Congressional Republicans Seek More Cuts in Social Programs
To pay for hurricane relief, U.S. House and Senate leaders are pushing for deep cuts in federal spending for health, education, and other domestic purposes. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, has introduced a bill to eliminate 14 education programs that the Bush Administration tried but failed to "zero out" earllier this year. Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has called for a 2 percent across-the-board reduction in discretionary programs other than the military. If approved, a cut of that magnitude would slash state formula grants under Title III, NCLB, by $13.5 million – equivalent to terminating services to nearly 100,000 English language learners and immigrant students. Similar proposals are circulating in the Senate.

NABE is working with its allies through the Committee for Education Funding, an umbrella lobbying group, to head off further damage to school programs. Title III has already been "level funded" for three years in a row. As Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) recently pointed out, "Level funding is like a cut [for ELL programs] because our populations are growing so rapidly." The Bush Administration won passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, in part, by agreeing to significant new resources for K-12 education. Yet it has failed to make good on its promise, according to Congressional Democrats, who say that NCLB has been underfunded by $39 billion since 2002.

Last month Hurricanes Katrina and Rita focused sustained public attention on the needs of the poor. Millions of Americans, including numerous NABE members, opened their hearts and their pocketbooks. Federal officials pledged massive resources to help the victims and rebuild the Gulf Coast. Conservatives on Capitol Hill even stopped talking about additional "tax relief." But politics-as-usual returned in October. Republican leaders are once again pursuing a $70 billion windfall for the wealthy. According to the Tax Policy Center, reductions approved since the beginning of the Bush Administration will already save Americans earning over $1 million in 2005 an average of $103,000 in federal taxes. This year's proposals would add another $20,000. Meanwhile, the ruling party claims that the country cannot afford even current levels of education spending and that schools must take disproportionate budget cuts to pay for Katrina and Rita.

Your representatives in Congress need to hear from you about these issues before final spending decisions are made in the coming weeks. Letters should be addressed to The Honorable ______________, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510; or U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.

NABE Seeks New Editorial Team for Bilingual Research Journal
After seven years of outstanding service for the Bilingual Research Journal, Josue Gonzalez of Arizona State University and Alfredo Benavides of Texas Tech University are retiring as coeditors. NABE has issued a Request for Proposals for a new editorial team and host institution(s) to produce the publication, beginning with the Summer 2006 issue. The deadline for responses is December 2. The new editors will be introduced and the outgoing editors will be recognized for their contributions at the NABE 2006 conference in January.

ELLs Faring Poorly in English-Only Arizona
"Structured English immersion" (SEI), mandated by law in three states, is failing English language learners, according to several recent reports. A group of researchers at Arizona State University found that more than 7 out of 10 ELLs made no progress in English acquistion whatsoever in 2003-04, following a decision by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne to strictly enforce Proposition 203, the state's English-Only law. "The Condition of English Language Learners in Arizona: 2005" reported that 60 percent of ELLs in grades 1-5 had "no gain" in oral English, while 7 percent actually lost ground. Only 30 percent showed any improvement. In grades 6-12, the picture was even bleaker, with only 21 percent of ELL students making gains in English during the school year.

The results are especially significant, because Arizona's English-only law – as interpreted and enforced by Horne – is the "purest" experiment of its kind. All of the state's ELL students are being used as guinea pigs to test a vaguely defined program that has no track record of success. Unlike California, where parents are still allowed to sign "waivers" requesting bilingual education for their children, Arizona has effectively eliminated that option. Bilingual education is simply no longer available to ELLs, which no doubt explains why their acquisition of English has stalled.

Another Arizona study documented a corresponding decline in academic achievement in 2003-04, as Horne was tightening the screws on parents' right to choose bilingual education. It reported that, in Arizona elementary schools, the achievement gap between ELLs and other students is increasing on Stanford 9 tests in English reading and math.

Ron Unz, the Silicon Valley millionaire who sponsored Proposition 203 and other English-only initiatives in California and Massachusetts, promised that SEI would teach children English within one year. That has not occurred in any state where such "programs" have been mandated. The Arizona State University study found that only 11 percent of ELLs were reclassified as fluent in English in 2003-04; in California the figure was just 8 percent. A recent survey by the Massachusetts Department of Education reported that just 9 percent of 5th and 6th grade ELLs were being reclassified as fluent in English each year.

Native-Language Assessments Blocked in California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger has vetoed SB 385, a measure passed by the California legislature that would have allowed ELLs to take academic assessments in their native language for up to three years, as allowed under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). These tests would have been counted toward "adequate yearly progress" for NCLB purposes. But Schwarzenegger claimed that the bill "would further weaken incentives for [limited-English-proficient] students to work towards English proficiency."

"The Governor is misinformed," responded Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California and a member of the NABE Executive Board. "Every poll, interview, and case history ever done has confirmed that students and their parents are deeply committed to acquiring English, and teachers are working very hard to help English learners succeed. Insisting that students be tested before they have had a chance to acquire enough English to get a meaningful score on the test is a waste of time and money and creates needless frustration for students. The only ones who profit from it are the publishers who produce and sell the tests."

A lawsuit continues against the state of California for failing to provide "valid and reliable" assessments for ELLs, as required by NCLB. Click here for more information.

Executive Board Elects New Member
WIllard Sakiestewa Gilbert, Ed.D., a member of the Hopi Tribe and a professor of bilingual/multicultural education at Northern Arizona University, has been elected to the NABE Executive Board. He is also coordinator of the NABE 2006 preconference institute on Indigenous Bilingual Education to be held in Phoenix, AZ, on January 18. The board chose Gilbert at its October 14-15 meeting in Corpus Christi, TX, to replace Marcia Vargas, who resigned.

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