English for Children (Arizona Proposition 203, 2000)

Arizona Proposition 203, English for Children, is an initiative that was passed by 63% of Arizona voters on November 7, 2000. This piece of legislation limits the types of instruction available to English Language Learner (ELL) students. In Arizona there are 1,742 public schools where 48% of students are minorities. 16.1% are ELL students, and 19% live in poverty. Arizona is second to last in per-student spending and has the highest average classroom size. Before Proposition 203, schools had freedom in terms of instruction of ELLs and a variety of methods were employed. However, like in many other states, Arizona had a shortage of bilingual teachers. Despite the state's high percentage of minority language speakers, only 30% were enrolled in bilingual education programs.

Proposition 203 is also known as the Unz initiative, named after its financial supporter Ron Unz. Unz a wealthy chairman of a financial services software company from California. Unz was successful in promoting a very similar proposition (Proposition 227) in California so he decided to conduct similar campaigns in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Colorado. However, he was unsuccessful in Colorado. Unz's goal was to replace bilingual education with English immersion programs.

The Text of Proposition 203

The actual text of the legislation begins with a series of declarations that state the importance of English and learning English. It states that immigrant parents want their children to learn English and become fluent bilinguals and he asserts that the government and schools have a moral responsibility to teach it. It continues to say that public schools do not do a satisfactory job educating ELLs and immigrant children, but blames "costly bilingual education programs." It then examines the psycholinguistic dimension of bilingualism by saying that young immigrant children have the ability to quickly learn a second language. However, it does not take into account that children who do not acquire literacy in their first language are likely to have reading difficulties in English (or other second language).

The resolution states that "all children in Arizona public schools shall be taught English as rapidly and efficiently as possible." ELLs should be educated in immersion programs during a temporary transition period which should be no longer than a year (a school year of 180 days). Parents may request for their children to be exempt if it can be determined that the child already knows English, the child is ten years old or older, or is identified as having special needs. However, for children claiming to have special needs, it must be confirmed that education in English is not the best option for the child.

Implementation of Proposition 203

Implementation of the policy occurred at the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year. There was widespread confusion throughout the state because of the ambiguous language used in the text of the proposition. Following the implementation, many schools changed their approach to educating ELLs, but many districts obtained waivers for their ELL students and continued their bilingual education programs.

Related links

*Proposition 227

References

Wright, W.E. (2005). The political spectacle of Arizona's Proposition 203. "Educational Policy, 19",662-700.