Lawmakers debate English as official language
Submitted on July 27, 2006 - 12:00am.
A.N. Hernández - Summer 2006
WASHINGTON – House members and witnesses agreed English literacy programs for immigrants are important but engaged in a heated debate Wednesday over whether English should be declared the country's official language.
The House subcommittee on education reform heard from a panel of experts and representatives on both sides of the English-only debate. The same day a report released by the Government Accountability Office showed that students of limited English proficiency are not doing as well as their peers in reading, math and science.
“English as the official language has been a code for official discrimination,” Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, said.
The House subcommittee on education reform heard from a panel of experts and representatives on both sides of the English-only debate. The same day a report released by the Government Accountability Office showed that students of limited English proficiency are not doing as well as their peers in reading, math and science.
“English as the official language has been a code for official discrimination,” Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, said.
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