Editor's indtroduction

Bilingual Research Journal, Winter 1997 by Josue M Gonzalez, Alfredo H Benavides

This issue of BRJ went to press early in 1999 a few months after voters in California approved a ballot initiative, dubbed English for the Children, a title that did not reveal its true intention: to eradicate bilingual education from the public schools of that state. California has long been regarded as a bellwether state; political developments there are often echoed in other parts of the country. English for the Children, also known as Proposition 227, or the Unz initiative, is fraught with implications for other regions of the United States. Indeed, by the time we completed this issue, a similar initiative had been filed in Arizona, and other states may follow.

Colleagues have asked what Proposition 227 means for the future of bilingual education. We cannot answer that question with authority, although our sense is similar to that of those who are asking the question: There will definitely be fallout for our field. California is the state with the largest number of English language learners in the country. Educators there have a great deal of experience in designing and offering programs of bilingual instruction both of the transitional variety and the more promising dual-language plan. Bilingual educators in California are not neophytes; yet their work has been openly rejected as a foundation for education policy in and for that state.

To think intelligently about the future of bilingual education post-Unz, we must first find out, with a high degree of objectivity, what caused the results to turn out as they did. Only in this way can we prevent this from happening again in other states. For a complete analysis we must examine the actions of proponents as well as opponents of the measure. It is too simplistic to say the results were part of an endemic neo-conservatism, the influence of an antiimmigrant Governor, or the duping of the voters by the clever slogan of"English for the Children." Such factors may have contributed, but surely, there must have been other factors contributing to this painful experience.

Research Reports and Essays

The new editors of BRJ decided it was important to begin our editorship with a strong analysis of the political skirmish in California and how it was fought. To do that we invited James Crawford, a leading policy analyst in the field of bilingual education, to prepare the feature article for our inaugural issue. As often occurs with political analyses, there are likely to be disagreements with Mr. Crawford's assessment. His analysis may be right, wrong, or only partially on target. The editors draw no judgments on that. The contemporary reader who observed the drama unfolding along with the author, and other readers who might read these words in the future, will reach their own conclusions. Crawford is not uniformly kind to the anti-Unz campaigners in California, the friends of bilingual education. There were, according to Crawford, serious mistakes made both strategically and tactically. While we cannot assume with any certainty that the results would have been different if those mistakes had been avoided, we can aspire to learn important lessons from a frank discussion of what happened.

For 1998, California's Proposition 227 may have been the most important single influence on the future of bilingual education. But it is too early to predict the outcome in Arizona or in other states where similar measures are being planned. History will probably reveal that Proposition 227, English for the Children, emerged from a complex mix of socio-cultural and political issues that go far beyond program effectiveness, the teaching of English, or the inability of Californians to understand the well crafted public relations campaign waged against bilingual education.

Most of us who follow the intricacies of language politics know that bilingual education is not a uniquely U.S. issue; it exists worldwide in various forms. That wider picture is important for scholar and practitioner alike to examine. There are other things to consider and learn by examining the issues from a broader perspective. On that broad scale, we can often see how bilingual education is shaped by a complex matrix of contemporary and historic issues. There are important lessons to be learned from what takes place in other nations. Distance often allows us to grasp more readily what happens in other countries than what happens in our own.

In her article, Cindy Brantmeier tells the story of the creation of an English language school in a post-Sandinista Nicaraguan community. Writing in the form and style of a critical theorist, Brantmeier has sought an understanding of social, cultural, and ideological politics, the ever-present context in which language workers of all kinds carry out their chosen work. Brantmeier's report reminds us that teaching English-and perhaps every other language-is, at base, a political act. Power issues, history, resistance, international relations, and other factors affect the success or failure of a language teaching endeavor. As in Crawford, we are reminded that program effectiveness is one of many factors that makes a difference.