During next week's election, Massachusetts voters will decide on three ballot initiatives. Perhaps most controversial is Question 2 on bilingual education in public schools. A "Yes" vote will remove the choice of current bilingual education programs and force children into English-immersion. A "No" vote will allow parents and teachers to continue to choose which method of teaching is best for the individual student.This initiative was originally passed in California and has been brought here by businessman Ron Unz. He has failed to take into consideration the clear demographic differences between Massachusetts and California. A bilingual education system dealing with 39,000 students, as in Massachusetts, can more easily take the individual child's needs into account than the 1.5 million student bilingual education bureaucracy in place in California. Furthermore, the efficacy of the California legislation has not yet been proven.

Voting "No" is the only just option for parents, teachers and children. This legislation abolishes all choice, and forces children who are not familiar with the language to have only limited English training before being transferred to classes in which they will be held responsible for the same material as native English speakers. Also, a "Yes" vote would open teacher's to be sued if they are found instructing in a language other than English, even if they believe this is the best way to approach a situation. Admittedly, no teacher has yet been sued under this act in California. Yet, the provision's language allows for this to happen at any time.

It must be emphasized that all bilingual education programs are meant to enable students to function in English when they become ready. In many Massachusetts communities, the current programs have proven successful. Framingham, for example, has a noticeably high achievement rate in their bilingual curriculum. The two-way bilingual program, in which native speakers of English and Spanish are taught in the classroom, learning both languages, has been highly successful.

Massachusetts needs bilingual education. It is counterproductive to eliminate alternative methods of teaching; students differ in their abilities, and public school systems must cater to each individual's language needs.