LOS ANGELES TIMES

Thursday, April 16, 1998

Santa Ana School Board Opposes Prop. 227

By HOPE HAMASHIGE, Special to The Times

SANTA ANA--The board of the Santa Ana Unified School District roundly criticized Proposition 227, the June ballot measure seeking to end bilingual education statewide, before passing a resolution this week opposing it.

"It's immoral, unethical and unjust," Trustee Audrey Yamagata-Noji said. "It's nothing more than an attack on immigrants based on fear, ignorance and hate."

Trustees said they did not believe that voters statewide could determine what is best for students in Santa Ana. The district allows parents to decide whether their child should be in a bilingual class.

Of the parents who spoke Tuesday, none favored the proposition.

The only supporter was Trustee Rosemarie Avila, who said that while voters should not set educational policy, bilingual education is a failure. The co-author of Proposition 227, Gloria Matta Tuchman, has taught in the Santa Ana school district since 1967.

"This is a very personal issue for us," Yamagata-Noji said.

Matta Tuchman was not at the public hearing Tuesday night, which Trustee Rob Balen called "cowardly." She was not available for comment Wednesday.