EDITORIALS / OPINION

Go straight to your favorite columnist

- Don Soifer and Sarah Lohmann

Don’t Let Schools Undermine Assimilation

- Edwina Rogers

“BA – ROCK STAR

RANTS

the georgetowner

August 2008

Get A Life #347
Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned Washington’s 32-year-old handgun ban has filed a new federal lawsuit against the city.

In a complaint filed last Monday, July 28, in U.S. District Court, Dick Heller and two other plaintiffs alleged that the city’s new gun regulations still violate rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

And what is their beef? The District of Columbia’s continued ban on firearms that carry more than 12 rounds of ammunition, which includes most semiautomatic handguns.

The Supreme Court struck down Washington’s handgun ban June 26. The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation July 15 in an effort to comply with the court’s ruling.

Way to go Heller. Soon there will be a gun shop within walking distance of every DC resident, and they’ll all have the right to bear arms in the workplace. Now you can walk down M Street with a semi-automatic at your side, just in case there’s trouble.

What a stiff!

Brokaw is No Tim Russert
We all knew that Tim Russert would be missed on NBC’s Meet The Press, the Sunday morning must see for political buffs. We just didn’t know how much.

Want to know why? Two words.

Tom Brokaw.
Two Sundays ago, anyone watching his interview with Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in the wake of what was then lauded as a successful overseas trip that included Iraq, Afghanistan and playing to wow crowds in Berlin, would have thought Obama was in the dock.

Maybe it was just me, but Brokaw, who uses opinion quotes more often than the candidate’s own words, seemed downright disrespectful, if not just plain, well, pissy in dealing with Obama. 

Brokaw took on an all but accusatory, elder statesman role, chiding the upstart contender, in the why didn’t you this, and why didn’t you that mannner. At one point, he quoted a David Brooks’ New York Times editorial, in which Brooks repeated the old theme that Obama was all rhetoric and poetry, or, his word, “Disney.”

When Obama noted that Brokaw had forgotten to mention that Brooks was a conservative and a McCain supporter, Brokaw broke in like a grump with “Get to the point”.

It was an almost resentful performance by Brokaw, and a strong one by Obama. It was the kind of interrogation that Russert would never have come up with.

Waiting for Lieberman
Just think. About Joe Lieberman. If Al Gore had not been robbed in the 2000 election, Lieberman would probably be running for president as a Democrat now, after two terms as vice-president. Instead, he’s shilling for John McCain, telling Brokaw that the Spears-Hilton ad was “cute”. 

Just what party does Joe Lieberman belong to? He calls himself independent, but it’s really only one party: the party of Joe Lieberman.

BA – ROCK STAR

By Edwina Rogers

August 2008

Over the past month celebrity presidential candidate Barack Obama took his show on the road, conducting a weeklong six-nation tour of the Middle East and Europe, where he was embraced with anticipation by his adoring international fan base. Accompanying him on tour, and serving as backup vocalists, was freelance singing troupe “The Media.” The two performed in the most harmonious of fashions under the band name “Obama and the Newsmen.” 

The group’s first stop was the embattled nation of Iraq, where paparazzi snagged shots of Obama and the Newsmen meeting with such dignitaries as General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, generously granting them both autographs and face time in front of the cameras. Obama and the Newsmen then indulged Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other senior leadership in a private show, which from all reports, left Iraqi executives awestruck and bedazzled into altering substantive policy positions.

Anon Obama and the Newsmen proceeded to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, taking time out of their busy concert schedule to engage in a goodwill mission to the region, meeting with Middle Eastern leaders and average citizens affected by the Arab-Israeli tensions. He promised that his singing would inspire reconciliation in the hearts of those warring peoples.

Finally Senator Obama went to Europe, where he took the stage in front of throngs of frenzied admirers, performing lip-synched covers to such classic numbers as JFK’s “Ich Bin Ein Berliner”, and Ronald Regan’s “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.” While Obama left fans in attendance star struck, many industry critics noted his performance was lacking in the substance and purpose of his antecedents.

After the 200,000-person open-air concert in Berlin, Obama and the Newsmen were scheduled to perform at a much smaller venue—a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl before wounded American troops, but had to cancel that engagement, after the group’s management announced on Thursday it would be “inappropriate.”

How did the recording industry and fans at home react to Obama’s Eurasian swing? Rival act, “John McCain Plays the Oldies,” who caters to a more mature slice of music-listeners chided his young competitor, reminding him that record sales in the United States are much more important than international acclaim.

As Obama is approaching the tail end of the worldwide tour associated with his debut album, I’m Trying to Win a Primary Election, many critics are anxiously anticipating his next work, It’s Time for the General, Baby! Indeed some of Obama’s most loyal fans are beginning to tire of his hackneyed hopeful refrains, and formulaic guitar riffs that bridge the musical motifs of Change and Reform. However industry insiders are reporting that the lyrics in his upcoming album, to be unveiled in Denver at a live performance at the Mile-High Stadium, incorporate distinctly different themes, designed to resonate with a broader swath of music listeners, not just his core fan base over whom he was competing with the now defunct musical duo, “The Clintons.” In fact his newest album is even rumored to contain a track entitled “Seat All of Michigan and Florida.”
Despite the ambivalent reception to front man Obama, his backup troupe, the Newsmen, received stellar reviews as always. From their appearance on stage melodically swooning to the beat, and their shrill, piercing backup vocal treatment of the Obama chorus lines, they provided the crucial support that helped make the international tour a success. 

Edwina Rogers served at the National Economic Counsel at the White House under the current administration.

Don’t Let Schools Undermine Assimilation

By Don Soifer and Sarah Lohmann

August 2008

Sen. Barack Obama just ignited a minor firestorm when, at a recent town-hall meeting, he told the audience not to worry “about whether immigrants can learn English -- they’ll learn English -- you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.” The media frenzy that ensued has focused attention on the important issue of bilingual education.

But Sen. Obama’s comments and much of the row they triggered misses the most important part of the problem -- the fact that we’re failing to assimilate non-native speakers into the English-speaking mainstream.

Most Americans would probably be surprised to learn that the majority of these English Learners who start school with little or no English skills are, in fact, not immigrants. Contrary to popular belief, more than two thirds of the five million English Learners in our schools are the second or third generation to live in this country.

In other words, learning to speak English isn’t just a challenge for immigrants. It’s a challenge for Americans who were born and raised in this country. Even more striking is the fact underlying the reason that many American children aren’t learning English: They’re being held back by their schools, which force them into Spanish-speaking (or even Chinese-speaking) classrooms so they have a much harder time learning English naturally by hearing it spoken by teachers and peers.

This does them a major disservice. Proficiency in English is the most essential factor toward assimilation into American society, culture and economy. Research shows it is the key to higher earning, success in education, even to living a healthier life.

Students who begin school as English learners but then become proficient frequently outperform other students in school. They regularly surpass native English speakers on standardized tests, including English tests.

Unfortunately, some of these English learners fall terribly behind -- not because they aren’t capable of excelling, but because their schools - driven by bilingual education laws, school funding formulas, or other requirements -- segregate them from their peers.

These segregation policies are especially harmful in the lower primary grades, when a child’s brain development makes second-language learning easiest and most effective.

In several of the states with the largest English-learner populations, we are doing our worst job of teaching English and fostering assimilation.

In California, Texas, and Illinois, for instance, fewer than 10 percent of English learners acquire enough English skills each year to be deemed proficient and to move into English classrooms.

This means that it will take many of them more than 10 years to become proficient in English.

Children who become redesignated are far more successful over the long term. On the other hand, children who are stuck in classrooms with limited exposure to English are more likely to drop out of high school and pursue less lucrative careers. A majority of 10th grade English learners in California have been enrolled in U.S. schools since kindergarten or first grade.

Data from California’s state graduation exams reveal that reclassified students had higher pass rates than any other group -- 88.8 percent of them passed the state English exam as 10th graders, and 85.4 percent passed the math test. Meanwhile, only 82.7 percent of English natives passed the English test, and 79.1 percent passed in math.

English learners who remained behind fared far worse. Of those who stayed in bilingual English Learner classes, just 36 percent passed the English portion, and 46 percent passed the math.

More than half of reclassified students passed college-prep courses required by the University of California and California State University systems in 2003, compared to 32 percent of native English speakers.

“State-mandated classification, selective testing and tracking inadvertently create new forms of segregation that trap English Learner students,” declared a 2007 California High School Exit Exam report. “Linguistic tracking can limit education choices, access to quality academic programs and opportunity to advance beyond high school.”

It doesn’t have to be this way. Just look at Florida and New Jersey, which also have large populations of English Learners. With different education systems in place, these states reclassify three times as many students each year -- giving their students a much greater chance to achieve the American dream.

The best kind of hope and change we can deliver for our nation’s 5 million English learners is to equip our schools with policies that can deliver the skills they need to succeed.

Don Soifer and Sarah Lohmann are education analysts at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.