Proposition Summary
ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires all public school instruction be conducted in English. Requirement may be waived if parents or guardian show that child already knows English, or has special needs, or would learn English faster through alternate instructional technique. Provides initial short-term placement, not normally exceeding one year, in intensive sheltered English immersion programs for children not fluent in English. Appropriates $50 million per year for ten years funding English instruction for individuals pledging to provide personal English tutoring to children in their community. Permits enforcement suits by parents and guardians. Summary of Legislative Analyst's Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact: Impacts on individual school districts would depend on how schools, parents, and the state respond to the proposition's changes. These impacts could vary significantly by district. Requires state spending of $50 million per year for ten years to teach tutors of limited English proficient students. Total state spending on education, however, probably would not change.
Proposition Number
227
Year
1998
Document Type
Proposition
Pass/Fail
Pass
Popular Vote Results
Y: 3570193; A: 60.9; N: 2296578; B: 39.1
Election Type
Primary
Proposition Type
Initiative Statute
For Author
ALICE CALLAGHAN, Director, Las Familias del Pueblo; RON UNZ, Chairman, English for the Children; FERNANDO VEGA, Past Redwood City School Board Member
Against Author
JOHN D'AMELIO, President, California School Boards Association; MARY BERGAN, President, California Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO; LOIS TINSON, President, California Teachers Association
Rebuttal Against Author
JAIME A. ESCALANTE, East LA Calculus teacher portrayed in "Stand and Deliver"
Recommended Citation
English Language in Public Schools. California Proposition 227 (1998).
https://repository.uclawsf.edu/ca_ballot_props/1151