Initiative seeks to ban bilingual classes
After a year or two of English immersion, kids would be mainstreamed

By steve law

The Portland Tribune, Sep 18, 2008 (38 Reader comments)
(news photo)

L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune

Atkinson Elementary School teacher Ruth Tucker works with her students during science class. Many immigrant children attend the school. Bill Sizemore’s ballot initiative seeks to end bilingual education in Oregon and put students into English immersion classes.

Oregon voters get to decide how to reach and teach children with limited English this fall as the hot-button immigration issue makes it to a statewide ballot.

Initiative promoter Bill Sizemore proposes scrapping bilingual education and English as a Second Language classes – now taught to one in 10 Portland Public Schools students. His Measure 58 would usher newcomers into English immersion classes for one to two years, then put them in regular classrooms alongside other students.

Measure 58 would push 3,500 Portland students out of ESL and bilingual programs and cost the school district $10.6 million a year in special state funding, said district spokesman Matt Shelby.

The campaign also should spark a heated debate about illegal immigration, boosting voter turnout by social conservatives in what is expected to be a close presidential election.

“Oregon schools have no obligation to people who immigrate into this country to perpetuate their culture,â€