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Immigration Lessons of a 6-Year-Old
Six-year-old Elian Gonzalez has only been in the United States for a couple of months, yet he's taught Americans a thing or two about division. Not surprisingly, we are not of one mind on whether to return the boy to Cuba, and some of the differences break along racial lines. A recent poll by a Miami television station found that Latinos in the area enthusiastically supported efforts to keep the boy in the United States, while African Americans and whites were just as enthusiastic about sending him back to Cuba. Some 86% of Latinos disagreed with the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to return Elian to his father; 79% of African Americans and 70% of whites supported it. But the division isn't just between Latinos and non-Latinos. Rather, it spills across the color line and into the ethnic group itself. The debate over Elian has brought to the surface long-standing but not-often-talked-about tensions among different types of Latinos. The tension flared up recently during a televised exchange between two Latinos on opposite sides of the debate. A liberal Chicano professor from San Francisco who supported reuniting boy and father squared off against a Cuban American woman from the anti-Castro Cuban American National Foundation. The Cuban American accused the Mexican American of employing a double standard on immigration because he would deny Elian the right to stay in the U.S. even as Chicanos scream about the "rights" of Mexican immigrants. She had a point. After all, how do Chicano activists who support returning the boy, in spite of his mother's drowning trying to deliver him to freedom, square their view with the romance they harbor for Mexican immigrants who risk their lives to travel north? A few months earlier, many Mexican Americans were just as baffled over the support among Puerto Ricans in New York City for the idea of offering clemency to a group of convicted Puerto Rican terrorists. There long have been differences among different types of Latinos, yet it's not a common notion. The dawn of a new millennium has prompted corporate marketers, media, Internet companies and political strategists to toss around the slogan "Latinos 2000" as they try to capture the attention, buying power and votes of the 30 million Latinos in the U.S. with a one-size-fits-all approach. Those efforts are bound to fail. A common language cannot overcome the divisions stemming from different ancestries, cultures, national origins and political priorities. As the case of Elian illustrates, no issue defines these priorities as clearly as immigration. Unlike other Latinos, Americans of Puerto Rican descent have traditionally not had to think much about immigration, since their ancestral homeland is a U.S. territory, and those who live there are U.S. citizens. That's changing. Now that more than 300,000 Mexican immigrants live in New York City, anxious Puerto Rican leaders are beginning to sound like white nativists in California. A few months ago, former congressman and longtime civil-rights figure Herman Badillo let loose with a series of ugly comments directed at the Mexican immigrants. Dismissing the newcomers as "little people with straight hair" who "come from the hills and have no education," Badillo signaled that those who represent the city's Puerto Rican community are not at all interested in sharing power with the new arrivals. His comments reflect more than economic anxiety about immigrants taking jobs from Puerto Ricans. Badillo also worries about the influences of a people and a culture that he clearly views as inferior. A similar arrogance has popped up in the immigration debate. Harvard professor George J. Borjas, a Cuban American immigrant, believes that America's immigration policies are failing not merely because they let in too many immigrants but because they let in too many of the wrong immigrants. In his new book "Heaven's Door," the economist uses U.S. Census data and various studies to argue that provisions in current immigration law making family reunification a priority have had the practical effect of increasing the flow of legal immigrants from a handful of countries and limiting the number from countries that have less of a foothold here. Worse, Borjas says, the people who are getting in are mostly unskilled and uneducated, a fact he assumes will lead to lower levels of employment, lower wages and greater dependence on welfare and other government aid. Dismissing notions about the power of assimilation to close the economic gap between immigrants and natives, Borjas argues that his generalizations hold true for several generations. As a remedy, Borjas suggests the U.S. consider adopting a merit-based test for those wishing to legally immigrate. The examination, similar to ones used in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, could measure everything from English-speaking ability and job skills to age and the size of people's wallets (some exams in use award additional "points" if applicants are willing to make financial investments in the country they seek to enter). The real problem with the Borjas argument isn't that it's elitist; that "skills" can and should be defined in a hundred different ways apart from education and professional training; that, since it's employers who set wages, any economic gap that exists is just as likely an indicator of a high level of exploitation than it is of a low skill set; and that his dismissal of assimilation flies in the face of everything we know, and have experienced, about how immigrant grandparents yield grandchildren who become successful doctors, lawyers, teachers and heads of industry. The real problem is that there's little mystery which immigrants Borjas views as the most undesirable: those from Mexico and Central America. Borjas, while an immigrant, misses the whole point of America. The country, at its best, has always rewarded determination, courage and resilience. It has sought out and welcomed those who struggle and sacrifice to get here and to succeed once here. These are the people who built the United States in the last two centuries and the ones who will rebuild it in the next. It's not skill that matters. It's will. It's that kind of will that propels Mexican immigrants across the Arizona desert, negotiating barbed wire and cactus and rattlesnakes. And it's that kind of will that inspired Elian's mother to step foot on a rickety boat bound for Florida, a boat that would eventually sink, killing her and 10 others. She's the real American in this story. Oddly, on this issue, the gap among different types of Latinos may be closing. On the validity of the INS ruling that the boy be returned to Cuba, the poll by the Miami television station detected little difference between the views of Cuban Americans and non-Cuban Latinos; 88% of Cubans opposed the ruling, along with 78% of those Latinos who were non-Cuban. Some have attributed this convergence of Latino opinion to the involvement of the INS, a government agency that has few friends among Latinos of any kind and that may be just the sort of common enemy against which a divided people can finally unite. Hispanic Named as Pentagon's No.2 Rudy de Leon has been named to succeed John J. Hamre as Deputy Defense Secretary. President Clinton nominated de Leon based on a recommendation by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. Since August 1997, de Leon has served as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. In his current role as the Pentagon's top personnel and readiness manager, de Leon acted as Cohen's senior policy advisor on recruitment, career development and pay and benefits for the military's 1.5 million active duty and 1.5 million Guard and Reserve members and 800,000 DoD civilians. He also served for three years as undersecretary of the Air Force. The recipient of several awards, de Leon received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in February 1994 and May 1995 and the Department of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award in August 1997. Hamre will step down as Deputy Defense Secretary on March 31. Two Special Hiring Programs Hit Merit
Board By Stephen Barr Washington Post Staff Writer Because the government has hired African Americans and Hispanics for professional and administrative jobs in recent years at rates that exceed their representation in the private-sector work force, two special hiring methods designed to aid in federal minority recruitment are no longer needed, an oversight agency said yesterday. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, which studies civil service issues, said the special hiring methods, created 18 years ago under a federal court order, have been overtaken by reforms that give agencies more flexibility in hiring. The government's regular competitive hiring procedures allow sufficient recruitment of minorities to ensure a diverse federal work force, the board suggested. But the board's recommendation to end the special hiring programs was immediately rejected by the Clinton administration's chief personnel officer, who called it "wrong." Janice R. Lachance, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), said the merit board's comparison "is not particularly useful" because the court order covered only about 100 federal occupations and cannot be compared to overall private-sector work force figures. The special hiring methods "are worth continuing" to help the government achieve a diverse work force, she said. "We still have serious under-representation of Hispanics at virtually all levels of the government and we have a serious under-representation of African Americans at senior levels of the government," Lachance said. Hispanics comprise 11 percent of the private-sector work force and only 6.4 percent of the federal work force, OPM figures show. Blacks make up 16.7 percent of federal employment, about 6 percentage points above their representation in the private sector. The differing views underscored long-standing tensions within the government on how to best promote diversity in federal employment while adhering to a century-old principle that government hiring should be based on skills and experience and not favored treatment or political connections. In a report released yesterday, the merit board focused on jobs covered by a 1981 federal consent decree in a case known as Luevano v. Campbell. The case involved about 100 entry-level "professional and administrative" occupations and included such positions as budget analysts, contract specialists, tax law specialists, claims examiners, park rangers, customs inspectors and writers and editors. The decree did not cover low-level staff jobs, such as clerical positions, and did not include many jobs that require degrees in law, science and engineering. The decree threw out a written exam for the professional and administrative jobs and created two programs-Outstanding Scholar and Bilingual/Bicultural-as interim replacements until one or more new competitive exams were designed. But the two programs became entrenched, in part because they allowed federal managers to make quick hiring decisions based on specific requirements-such as a high grade point average or the ability to speak Spanish. As a result, the board said, numerous agencies avoided competitive procedures that required ranking applicants on skills and statutory preferences, such as military service. In looking at the Outstanding Scholar program, the board found that actually only 1 in 10 employees hired in 1997 was African American and only about 1 in 14 was Hispanic. The board said the bilingual hiring program produced results comparable to other hiring methods and was no longer needed. For example, the board said, 40 percent of the 8,000 Border Patrol agents are Hispanic and hold jobs filled through the use of a competitive written exam. On average, the government hires about 40,000 people each year. The board's report shows that the government hired 2,511 applicants under the two special hiring programs in 1997, the last year for which it had figures. Merit board Chairman Ben L. Erdreich said the special hiring methods have served their purpose but "it is now time to return to merit-based hiring for this important group of federal jobs." But Lachance said the special hiring methods continue to be needed to recruit blacks and Hispanics. She said OPM figures showed that 75.2 percent of 1998 hires under the bilingual program have been Hispanic. Lachance said she wrote Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday to express her strong disagreement with the merit board's report, making it unlikely that the Clinton administration will move to dismantle the special hiring programs.
Presidential Candidate Forum--Two Democrats and three Republicans vying for the nation's highest office sound off on a variety of issues.
Pursuing the U.S. Hispanic vote is no longer the sphere of campaign operatives whose specialty is courting politically marginal constituencies. It's gone mainstream. Candidates from across the political spectrum now routinely address Hispanic issues and take pains to demonstrate an affinity for Hispanic culture. Photo-ops with prominent Hispanics have already become a staple of the nascent presidential campaign. Emerging Demographic trends help explain this new dynamic. Hispanics will account for more than 11 percent of the U.S. population next year and are projected to become the nation's largest minority group by 2005. They are particularly numerous and influential in such politically significant states as California, Texas, Florida, and New York. Combine these data with rising Hispanic purchasing power (collectively more than $279.4 billion last year) and you have the makings of a powerful voting bloc. As such, the editors at Hispanic Business magazine posed the following questions to nine Democratic and Republican candidates for president: George W. Bush, Al Gore, Bill Bradley, John McCain, Steve Forbes, Elizabeth Dole, Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, and Dan Quayle. Messrs. Quayle and Alexander have since dropped out and the Dole and Buchanan campaigns declined to participate. (As of this posting 1/14/2000, Mrs. Dole has dropped out and endorse G.W. Bush). Responses from the remaining five candidates appear on the succeeding pages. Many were edited for length and style. THE FOLLOWING EIGHT (8) QUESTIONS WERE SUBMITTED TO EACH CANDIDATE: 1. Given the growing significance of the Hispanic vote, is your campaign making an effort to reach U.S. Hispanics? If so, what is your message? who are the key members of your campaign staff leading this effort? 2. Access to capital is among the defining issues for entrepreneurs. If elected, what would you do to ensure that small and disadvantaged businesses have the necessary resources to grow? 3. Are you in favor of limiting or curtailing college admissions policies that take race into account? Why? 4. Are you in favor of retaining, reforming, or abolishing affirmative action policies generally? Why? 5. Should the United States lift its trade embargo against Cuba? Why? 6. Why does the federal government employ so few Hispanics? Is it important to increase the number of Hispanic federal employees? Why or why not? If it is, what would you do to correct this? 7. How would you explain your position about the use of statistical sampling in the 2000 census? 8. Working within existing programs, how would you increase federal minority business procurement? BILL BRADLEY (Democrat) 1. Our campaign is definitely making an effort to reach out to Hispanic voters. Our message is the same with Hispanics as with other voters, that I will provide a different kind of leadership, a leadership that puts the people front and center. I'm focusing on issues such as health care, child poverty, race relations, and ensuring that people who have not benefited from the current economic growth are brought onto the train of prosperity. In terms of our campaign, all members of the staff focus on outreach efforts. 2. Several initiatives from my time in the Senate suggest promising possibilities. in 1993, I won enactment of a $1 billion empowerment zone program. Several programs that I authored were included in the bill and became eligible for empowerment zone funding. They included: Assets for independence, which provides matching funds for low-income families to encourage savings and home ownership; the Neighborhood Reconstruction Corp., which provides matching funds to private businesses for repair of urban infrastructure--if the company uses local labor; Entrepreneurship Training, which provides funding to train people in low-income neighborhoods to become entrepreneurs; and the mobility for Work Act, which provides transportation to low-income people who live in the city and hold jobs in the suburbs. Additionally, I help enact a program that provided capital to urban businesses. 3. No. 4. I support affirmative action programs. 5. I do not support lifting the trade embargo against Cuba. 6 While it is not possible to speak to the current employment practices of the federal government, I've said time and time again that I'm committed to leading an administration that looks like America. If elected president, I will focus on making appointments that reflect our nation's diversity. 7. I support the use of statistical sampling. In 1990, I was a co-sponsor of a Senate Resolution that stated in part (from the bill summary) "that the Department of Commerce, in considering the population discrepancies in the 1990 census, should utilize the statistical correction methodology to achieve a fair and accurate census." 8. I would continue efforts such as those listed in the response to question 2. GEORGE W. BUSH (Republican) 1. I have embarked upon an unprecedented campaign to attract new faces and new voices to the Republican Party. I believe my inclusive, compassionate conservative message will resonate with hard working, family-oriented, and entrepreneurial Hispanics across the country. I believe it is important for the Republican Party to broaden the base. This will be a priority for my campaign. As governor, I've made a concerted effort to draw Hispanics into senior roles, including my first gubernatorial appointment--Tony Garza as secretary of state. I'm honored to have a number of Hispanic leaders playing critical roles in my campaign, including Congressman Henry Bonilla on my national exploratory committee. Tony Garza assisting with political strategy, Raul Romero serving as key fundraiser, and Lionel Sosa working as a member of my media team. On the full-time staff, Ted Cruz serves as domestic policy advisor, Israel Hernandez as press travel director, Margita Thompson as California press coordinator, and Sonia Colin Martinez as a Hispanic spokesperson in the press office. 2. I understand that America was built by entrepreneurs and risk-takers. I believe the role of government is to create an environment in which entrepreneurs are willing to risk capital to start and expand businesses and create jobs. Small business is the backbone of American economy, employing almost 60 percent of the work force and providing over two-thirds of the net new jobs over the last 25 years. I believe we need to help small businesses grow and prosper by reducing regulations and excessive paperwork. As president, I would support reducing and ultimately eliminating the estate tax to prevent the government from breaking up family-owned businesses; cutting marginal tax rates; reforming tort law to limit junk and frivolous lawsuits that threaten small business owners and operators; encouraging state and local governments to establish higher education standards; and raising the current limit on H-1B visas so that more skilled workers would enter the country. I've been an active supporter of NAFTA and of expanding trade with Mexico. I have a strong working relationship with leaders of that country and have worked closely with them to resolve issues affecting trade, the environment, health, and immigration. 3 & 4. I support what I call "affirmative access"--not quotas, not double standards, because those divide and balkanize, but access--fair shot for every single person. Whether in awarding government contracts or making college admissions decisions, I believe we have an affirmative duty to offer equal access. Equal access doesn't guarantee equal results--but it guarantees that every person has a fair shot based on their potential and merit. I signed legislation requiring that the top 10 percent of high school graduates be automatically accepted into the Texas public university system. 5. I do not believe that there should be any change in U.S. policy toward Cuba until three conditions are met: free elections, free speech, and freedom for political prisoners. 6. I believe the American dream is for everyone, and that everybody should have the opportunity to succeed in all walks of life. As president, I will continue to reach out to Hispanics and to all Americans to participate in government and work in government service. 7. I am committed to principle that each and every American should be counted and should participate fully in the democratic process. I respect the Supreme Court's judgment that the way to conduct the census consistent with the law is to do an actual headcount, rather than subject the census to the risks of bias and uncertainty inherent in statistical manipulation and adjustment. Accordingly, I support allocating sufficient funds and doing whatever it takes to make sure that census counters find and count each and every American. 8. I support initiatives that favor minority business, including stripping bureaucratic regulations such as high permitting and licensing fees that disproportionately hurt minority-owned businesses, breaking up federal procurement contracts so that minority-owned businesses can better compete or partner with more experienced firms as subcontractors, and encouraging these companies to make strong, innovative efforts to involve minority-owned businesses through subcontracting and mentoring programs. STEVE FORBES (Republican) 1. I am the only Republican candidate who has offered substantive, meaningful agenda to help all Americans move forward, including Hispanics. Under my pro-family flat tax plan, for example, the typical Hispanic family of four earning $36,000 a year would pay no federal income tax, a savings of $1,670 a year. Under my Social Security plan, a typical Hispanic family earning $36,000 a year could invest their Social Security taxes in their won personal retirement account and retire with a nest egg of more than $1 million. Under my education reform plan, a typical Hispanic family could choose the best public, private, or parochial school for their children. Hispanic families who cannot afford to move to a better school district or place their children in private schools should have the same rights as wealthier families to choose the school that best meets their needs. Among those assisting and advising me are Bill Guerrero, a prominent and successful businessman from New York City, Robert Deposada, executive director of the Hispanic Business Roundtable, and K.B. Forbes (no relation), my traveling secretary, who is Hispanic. 2. It's absolutely essential that small business entrepreneurs have access to the capital they need and are free from suffocating government regulation, particularly harmful and overbearing Securities and Exchange Commission regulations that can suffocate an emerging company. I will make capital access and liquidity needs and SEC reform top priorities. I will also make dramatic tax reform a top priority, replacing the federal income tax code with an honest, simple flat tax. My plan abolishes the capital gains tax and the estate ("death") tax, reduces the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 17n percent, and provides immediate expensing of all capital investments. 3. As president, I will do everything in my power to expand educational opportunities for all. We need to dramatically improve K-12 education in order to improve the access of low-income communities to colleges and universities. 4. A Forbes Justice Department will fight racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination, including all forms of quotas, preferences, and set-asides. Men and women should be treated equally and fairly as individuals not discriminated against because they are members of certain racial or ethnic groups. We should reach out to all groups, particularly those in economically distressed communities, but we should fight all forms of quotas. 5. Until Castro falls, we should not lift the trade embargo. We should no nothing to prop up and strengthen his evil, oppressive regime. European and Canadian investment has failed to promote economic development and popular dissatisfaction against Castro for the reason that his regime alone benefits from international economic activity. 6. Primarily because the Hispanic community has concentrated its efforts in the private sector and has a natural distrust of big government. Under my administration, we will make government less intrusive and more efficient. This will help improve the image people have of government. I will make all people feed welcome and comfortable with the agenda of my administration and reach out to all groups to join us. My campaign is a highly qualified and diverse team. So will be my administration. 7. First of all, sampling is not the solution that everyone claims it will be. The U.S. Constitution requires a census by "enumeration"--counting actual, individual people. Statistical sampling is unconstitutional, and therefore I oppose. Promoting the involvement of local groups in a fair and accurate count would be much more reliable than sampling conducted by a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. 8. A Forbes administration will seek out qualified bids from all interested individuals and companies. Current federal set-aside programs only involve significantly less than 1 percent of U.S. Hispanic businesses. We need to increase small business involvement in federal procurement, particularly from Hispanic-owned businesses. But this needs to be done through an aggressive campaign encouraging true participation and competition. It cannot be done through a complicated process filled with unnecessary and wasteful paperwork and bureaucratic meddling that focuses on racial, ethnic, and gender quotas. ALBERT GORE, JR. (Democrat) 1. Absolutely. The issues of importance to the Hispanic community are the issues of importance to all Americans--education, the economy, the safety of our neighborhoods, and the security of our families. And while we've made significant gains over the last six and a half years, I am not satisfied. It is unacceptable to me that Hispanics are twice as likely to be unemployed and more likely to be denied credit. And it is an outrage that the Hispanic dropout rate hovers near 20 percent. Everyone on my staff is focused on what we can do to strengthen the Hispanic community and America's families. Some key members leading the way are Janet Murguia, my deputy campaign manager and director of public liaison, Donna Brazile, my political director, Roger Salazar, my deputy press secretary, and Elsa Ramirez, also on my political team. 2. We are proposing to significantly increase the empowerment zones in the budget, which, if approved, will mean hundreds of millions of additional dollars for many communities. I pledge to work with the Small Business Administration and empowerment zones to ensure that lending and development assistance to Hispanic-owned businesses increases. 3. Diversity is one of the great strengths of American, and college students should experience the benefits of a diverse academic environment. I strongly support admissions programs that consider race or gender in a balanced, fair, and effective manner consistent with Supreme Court law. Such programs, if carefully designed, improve the educational experience for all students an should not be curtailed. 4. I think we still need affirmative action. It's unfortunate that there are those who fail to see or simply do not want to see that the struggle for justice is not over. The taproot of racism still runs deep. At times, we still see the kind of violent, offensive discrimination we saw 30 years ago--discrimination with a fist. But in other cases, we see a more subtle, more insidious discrimination--discrimination with a smile. It's the banker who says, "Sorry, you didn't qualify for a loan," or the rental agent who says, "Sorry, there are no apartments available." I will continue to be a strong proponent of diversity and justice. 5. The trade embargo against Cuba is part of our policy of keeping up pressure for democratic change while finding ways to reach out to the Cuban people through humanitarian efforts. Our efforts have included restoring direct passenger flights, resuming family remittances, increasing the sale of medicines, and authorizing the sale of food to non-governmental entities. Ultimately, America's aim is to strengthen our ties to the Cuban people in ways that do not strengthen the Castro regime. 6. I'm proud of the fact that overall, minority groups are better represented in the federal work force than in the civilian labor force. However, I'm aware that the exception is Hispanic representation, which is roughly half that in the civilian labor force. We're already taking steps to address this. For example, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management recently launched a 10-point plan to improve Hispanic representation. 7. I strongly support the use of statistical sampling in the census. I agree with the National Academy of the Sciences: Sampling would give our country the fairest, most accurate, and most complete census count,. I know there those who want to play politics with this issue, but it's too important for that. The fact that we missed or undercounted 5 percent of Hispanics in 1990 means we can and must do better. Every single American counts. 8. I think we need to give small minority-owned businesses a fair opportunity to compete for federal contracts. That is why I strongly support program such as the Small business Administration's 8(a) program. We need to do more to identify qualified minority-owned firms and assist their efforts to win contracts by educating them about federal procurement opportunities such as online access to open government bids, providing technical assistance to enable them to compete more effectively and including them in the pool of qualified bidders.
Survey of Hispanics Online Shows Spanish Not a Key Factor January 7, 2000 Espaņol.com, an online retailer for Spanish-speakers, released a survey that found high levels of language "indifference" or bilingualism among Hispanics. In fact, most survey respondents chose English over Spanish. Forty-one percent said they prefer English Web sites; only 8 percent of those surveyed said they prefer Spanish. However, 51 percent also indicated they are "indifferent" or bilingual, with no clear language preference when buying products or surfing the Internet. Based on a study of 2,000 Internet-ready U.S. Hispanics, the independent survey was commissioned by Espaqol.com and conducted by Research & Research, a research firm that specializes in the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets. The survey also found strong consumption of Latin music tapes, records and CDs by U.S. Hispanic cybershoppers. Of the households surveyed, 49 percent report recently purchasing Salsa music, 42 percent Spanish ballads, 34 percent Merengue music, and 32 percent Spanish rock. Anglo music, particularly rock and pop, is equally popular, indicating strong bilingual tastes. "As the first superstore dedicated to the Latin 'Internauta' (Internet user), we wanted the most up-to-date information possible on our customers' habits, tastes and unmet needs," said Kyle McNamara, founder and CEO of Espaņol.com. "The results of this survey are a strong endorsement of our culturally-specific business model. Fifty-one percent of our survey group are self-described bilinguals who would patronize a Spanish Internet alternative the same way they choose to buy both Latin and Anglo music." In contrast to mainly bilingual preferences on the Internet, the survey found strongly defined markets for Spanish in more established media like music and television, where McNamara says "quality Spanish-language alternatives have existed long enough for people to develop their own personal experience and make a choice." The survey also found that:
Copyright 2000 internet.com Corp. Bill seeks a halt to bilingual education By Doreen Iudica Vigue Globe Staff, 1/11/2000 Seeking to bring a hotly contested California program for non-English-speaking students to Massachusetts, state Senator Guy Glodis will file a bill today to eliminate bilingual education, a program he called "a mistake of epic proportions." Asserting that Massachusetts' bilingual instruction programs have failed to help the students they were designed to serve, Glodis, a Democrat from Worcester, wants the state to adopt a one-year immersion course that mirrors California's controversial programs for students who do not speak English. "There are over 100 different language backgrounds in Massachusetts and out of all of these, Hispanic is the highest ethnic background to take bilingual education courses," he said. "However, that group also has the lowest test scores, the highest dropout rates, and the lowest college admission rate. What does that say about bilingual education? Obviously, it's failing." Advocates for bilingual education, the American Civil Liberties Union, and several legislators denounced Glodis's bill, but others insisted bilingual education is in need of a serious overhaul. State Board of Education chairman James A. Peyser fell short of endorsing the bill, but he did say he favors ending the way the state's bilingual instruction law is structured. State law allows students to remain in bilingual programs for three years or until they are able to perform successfully in English-only classes. Students can stay in the programs beyond three years if their parents and the local school committee agree they need to. Glodis will unveil the bill at a State House news conference, where he will be joined by Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley businessman and the architect of Proposition 227, the California law that dismantled bilingual education in that state. Students there now take a one-year "sheltered immersion" English course, with some instruction in their native language, and are then transferred into regular education programs. Adopted in 1971, Chapter 71-A is the nation's oldest bilingual education law. Several attempts over the years to dismantle the system, including one by former governor William F. Weld in 1994, have failed. Today, more than 40,000 students are enrolled in bilingual education programs, a figure that has remained relatively steady over the past decade. "I endorse the idea that we need to eliminate the mandate for bilingual education and open up the process of teaching English to immigrant students with a broader range of teaching methods," Peyser said. "In other countries other than the US, students who immigrate are put in intensive language acquisition environments for a limited time. ... I don't think that's a bad approach at all." Peyser also said that in California, test scores have gone up and dropout rates have gone down among bilingual students in the immersion program. Governor Paul Cellucci was out of town yesterday, but spokeswoman Shawn Fedderman said that while he has not read the Glodis bill, he favors changes in the bilingual education law overall and "wants to work with Latinos and other minority groups to get their input into this process." Critics of the Glodis bill, and of Proposition 227, however, said one year is not long enough for most non-English-speaking students in Massachusetts to master the language and perform well in English-only courses. They warned that students will fail standardized tests, such as the MCAS exam, at even higher rates and would be more inclined to drop out of school. "Comprehensive instruction will be just noise to students and no one will be getting an education," said Tom Louie, director of the Massachusetts English Plus Coalition, a Boston-based language rights advocacy group. "It is ludicrous to think that a student without a formal education can master a language and learn on grade-level in just one year." Alan Jay Rom, a Boston attorney who has waged many court battles to force lax school districts to obey the bilingual education law, called Glodis "xenophobic" and contends bills that try to eliminate bilingual education result from right wing and anti-immigrant biases. "Massachusetts is a leader in transitional bilingual education, and if they knock it out of here, they are sending a message around the country that xenophobia prevails," Rom said. Several Latino, Vietnamese, and Haitian advocacy groups said they would fight the Glodis bill and the elimination of bilingual education, but would endorse positive changes in the system. "There needs to be reform and monitoring, because a lot of schools are not preparing kids the way they should," said Carlos Martinez, executive director of La Alianza Hispana, a multiservice agency catering to the Latino community. "But elimination would be so backwards. Immersion would make kids feel incompetent and isolated. People would make fun of them and they would be at the bottom of the socialization period. People should learn more about what it takes to learn a new language and not everyone does it the same way." State Representative Antonio F. Cabral, a Democrat from New Bedford, condemned the Glodis bill after reading it yesterday, saying it did not show how the immersion option would yield accountability or bona fide results. "The present law is one that meets the goals and objectives of what we'd like students to reach," Cabral said. "What's lacking are the tools from the Department of Education to make sure school systems are accountable and are producing the results the law is looking for." Mexican Women Allowed to Join Military Service MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican women, who have long sought gender equality in this land of machismo, came a step closer to that goal on Friday when the military said they would be allowed to join men in Mexico's military service. Unlike men, however, women's participation will be voluntary and not subject to military discipline, Military Service Director Jesus Rodriguez told a news conference. "At the start of the new millennium, equality between men and women becomes more evident than ever, and women's participation in the military service is a clear reflection of that," he said. Women joining the military service will be required to attend six-hour training sessions every Saturday. All Mexican men must report for military service when they turn 18. But because of the army's limited budget, only 5 percent actually receive any training, with the rest obtaining waivers. The army is primarily made up of volunteers. Latino voters' growing clout High priority: Candidates, parties focus on expanding
minority group.
BY MARY ANNE OSTROM AND EDWIN GARCIA In the early 1990s, political candidates shaped their messages to win over soccer moms, then the popular image of the independent-minded voter who could swing elections. Today's "soccer mom" is the Latino voter. From New Hampshire to California, voters of Latino descent are being targeted like never before: Presidential hopefuls hold fiestas in Iowa, blast tunes sung by Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin and utter Spanish phrases. Latinos are just 14 percent of the electorate in California and far less in most other states, but will soon be the nation's largest minority. Their enormous potential to decide the elections of the future has made courting them a national political priority in 2000. As evidence of this growing clout, the Republican National Committee, which meets in San Jose this week, will unveil its most aggressive effort ever to woo Latinos: releasing a nationwide Latino poll, unveiling Latino-focused ads, and hosting seminars and focus groups to target the nation's fastest-growing electorate. "The fact the Republicans are making this effort speaks to the growing importance of the Latino voter," said Mark Baldassare, who has done extensive polling of California Latinos for the San Francisco-based Public Policy Institute of California. Although Ronald Reagan took about 40 percent of the Latino vote in the 1980s, Latinos today are predominantly Democrats and overwhelmingly voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. So ingrained has their Democratic inclination become that it is not uncommon for Latino Republicans to run ads that mask their party affiliation. But leading GOP presidential contenders George W. Bush and John McCain, both from border states, have won large percentages of Latinos in their state races. The GOP now sees new opportunities to regain their footing. "They're waking up after being kicked in their behinds," said Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party. But, taking nothing for granted, California Democrats, too, are helping their national leaders design registration and get-out-the-vote drives aimed at Latinos. And Democratic candidates more and more are bringing their campaigns to Latino venues. "Al Gore has learned you can't take the Latino vote for granted. Bill Bradley is learning it could be extremely important to his success," Baldassare said. "And what George W. Bush has already learned is that a sizable group of Latinos are open to the prospect of voting for a candidate who is going to pay attention to their needs and concerns." Poverty deepens deep in heart of Bush's Texas By Russell Contreras
Texas Gov. George W. Bush is in denial. Deep in the heart of Texas, there is poverty. According to a recent study conducted by the Department of Agriculture, 5 percent of Texas households - the second highest percentage of any state in the nation -reported suffering from hunger from 1996 to 1998. But Bush, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, says everything in Texas is fine. He questioned the credibility of the study, and told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he would like the Department of Agriculture to locate the hungry people. "You'd think the governor would have heard if there are pockets of hunger in Texas," Bush said. "Show us who, where they are, and we'll respond." America's Second Harvest, a network of food banks, has compiled statistics that show a 25.9 percent increase in demand for its services in Texas from 1996 to 1999. "You'd be surprised," said Jo Ann Stinson, executive director of the Montgomery County Food Bank. "During this holiday season we started seeing generations of families going to our kitchens to eat." In Latino South Texas, unemployment still rests in double digits despite the rest of country's booming economy. Many people live in homes without basic plumbing and sewer services. In spite of NAFTA, many border towns have seen little growth, unless you count the Border Patrol hiring more agents. Health-care facilities in the state are reporting a rise in the need to cover indigent patients. According to the Census Bureau, Texas has the highest percentage of children and working parents living without health insurance. The state also ranks 48th in per capita funding for public health. Bush has had five years as governor to respond to poverty in his home state, and he has not even noticed its proliferation. He was lukewarm when presented with a program designed to give low-cost health insurance to children whose parents earned too much money to qualify for Medicaid but could not afford health insurance. Bush ended up supporting a watered-down measure, but only after a protracted fight with the Texas Legislature. This is not compassionate conservatism. Bush is out of touch with the problems of his own state. If the governor had left his mansion more often and spent time in the areas laced with poverty instead of setting fund-raising records for his presidential candidacy, he would be well aware that not everyone in the state is buying high-tech Internet stock. If Bush misses problems like poverty as Texas governor, think of what he would miss as the U.S. president. Church enters fray over Cuban migrant boy The representatives of an influential American church organization met with the father of a 6-year-old boy rescued off Florida's coast and promised to press the US government to return the child to Cuba. "We need to help our president see that the issue is a moral one, a humanitarian one," said the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, the outgoing general secretary of the US National Council of Churches. "We need to be concerned for a small boy rather than politics." Campbell spoke with reporters after meeting with Elian Gonzalez' father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, and the child's four grandparents and great-grandmother in their coastal home town, a two-hour drive east of Havana. Accompanied by Cuban church representatives, Campbell, a Baptist minister, was clearly affected by her hourlong visit inside Gonzalez' modest two-story home, built of brick and cement on an unpaved street where horse-drawn carts are as common as automobiles. "This is a very loving family," Campbell said, appearing to be on the verge of tears. "We are more convinced than ever that this child belongs with this family. We will work very hard to make sure Elian comes back very soon." She said the council is willing to play a mediation role in the dispute and even to physically transport Elian back to Cuba and turn him over to the Cuban Council of Churches to be returned to his father. Gonzalez, who has shunned publicity in recent weeks, said he was grateful for the council's efforts. He said he understood his son was well, but that he missed him very much. "How could I not miss him?" he asked. He also said he met a second time with Immigration and Naturalization Service officials on Friday, but declined to provide details for fear of harming his case. However, The Washington Post reported that Cuba said it would take "under advisement" a US request that it facilitate an exit visa for the father, quoting a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Under preliminary plans discussed this weekend, the paper reported, Gonzalez would be flown to Miami, where he would gain legal custody of Elian and be free to leave the country with his son, although Elian's relatives in Miami could seek a temporary restraining order against the action. |
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