The guarantee of opportunity of the immigrant community of the United States and the assimilation and unity of the population depend upon English becoming the official language of the United States by Constitutional Amendment. Our educational as well as our social system is put under serious financial strain by the over application of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under the pretense of non-discrimination. Immigrants are being provided a false sense of security by not being encouraged to learn English, which would yield far greater advancement opportunities in employment. Our melting pot is fast becoming a salad bowl, where unity and patriotism cannot exist. Education is one of the foremost issues in the English as the official language debate. A thorough understanding of what the English-only amendment would mean to the process of educating students who are non-native English speakers is essential. First, state and federally funded bilingual education programs, reach only a fraction of eligible students. Three quarters of limited English proficient students receive ESL instruction, while only one-third to one-half of these students receive any instruction in their native language (National Center for Education Statistics, 1997, p. 13). In 1996, more than one-third of teachers in bilingual classrooms were not fully credentialed, and while little is actually known about these teachers, the likelihood is that many were relying heavily on one of the 29,000 bilingual paraprofessionals employed in California’s schools. What is clear from the foregoing discussion is that neither the successes nor the failures of the current system can provide a basis for attacking English-only initiatives. There is a need for regulation, so that all students can receive the instruction they need to enter into mainstream society with a full understanding in English. Proponents of English-only initiatives do not oppose an end to all E...
