To Be Or Not To Be:On Bilingual Education In California Through Proposition 227

Since the first Bilingual Education Act launched in 1968 by the federal government,the bilingual policies in the United States have always been swung among the games of different interest groups,as well as influenced by the political pursuit of minority groups.California which has the most immigrant population experienced the fiercest conflict.In the context of "English-only" movement during the last decades of the twentieth century,Ron Unz,a software entrepreneur in Silicon Valley,initiated the Proposition 227 in the name of strengthening immigrant children’s English study by abandoning bilingual education,which caused heated debating among media and educators.Proposition 227 advocated one-year immersion program for English Learners to improve their English proficiency under 10 years old;after that they should be turned into mainstream classroom for normal curriculum study by subjects.Although strongly opposed by educators and some minority voters,Proposition 227 was passed by a margin of 61%to 39%.The bilingual education ended in California made great impact on the life of minority students.This paper studied on the bilingual education in California by focusing on Proposition 227.In the first chapter,the writer briefly introduced the history of bilingual education development in California.The second chapter described the formulation of Proposition 227 in details,and analyzed the text and problems of the proposition.The third chapter researched on the implementation and influenced of Proposition 227 from the aspects of school,family and society.It also demonstrated that Californians’ further understandings on bilingual education and the impact of Proposition 227 on individuals,families and society.The conclusion was made on the reflection of education policy formulation such as Proposition 227.