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Friday, October 18, 2002
The Jewish community chimes in on bilingual education in this Forward story. Of interesting note is the glaring contrast between organized support and the actual support of the community: the organizations that have taken sides in the debate oppose anti-bilingual bills, but the article cites a Zogby International poll which supposedly found that "82% of Jews say they would be inclined to vote for a ballot measure requiring English-only instruction, combined with an intensive one-year English immersion program for students not fluent in English." Neither Zogby nor Unz seem to list the poll on their website, however (another project for any researchers out there).
One possible explanation for the populace's support of repeal initiatives is raised in the article:
Critics of the organized Jewish community's stance say the organizations are putting political correctness ahead of the Jewish experience with English-only instruction — an educational practice that allowed previous generations of Jewish immigrants to flourish, they say.
But can't we come up with 1,001 ways in which the Jewish immigration experience was different and in which Jewish immigrants didn't get a lot out of their education?
Steven I. Weiss 12:27:00 PM
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