Ventura County Star
October 14 , 2005

Vetos Upset Some Voters
Governor Says No to Bilingual Ed, License Bills

By FRANK MORAGA

Maybe it's the time of year, with Halloween just a few weeks away. Spooky things are happening in Sacramento and it could result in the "termination" of support for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by a growing number of Latino voters and those who support issues of importance to the Latino community.

On Oct. 7, the governor's office announced he would not sign into law SB385, which would have allowed students the chance to gain English proficiency within three years.

Supporters of the bill say students need those three years to master English. They believe immigrant students do much better in the long term if they are allowed to ease into English-only studies and to initially take tests in their mother language, say, in Spanish.

The governor, however, said students should be thrown into the English language as quickly as possible so they can take full advantage of the American dream.

"As an immigrant whose second language is English, I know the importance of mastering English as quickly and as comprehensively as possible, in order to be successful in the United States," Schwarzenegger stated in a press release. "This bill runs counter to that goal by eliminating testing in English for limited-English-proficient students until they have been in school in the United States for three consecutive years. By requiring testing of students in English only after three years, this bill would further weaken incentives for LEP student and their schools to work towards English proficiency. My administration shall continue to work on behalf of English learners so that school districts, principals, teachers, parents, and all students can concentrate on the goal of improving student achievement," he said.

But while becoming English-proficient as quickly as possible is an admirable goal, some educators say it is just not feasible.

"The annual fluency rate is less than 7 percent and it is taking an average of seven years for only half of the students to become fluent," said Denis O'Leary, a bilingual education teacher and a board member of the Oxnard School District.

To force the state to implement a long-term bilingual education program, the Oxnard School District, nine other districts and the League of United Latin American Citizens have filed a lawsuit in state court. The lawsuit alleges that California has failed to comply with a mandate of the federal "No Child Left Behind" law that English learners be tested in a valid and reliable manner.

The governor may have also lost support by some Latinos who want to see undocumented immigrants get access to driver's licenses in California.

Oct. 7, the governor also vetoed a driver's license bill, SB60, saying California should wait until the federal government finishes work on new regulations for such licenses nationwide.

"Enacting this bill will result in billions of dollars being spent on a process that ultimately could conflict with federal regulations," Schwarzenegger said in his veto message.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, who has tried five times to get such a bill passed. Cedillo said the bill is needed to improve homeland security by requiring documentation of illegal immigrants.

Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, saying the licenses should have a different look to identify immigrants.

To satisfy those concerns, the licenses for immigrants were designed to look different than standard driver's licenses. The Department of Motor Vehicles was also given eight months after the federal regulations were enacted to begin issuing the licenses.

However, Schwarzenegger said that still wasn't enough.

"It is regrettable that the governor did not sign Senate Bill 60 into law, even though the legislation addresses all of his concerns," Cedillo said. "It is also disappointing and offensive that the governor vetoed this legislation during Latino Heritage Month, a time when we celebrate the diverse and inclusive nature of our state."

To be sure, not all Latinos in California support the move toward slow and steady bilingual education, or driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants. But a significant number do and that could spell further trouble for Schwarzenegger who has already lost support from a variety of groups since he has been in office.

Many of those Latinos who thought it would be cool to have that "Terminator" dude as governor may now be having serious second thoughts.