We must not forget. however. that the supporters of this ruling have not vanished. We must be aware of their views on this explosive subject. On my left. we see immigrants. mostly Hispanics. who define bilingual education as a more or less permanent twotrack educational systeminvolving the maintenance of a second culture and an emphasis on ethnic heritage. I must add that we are dealing with many refugee. immigrant and entrant groups. The most vocal and politically active. however. are the Hispanics. They supported the Carter ruling. On my right. we see local school officials and State administrators. who. for the most part. define bilingual education as the teaching of English to new immigrants. They prefer a loose Federal definition which allows them to formulate their own programs. according to local needs. The Carter ruling ignored their definition. and required special teaching in English along with transitional instruction of other subjects in a students first language. The State of Virginia retaliated last December and decided that its schools would not obey the Carter ruling. The. State approved Fairfax County schools Englishasasecondlanguage program. which used English only. in teaching immigrants. Surprisingly. the Feds accepted the allEnglish program. The Department of Education concluded that "achievement test scores of students in the program showed they had made consistent and aignificant progress through intensive English classes and concluded that the systems teaching methods were an acceptable alternative to Federal rules requiring school districts to provide special classes in foreign languages to students who do not speak English as a primary language." Virginia scored a substantial victory.
Identified stereotypes
Hispanics define bilingual education as a permanent two-track system involving the maintenance of a second culture and an emphasis on ethnic heritage.