Bilingual Education

As a teacher, I applaud the state Board of Education for approving a new bilingual education policy that shifts the emphasis from theory to results and allows for freedom to abandon the native-language approach to acquiring English language literacy (July 14). Over a period of 20 years I have watched test scores decline and literacy evade Los Angeles Unified School District students, both in their primary language and English. The response of LAUSD has been to make the mandates of the bilingual program more and more restrictive and inflexible.

The failed theory of primary language instruction has jeopardized the opportunity of a generation of students to further their educational goals and gain access to jobs. My fear is that political forces will continue to affect the policies of LAUSD. It’s time to reassess the present program and ask the question: Is there evidence that children are learning to speak, read and write in English in a reasonable amount of time? If not, students deserve the opportunity to participate in a program that provides teachers with maximum flexibility to utilize various approaches depending on the needs of the child, just as we do in every other subject we teach.

MARJORY WOOLF

Woodland Hills