead editorials to stinging denunciations of a particular advertising campaign, using words like “lies,” “ugly distortions,” “reprehensible,” “false and inflammatory … Continue reading

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Hate Crimes Rising in Colorado

As Stalin, a leading authority on such matters, once observed, “A single death is a tragedy,  million deaths is a statistic.” This important but subtle distinction between major tragedies and mere statistics certainly arises during any examination of our decade-long … Continue reading

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Spending Millions for Racial Segregation in Colorado

An otherwise rather bland and boring—though hard-fought—election season has now been enlivened by a rather unusual spectacle. A billionaire heiress from Fort Collins, Colorado has decided to spend millions from her personal fortune funding the most intense political advertising campaign … Continue reading

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With a Whimper But Also Some Bangs

Divisive American initiative measures, especially those touching on controversial ethnic issues, almost inevitably follow a consistent pattern. First, for a year or more, the two sides wage a ferociously contested political campaign, frequently with massive funding and the political establishment … Continue reading

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The Best Conservative Governor in America

The September 2, 2002 of National Review carried a cover story that tellingly revealed the utter decrepitude of today’s mainstream conservative movement. Entitled “The Best Governor in America,” the piece highlighted Colorado’s Bill Owens, a relatively obscure first-term governor from … Continue reading

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Rita Montero vs. the Human Vampires

About a month ago, a prominent former political figure in Colorado who is openly sympathetic to our “English” initiative invited me to his home to meet with a group of his friends and discuss the details of the issue. These … Continue reading

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How the Shefa Fund Changed America

Today’s Boston Globe carried a short piece buried on page B3 that might signal the most important change in American political campaigning in one hundred years. Some months ago, the political campaign committee organized to defeat our proposed “English” initiative … Continue reading

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The Most Spanish-Speaking City in America

One subtle aspect of the political world is that lies are frequently more revealing than truths. When a politician tells the truth, he may be doing so for a wide variety of possible reasons. Perhaps he is an honest person, … Continue reading

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Got English?

Got English? by Ron Unz vs. Gully Stanford Denver Rocky Mountain News, Saturday, September 14, 2002 Amendment 31 would transform how students who don’t speak English are educated in Colorado, requiring that they take special classes taught in English. Some of them … Continue reading

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Running on English, Winning on English

Although Americans frequently condemn the bipartisan cowardice and outright dishonesty of our elected officials, there is an obvious excuse for such failings. Politicians live in a hyper-Darwinian world, in which their survival is tested ever two or four or six … Continue reading

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Far Too Small a Sample Size

Late Wednesday night, I returned to the Bay Area on a midnight flight from two exhausting days in Denver. Much of the time spent there was rather run-of-the- mill and typical, with an hour-long televised debate on our “English” initiative … Continue reading

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Initiatives have broad-based support

Initiatives have broad-based support by Ron Unz Denver Post (Letters), Sunday, August 25, 2002 Re ‘The Millionaire’s Club; Why leave ballot initiatives to the rich?’ Aug. 18 Perspective. I must respond to Daniel A. Smith’s rather ignorant piece criticizing our … Continue reading

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