This is a case where common sense prevailed. Most immigrants I know here in Massachusetts view bilingual ed as misguided foolishness. When you come to America, you learn the language of the land (English) and you have a chance of succeeding. There's already a dangerously marginalized Hispanic subculture in America, and although well-intentioned, bilingual ed is unfortunately only execerbating the problem and contributing to soaring dropout rates among Latino students...

English immersion plan wins over bilingual ed

By Anand Vaishnav, Globe Staff, Globe Correspondent, 11/6/2002

Massachusetts voters last night overwhelmingly rejected bilingual education and replaced it with all-English classes, defying educators and politicians who had warned the contentious measure would spell disaster for thousands of students struggling to learn English.

Returns showed Question 2 winning with 70 percent of the vote, including victories in heavily minority communities such as Lawrence and Lynn. The ballot initiative calls for placing non-English speakers in English immersion classes for a year, with some exceptions.

Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to enact bilingual education 31 years ago, is now the latest one successfully targeted by Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz. He financed similar measures that also passed in California and Arizona.

Yet even as Unz's supporters basked in their triumph, lawmakers vowed a top-to-bottom review of the ballot initiative. State Senator Robert A. Antonioni, cochairman of the Legislature's education committee, predicted ''potentially significant change,'' although he stopped short of calling for a repeal.

''I think people just saw this as a quick fix, and I don't think they ever got into the details of this plan,'' said Antonioni, a Leominster Democrat.

In Massachusetts, Unz galvanized a coalition of teachers, unions, immigrants' rights activists, and community groups to oppose him. The polarizing clash was often suffused with emotion, with bilingual proponents branding the measure racist, anti-immigrant, and educationally misguided. It ignited massive opposition from Latino voters, according to preliminary exit polls.

But Unz dismissed critics and stuck to his all-English message. Last night, about 25 supporters attended his party at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, eating fajitas and antipasti off a buffet table that sported two sombreros. Unz said he hopes a Massachusetts win will launch his crusade to a national level. ''I just wonder if there ever really was that much support for bilingual education in Massachusetts,'' Unz said.

Afterward, Lincoln Tamayo, chairman of Unz's local campaign, stood in a corner with supporters' arms around him and shed tears. ''We did what the politicians were not willing to do,'' said Tamayo, a Cuban immigrant and former principal of Chelsea High School.