Drive for official English renewed in 111th Congress

Last Congress the Democratic leadership managed to keep all official English and related bills from reaching the floor for a vote. Even though H.R. 997, The English Language Unity Act by Rep. Steve King (IA) attracted the bi-partisan support of 153 members of the House of Representatives, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) succeeded in bottling it up in committee. 

But King and other official English supporters in Congress are signaling Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) that they are determined to get Congress to act by reintroducing a flurry of official English and related bills in the new Congress.  

In the House Rep. Steve King led the way by reintroducing H.R. 997, which in addition to official English requires naturalization ceremonies to be in English. H.R. 997 already has the bipartisan support of 100 co-sponsors and dozens more are expected to join. Rep. Dean Heller (NV) reintroduced the American Elections Act, H.R. 764 which eliminates bilingual ballots. And Rep. Tom Price (GA), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, pledged to re-introduce the Common Sense English Act protecting the right of employers to designate English the language of their workplace.

Also in the House, long-time champion of official English Rep. Peter King (NY) introduced H.R. 1228, a bill to rescind the multilingual mandate known as Executive Order 13166 and also H.R. 1229, The National Language Act that declares English the official language and eliminates bilingual ballots. And Rep. Paul Broun (GA) plans to reintroduce legislation requiring the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner to be recited or sung in English at federally funded institutions.

The Senate has been slower to act due to its preoccupation with the economic stimulus plan and its role in confirming President Obama’s cabinet nominations. But ProEngish Director of Government Relations Jayne Cannava reports Sen. James Inhofe has promised to reintroduce bills making English the official language and revoking Executive Order 13166. And Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN) is expected to reintroduce legislation protecting an employer’s right to have English language workplace rules.

Cannava said, “A national poll in August 2007, found 87% of American voters support official English.  That overwhelming support was confirmed by Missouri voters who approved a constitutional amendment this Nov. making English the official language of their state by an 86% margin. The Democratic Congressional Leadership is seriously mistaken if they think they can ignore the overwhelming desire of the American people to make English the official language of the U.S., and sooner or later we will prevail,” she added. 

ProEnglish blasts EEOC for violating civil rights

“In a nutshell we believe the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is acting illegally and abusing its statutory authority by prosecuting employers with English-on-the-job rules,” ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin told the U.S. Civil Rights Commission at a hearing Dec. 12.

“In filing these lawsuits the EEOC is not only violating the rights of employers to run their businesses,” McAlpin told the Commission, “it also is violating the rights of employees to work in a safe, non-threatening work environment.”

McAlpin was one of seven witnesses called to testify before the US Civil Rights Commission on the subject of “Specifying English as the Common Language of the Workplace.” The list of witnesses included the EEOC’s Legal Counsel, a Hispanic advocacy organization, and Richard Kidman, owner of RD’s Drive-In in Page, Arizona, who drew national attention when the EEOC sued his “mom and pop” drive-in hamburger restaurant over its English-on-the-job policy in 2001.

ProEnglish intervened to help the Kidman’s defend their English policy, and they eventually won the right to keep their policy after a six-year legal battle against the EEOC.

In his testimony McAlpin noted the legal basis for the EEOC’s anti-English policy was a corrupt definition of ‘national origin’ discrimination that seeks to equate someone’s national origin with the language they speak. He told the Commission “In thirty-five years of court cases there has not been a single ruling supporting the EEOC’s interpretation that was ultimately upheld, or which is controlling: not one that supports the EEOC’s language equals national origin formula.”

McAlpin testified that one of the reasons employers often feel compelled to adopt English language workplace policies is to protect their employees from intimidation and harassment including, in the Kidmans’ case, the most brutal form of sexual harassment. He charged that by prosecuting such employers, the EEOC was directly facilitating the violation of employees’ right to work in a safe, non-hostile work environment.

ProEnglish asks Supreme Court to protect English immersion

In a few weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the first case in many years to consider how children should be taught English: “bilingual education” or “structured English immersion.” In the case Horne v. Flores, No. 08-289, and 08-294, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Arizona Legislature to pay more for bilingual education and took a swipe at proven, far more effective English immersion teaching techniques.

In 2000, Arizona voters passed a ballot initiative requiring the State’s schools to switch from bilingual classrooms to teaching classes mainly in English. Arizona’s new structured English immersion program dramatically increased English language learners test scores. In some grades children who have learned English in Arizona’s program do better on achievement tests than native-English speaking students.

This February ProEnglish joined the Center for Equal Opportunity, the American Unity Legal Defense Fund and the English Language Political Action Committee to file an “amicus curiae” or friend of the court brief in Horne v. Flores that defends structured English immersion classrooms. The brief opens with a quote by ProEnglish board member Rosalie Pedalino Porter, Ed.D, author of the book Forked Tongue and one of the foremost experts in the country on the subject of teaching non-English speaking students:
“Without competence in English, immigrants are at a disabling disadvantage, unable to share in the economic opportunities of a democratic society. The sooner this enabling skill is acquired the sooner children can join in the full life of their school and community.”

It argues that unless the Supreme Court overturns the 9th Circuit ruling, one consequence will be that schools will have an economic incentive to delay the acquisition of English fluency skills by English language learners in order to obtain more court-ordered funding.

Attorney Barnaby W. Zall who wrote the brief on behalf of ProEnglish and the other organizations said, “It took us thirty years to change federal education policy away from bilingual education and toward learning English. This case could reverse that progress. The courts should protect children, not lock them away again in bilingual education.”

Salvation Army wins right to English-on-the-job rule

Two years ago there was outrage in the halls of Congress and across the nation when the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it was filing suit against the Salvation Army in federal court, and charging the Christian charity with illegal discrimination for having an English-on-the-job policy at one of its stores in Massachusetts.

The EEOC action led to bills being introduced in Congress by Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Representative Tom Price of Georgia to clarify that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act cannot be interpreted to prevent employers from having English language workplace rules.

But this fall the EEOC was forced to accept a humiliating settlement that let the Salvation Army keep its policy and make “the ability to speak and understand English well enough to communicate effectively with supervisors, employees, and customers” a standard part of it’s job descriptions. The EEOC agreed to drop its lawsuit and abandon all claims to back pay and punitive damages for two Salvation Army employees terminated for failing to comply with the English policy.

ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin said, “This is a huge victory for the civil rights of American employers and as well as their employees. The EEOC probably never imagined that a charitable religious organization like the Salvation Army would stand up to the EEOC’s name-calling and threat of endless litigation, and settle on terms that would let the EEOC claim victory,” McAlpin continued. “But thankfully the Army is made of sterner stuff and when the EEOC realized it was ready to go to court where the EEOC has never won one of its illegal English-on-the-job prosecutions, the agency quickly cut and run,” he added.

American Immigrant by Rosalie Porter, Ed.D

ProEnglish board member Rosalie Pedalino Porter has published an autobiography entitled, American Immigrant; My Life in Three Languages. The book is a readable and engaging account of Porter’s life as a first generation immigrant in the U.S.

In the words of California educator Richard K. Munro, “American Immigrant is the compelling story of a striver who rose from poverty through a hard-won education and a hilarious assortment of jobs. I was there with Rosalie, a loyal colleague and a true American, for some of the struggles.”

After arriving in the U.S. at age six unable to speak a word of English, Porter writes that she started to love school “once I gained enough confidence in my English to speak easily with friends and make my thoughts known in class.” After holding a variety of jobs, Porter earned a degree in education and began teaching English to immigrant children in Massachusetts public schools.

But the experience disillusioned her with the teaching theory known as “bilingual education” in which immigrant children are segregated by language and taught primarily in their native language while being taught English on the side. In 1996 she published her groundbreaking critique: Forked Tongue: the Politics of Bilingual Education. The book gained national attention and helped launch the movement to scrap bilingual education in favor of English immersion teaching techniques.  

Today Porter is a recognized expert in the field of English language instruction who advises Congress and school systems across the country, and writes and lectures widely.

American Immigrant can be ordered online from iUniverse.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and B. Dalton.

Eddie V. Garcia joins ProEnglish national advisory board

The newest addition to ProEnglish’s national board of advisors is Eddie V. Garcia. Mr. Garcia is a naturalized American who came to this country unable to speak a word of English. Today he is a talented country western singer in Nashville, Tennessee, and the leader of the Eddie V. Garcia band. He also is fluent in three languages: English, Spanish, and Italian.

Garcia’s family story is familiar to generations of immigrant families in America. His parents immigrated to the Boston area when Eddie was a preschooler. But his mother insisted that Eddie and his siblings learn English as quickly as possible. They did, and the family went on to succeed and thrive as fully self-sufficient citizens, proud of their accomplishments and devoted to their adopted country.

Eddie campaigned for the official English referendum in Nashville and recorded a very effective radio spot endorsing the proposal. He later agreed to serve as ProEnglish’s “blogmaster” and editor of a new blog, ProEnglishUSA (see following story).

Today country music lovers everywhere have the chance to enjoy Eddie V. Garcia’s talents and unique contributions to the field of American country-western music. His music is available to listen to and download on the Internet at: www.eddienow.com.

ProEnglish board chairman Bob Park said, “Eddie V. Garcia brings his special experience to our national board of advisors both as a talented entertainer and a skilled public relations professional. We are delighted he accepted our invitation.”  Park added, “And if you happen to be a country western music fan like I am, I recommend his music.”   

ProEnglish invades the “blogosphere” with ProEnglishUSA “blog”

To help reach the growing audience of Internet users ProEnglish has launched an Internet “blog” named ProEnglishUSA, which is being edited and managed by ProEnglish national advisory board member Eddie V. Garcia. Internet users can find the blog at Google’s Blogspot.com, Wordpress.com, or ProEnglish’s website: ProEnglish.org.

For those not familiar with them, “blogs” function like electronic bulletin boards where interested persons can contact each other, exchange views or share information, post links or videos, and stay abreast of breaking developments in thousands of different fields. You can find them on the Internet and sign up to follow any particular blog.

Many of these interactive web pages serve as forums to promote various political points of view. Collectively they have come to be seen as an alternative source of information to the mainstream media and are often referred to as “the blogosphere.” They also are viewed as a forum for public commentary and growing force in politics. Since launching ProEnglishUSA, “Blogmaster” Eddie V. Garcia has reached thousands of people interested in the issue of official English and preserving its role as the unifying language of the United States.

For more information visit one of the blog sites mentioned above or email Eddie V. Garcia at eddievsongs@gmail.com.

Federal task force pays lip service to Americanization

A federal task force named the Task Force on New Americans has issued a report calling for an increased focus on Americanization in the 21st Century. The report says while respecting diversity, stress needs to be placed on building an American identity based on the principles of American democracy, a shared history, and the English language. 

The Task Force was created by former President George W. Bush in June 2006 and involved the collaboration of some twenty federal agencies. Its purpose was to examine and report on ways to help immigrants learn English, embrace America’s civic values, and assimilate in order to promote their integration and full participation in American life.

Commenting on the recommendations ProEnglish Chairman Bob Park said, “While we strongly agree with the report’s finding that ‘government can do more to help newcomers learn English, learn about America, and promote integration across our nation,’ the reality is that the federal government is doing everything it can do discourage immigrants from learning English by mandating multilingual government services and removing incentives immigrants have to learn English.”

“Once again there is a clear disconnect between what the government says should be policy and what it does in practice,” he added. “What the government does is too often shaped and in some cases dictated by anti-assimilation interest groups who are pursuing their own agenda. Until the government changes what it does, nobody should be lulled into thinking this report means anything,” Park added. 

Hispanic consumers prefer English

Contrary to the conventional wisdom of many American business and political leaders, most U.S. Hispanics prefer reading English language newspapers and watching TV in English, even while speaking Spanish at home.

The data comes from a survey conducted this fall by Ipsos U.S. Hispanic Omnibus, a survey-based international market research firm. The survey found that even though a majority of respondents, 52 percent, spoke Spanish at home they preferred watching English language over Spanish language television by a margin of 54 percent to 40 percent.

In other findings, the market research revealed:

• 56 percent of Hispanics prefer reading English language newspapers
• Younger Hispanics, ages 18-34, were slightly more likely to watch English language TV (54 percent) compared to middle-aged Hispanics, ages 35-54 (52 percent)
• Hispanics prefer using English to surf the Internet, 55 percent to 39 percent
• College educated Hispanics overwhelmingly prefer English-language television (80 percent)  

The survey shows a population that is often very much at ease switching between English and Spanish, depending on circumstances.

Low special election turnout dooms Nashville official English referendum

Anti-English forces in Nashville took advantage of their control of the election system and a lopsided advantage in campaign funding to defeat an official English referendum by a margin of 57 to 43 percent in a Jan. 22 special election.

ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin said, “Although we’re disappointed at the outcome, it’s hardly surprising in view of the unequal resources involved and the Democratic Party’s unfortunate decision to transform a non-partisan election on official English into a referendum on the Obama Administration. Only eleven weeks earlier President Obama carried Nashville / Davidson County by a margin of 60 to 39 percent,” McAlpin added.

The result was a blow to the Nashville citizens committee led by Nashville City Councilman Eric Crafton that collected thousands of signed petitions in time to qualify the initiative for the November general election ballot. But Nashville Mayor Karl Dean persuaded the city’s election commission to keep it off the ballot by citing a provision in the election code that said a referendum could be submitted only once “every two years” meant only once in every two 365-day periods. Since a referendum appeared on the ballot on Nov. 7, 2006, the election commission voted 3-2 that the Nov. 4, 2008 general election occurred 3 days too soon – a literal interpretation of the law that had been routinely ignored in past elections.  

But without enough time to overturn the decision in court, Crafton’s group chose instead to run a second initiative campaign that resulted in the ill-fated special election Jan. 22.  

That was a mistake because it let official English opponents supported by big contributions from Nashville-based corporations like Caterpillar Financial and Hospital Corporation of America mount an all-out campaign to defeat the referendum. The opponent’s campaign featured TV ads, push-polls, radio & newspaper ads, direct mail, phone banks, robo-calls, and yard signs. Opponents also benefited from blatantly biased reporting by Nashville’s major daily newspaper The Tennessean. In contrast, referendum supporters had only enough money to run radio ads and place ads in a few weekly newspapers.

“In a special election the side that has the financial and organizational resources to turn-out its vote has a big advantage. That and the successful effort by Nashville Democratic Party leaders to mischaracterize the referendum as a repudiation of President Obama are the reasons it failed,” explained McAlpin. “If the official English initiative had appeared on the Nov. general election ballot as originally planned, it would have passed easily,” he added.

Oregon bilingual education gets an “F”

Only weeks after Oregon’s teachers unions and bilingual education bureaucrats helped defeat Measure 58, a ballot initiative limiting the time English language learners (ELLs) could be kept in bilingual classrooms, the Oregon Department of Education announced its bilingual education program was failing to meet its goals.

The department revealed that only one of every five English language learning students in the state was achieving English proficiency within five years. Oregon’s goal is to have at least half of its roughly 70,000 ELL students achieve fluency within the five year time frame.  

ProEnglish board member Rosalie Pedalino Porter EdD, who campaigned for the passage of Measure 58 said, “It’s a shame the news of Oregon’s failure to teach English came too late to help free Oregon’s English language learning school children from being trapped for years in bilingual classrooms.”  Porter pointed out that Oregon school districts have a big incentive to fail at teaching English effectively since they get an extra $2,600 a year in funding for every child dubbed an English language learner.

“Oregon is behind the times,” Porter added. “Bilingual education has been such a failure that it has been rejected in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts, states now reporting faster and better English language learning. Get with it, Oregon.”