Amherst bilingual education backers still battling (Berkeley east still at it!)

Boston Globe ^ | 11/19/2002 | Anand Vaishnav

[SpinyNorman]

In a show of defiance to a statewide election, bilingual education proponents in Amherst and neighboring towns are seeking to exempt their schools from a voter-passed initiative replacing bilingual education with English immersion.

After receiving more than 600 signatures on a petition, the Amherst Board of Selectmen will call a special Town Meeting to consider asking the Legislature to exempt Amherst and the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District from the mandates of Question 2. Only 200 signatures were needed to call a special Town Meeting, and the town clerk certified them yesterday.

[SpinyNorman]

The referendum on bilingual education reform was passed overwhelmingly (68%) in allegedly liberal Massachusetts, even in the big urban centers with large Latino populations, yet the tiny liberal rat's nest of Amherst, Massachusetts, seeks to exempt itself from the voter's mandate, without even trying the new plan. Do a FreeRepublic search on Amherst, and you will see the record of shame that this town bears. It is the home to several ultra leftwing colleges, and home to hundreds of liberal whacko professors and their brainwashed students.

[Maceman]

Maybe some of these liberals will now begin to question -- even a little bit -- of allowing government and "the majority" control the content in our school systems.

Seems like the answer to this whole issue is to open up school choice and push local level authority as far as possible.