Calif. School Board needs change

California School Board
The article “Budgetless, School Panel,” by Aurelio Rojas in the Sacramento Bee does a good job of explaining the conflict over the budget of the State Board of Education.
Only poorly educated monolinguals, like the partisan majority on the State Board, would cling to the notion that you can teach a child to read using materials in a language the child does not understand by simply repeating the lesson over and over. Anyone who speaks a second language knows that you must have comprehension.
Yes, the voters have imposed an English immersion program on the state. The latest test scores reveal that immersion has not improved English learning nor reading scores in California. But even when you insist on English immersion, the student must be provided with comprehension assistance while learning English.
The request by teachers was to enhance the reading books with specific instructions for students who need to learn English. The debate is over English materials.
The State Board in a high handed and ideological driven decision refused listen to teachers and refused to provide students with materials with appropriate English materials.
Thank you Sen. Escutia for taking a stand. I encourage all to support SB 1769.

Dr. Duane E. Campbell
Professor of Education
CSU-Sacramento
Letter publshed in the Bee on July 15.