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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2002

News Release

NEA Helps Defeat Bilingual Education Ban in Colorado

Washington, D.C. - Because of a strong campaign fought by the Colorado Education Association and various other groups, an initiative bankrolled by a California millionaire to effectively end bilingual education in Colorado was defeated handily yesterday, 44 percent to 56 percent.

If passed, the proposed Amendment 31 to the Colorado constitution would have virtually wiped out bilingual programs for 70,000, mostly Hispanic students. The measure would have placed these non-native English speakers into English-only classes after only nine months and would have punished educators who continued to use a child's native language in the schools. It was bankrolled by Ron Unz, a California software millionaire who sponsored similar initiatives that previously passed in California and Arizona.

"Coloradans should be proud of voting down this harsh cookie-cutter approach to educating language minority students," said NEA President Reg Weaver. "Forcing children into all-English classes before they're prepared and allowing teachers to be sued or fired for doing their best to educate these students is not the way to promote English acquisition."

In addition to the NEA-affiliated Colorado Education Association, the unprecedented coalition that successfully opposed Amendment 31 included Hispanic groups, other education organizations in Colorado, and most of the state's newspapers and political candidates.

"Now Colorado's school boards can return to the business of deciding how best to help language minority students succeed, which is what all parents want for their children," added Weaver. "By recognizing and respecting their linguistic and cultural diversity, we not only help non-native English speakers progress, we also enrich the learning environment for all students."

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.