TABLE I ALERNATIVE POLICIES CHART FOR FY1986 APPROPRIATIONS FOR MAJOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAMS Mr. NATCHER. Dr. Ambach, we appreciate your appearance before the committee. Thank you very much. We will go over and vote and will come right back. [Recess.] THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1985. BILINGUAL EDUCATION U.S. ENGLISH WITNESS GERDA BIKALES, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mr. NATCHER. Our next witness is Mrs. Gerda Bikales. We will be glad to hear from you. Ms. BIKALES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. U.S. English and its 100,000 members-last year, it must have been around 30,000 members when I was here testifying-thank you for the opportunity to participate in the continuing debate, and the debate is hearing up over Federal funding of bilingual education. U.S. English was founded by a former colleague, Senator Hayakawa, in 1983, and is the foremost national public interest organization stimulating the national discussion about the language community in this country. I am here to support more and better programs for educating children of limited English proficiency and to oppose the monopoly that bilingual education has been granted under Title VII. The American people continue to have grave misgivings about the wisdom of programs that keep the immigrant child immersed in his home language for years on end. Though there may well be some programs that help children make a rapid transition to the standard classroom, most seem to slow down the child's progress in English. Mr. Gilbert Garcia, Manager of Research and Evaluation at the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Affairs, has just written a review of recent research funded by his office, from which I quote: "Only about two-thirds of the limited English-proficient students were reclassified as sufficiently proficient in English to participate in all-English classrooms after being in the program for three years. "Moreover, many program directors and teachers reported that their students would need four to five years of special instruction before they would become proficient in English." We consider this an unacceptable timetable for bringing our immigrant children into the mainstream. After three to five years of bilingual education in a self-segregated environment, these youngsters are condemned to be permanent outsiders who are unlikely to ever feel at home in our midst. Contrary to the claims of the vested interests that derive money and prestige from bilingual programs, foremost among these the National Association for Bilingual Education, there are other |