SPRINGFIELD, Va. — The summer of 1995 marked a "coming of age" for official English. New Hampshire became the 22nd state to pass an official English law. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich endorsed official English in his book, "To Renew America." More recently, Senate Majority Leader (and presidential hopeful) Bob Dole advocated making English the official language of government.
Although official English always has been supported at the grass-roots level, many Americans are still astounded to learn that English is not the official language. They are angered that current federal law actually undermines the English language by mandating multilingual programs and services. Such federal requirements render New Hampshire's new law powerless in the areas of bilingual ballots and bilingual education, which are two of the nation's most serious problems.
Statistics show that bilingual ballots are in low demand, inaccurate and also impose exorbitant costs on states and localities. Laws governing naturalized citizenship already require candidates to "demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language." After working so hard to learn English, why should new citizens be insulted by the assumption that they are incapable of voting in the American language?
Indeed, statistics prove that few citizens are utilizing bilingual ballots. Even Los Angeles, with all its ethnic diversity, spent $125,250 on bilingual voting materials in 1992 for only 927 people. As for enhancing democracy, on one set of 1993 bilingual ballots in New York City, the Chinese character for "no" was printed as a translation for "yes," giving voters a choice of "no" or "no."
Bilingual education is another example of a well-intentioned but failed program. Twenty-seven years of documentation prove its failure to teach students English effectively. This federally mandated program costs states and localities more than $8 billion per year. One school district in New Jersey spends $4,000 for each limited English-proficient student annually and is requesting more federal funds for the next fiscal year.
Those who support bilingualism do not care about exorbitant costs or erroneous translations because the profits often end up in their own pockets. Most proponents of bilingual education usually make a living either directly or indirectly from the program. While qualified teachers are being laid off, bilingual speakers are in high demand in order to meet federal quotas. Textbook publishers, translators and bilingual teachers all benefit from bilingual education; students do not.
Official English continues to gain momentum. If Congress does not pass strong, self-executing legislation now, New Hampshire can expect to revisit this issue again during the presidential primaries. The American people will continue to march on until English is official.