Speech #1030030572

In the case of bilingual education. we have allowed special interests to keep afloat a program which wastes millions of taxpayer dollars while failing to give students an adequate education in any language. Congress is a prime defendant in this indictment. This institution has misguidedly supported policies that are guaranteed to condemn the children of todays immigrants to the secondclass status of the nonEnglishproficient. It was estimated in 1985 that the Federal bilingual education program had already cost American taxpayers over $1.7 billion. This vast sum was spent with little to show for it. Billions of dollars later. there remains little evidence that these programs have accomplished what Congress asked them to doassimilate immigrant children into American society. Supporters of bilingual education readily admit this. They dont want the success of bilingual education to be measured by how well it teaches children to speak. read. and write English.