Billingual_Politics

Bilingual Politics In an article from the Los Angeles Times titled “House GOP Group Targets Bilingual Ballots” explains that in 2006 the some republican what to get rid of all the bilingual ballots for voting. They stated that by assisting those with other languages undermines national unity, gives them a chance to fraud the voting system, and put an unneeded burden on the states. Democrat parties believe that this move is more geared toward their views on immigration and other related cultural issues. The GOP goes on to say that immigration needs to stem because of all the illegal immigrants that come to the United States. Bush even urged congress to sign a bill that beefed up security, encourage them to learn English, and to provide a guest worker program. In 2006 the voting right act is going to be reauthorized by the Senate and the House. The voting rights act was designed to prevent discrimination with the individual’s ability to vote. Currently 466 jurisdictions in 31 one states use the bilingual ballots. Campbell a house member said “In all the talk now about immigration, there seems to be a very broad consensus that people who want to become citizens should read, write and speak English," and another member of the House said "If [immigrants] want to achieve the American dream, they better learn how to read and function in English." But with all this the only found one case where some Chinese written ballots had misidentified the political affiliations of some candidates. In an article from the Los Angeles Times titled Gingrich Assails American Bilingualism as 'Dangerous' Politics: Speaker cites Canada as example of how differences split a nation. Critics say his call for English as official language will hurt immigrants. Gingrich goes on to say that we should take a clear warning from Canada and that “Allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous," and he also stated that "We should insist on English as a common language. . . . That's what binds us together." The Clinton administration took issue with Gingrich’s statements because Canada actually has two official languages but English is the one national language. The director of Education Department's Office of Bilingual Education says the opposite “The true bonds are our shared values of freedom, democracy and human rights. That is truly the glue that helps people stick together." Currently out of the 2.5 million students only 325,000 who are limited in English are in federally funded programs. Education secretary Riley said that it is obvious that English is our national language and it would take us of course if we did not teach others adequate English. Riley also states that "Unfortunately, these efforts to make English the 'official' language and to eliminate programs that teach English are more about politics than improving education." Bilingual Education The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) website states it is a non-profit organization that promotes bilingual education and quality educational experiences for all students in California which was incorporated in 1976. CABE states that they have 5000 members all working to help student achievement with diverse cultural and racial backgrounds. ""Biliteracy and Educational Equity for All" is CABE’s vision. The vision is in order to succeed and to be strong in our community the 21st century students have to be multilingual, multicultural competent, academically prepared, Technology and information literate, active advocates for their surrounding communities, and civilly oriented. CABE’s tasks included focusing on student achievements, being the main source of development for educators and parents, continue to work with legislators and policymakers to help ensure equity and resources for English language development, and getting other educational, business and community partnerships, being finically secure to carry out these tasks, and finally having full involvement from all 5,000 + members in these tasks. CABE has established two programs and has four affiliates. The first program is for professional development on education for English learning students which is known as the Professional Development Conferences and Institutes. The other program is called the California State Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC) Project INSPIRE which is geared towards providing high quality education, resources and professional and leadership development to parents especially for those students with low income, minority, and limit English skills. Then the four affiliates are 2-Way CABE, CAPBE: California Association of Parents for Bilingual Education, CABTE: California Association of Bilingual Teacher Educators, and CASBE: California Association of Secondary Bilingual Education. The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) website states that it is the only professional organization at the national level that is devoted to help represent both the English language learners and the bilingual education professionals like teachers, administers, university professors and students, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and parents. The NABE has a combined membership of 20,000 members that work towards bilingual education which include bilingual teachers, administrators, professors, students, parents, advocates and others. NABE gears at educating the public on the effectiveness of bilingual education, getting parent and others in the community that want the same things to be advocates, continue lobbing to ensure proper funding is available for all programs that help the English language learner, partnership with other organizations that involve civil rights and education, and professional development for members. The NABE also holds an annual conference that explores the interest of teachers, administrators, and parents which include language acquisition, bilingual education, assessments and accountability, teacher training, and special education, and grassroots. The NABE website also has a place to look who is hiring for free and employers pay to advertise from around the United States and other countries. In February 2010 NABE will be holding their 39th annual conference started on the 3rd and ending on the 6th. Summary The United States has many organizations that provide English learning to immigrant who move to the United States. It is a general consensus among house representatives as well as other American citizens that if one is to become a citizen of the United States tan one should be educated to read, write, and speak the English language fluently. They say that it would be dangerous for the United States to continue bilingual education in the states. The Democratic Party disagrees by saying the GOP party is more geared at illegal immigration and other cultural issues instead of the importance of education. So organization like the CABE and NABE provide educational services to limited English language learners so that they are able to learn our nation’s language and become productive within surrounding communities. It does not matter what level of learning is needed because the services that are provided at these organizations cover a wide spectrum of classes and opportunity to learn the English language while maintaining their language. These organizations also help with employer find employees and help those that are seeking employment in the bilingual educational field. These organizations are funded by partnerships from the states and other parts of the country. References California Association for Bilingual Education. (2007). About. Retrieved january 20, 2010, from CABE: http://www.bilingualeducation.org/about_cabe.php National Association for Bilingual Education . (2009). About. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from NABE: http://www.nabe.org/aboutnabe.html Gaouette, N. (2006, may 6). Article collections. Retrieved january 20, 2010, from la times: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/06/nation/na-bilingual6 SHOGREN, E. (1995, October 31). Article collections. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from la times: http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-31/news/mn-63269_1_official-language