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Summary of Question 2
This proposed law would replace the current state law providing for transitional bilingual education in public schools with a law requiring that, with limited exceptions, all public school children must be taught English by being taught all subjects in English and being placed in English language classrooms. The proposed law would require public schools to educate English learners (children who cannot do ordinary classwork in English and who either do not speak English or whose native language is not English) through a sheltered English immersion program, normally not lasting more than one year. In the program, all books and nearly all teaching would be in English, with the curriculum designed for children learning English, although a teacher could use a minimal amount of a child's native language when necessary. Schools would be encouraged to place in the same classroom children who are from different native-language groups but who have the same level of English skills. Once a student is able to do regular schoolwork in English, the student would be transferred to an English language mainstream classroom. These requirements would not affect special education programs for physically or mentally impaired students or foreign language classes for children who already know English. Parents or guardians of certain children could apply each year to have the requirements waived, so as to place their child in bilingual education or other classes, if the parents or guardians visit the school to be informed, in a language they can understand, about all available options. To obtain a waiver, the child must either (1) already know English; or (2) be at least 10 years old, and the school principal and staff believe that another course of study would be better for the child's educational progress and rapid learning of English; or (3) have special physical or psychological needs (other than lack of English skills), have already spent 30 days in an English language classroom during that school year, the school principal and staff document their belief that the child's special needs make another course of study better for the child's educational progress and rapid learning of English, and the school superintendent approves the waiver. If 20 or more students in one grade level at a school receive waivers, the school would have to offer either bilingual education classes providing instruction in both the student's native language and English or classes using other generally recognized educational methodologies permitted by law. In other cases, a student receiving a waiver would have to be allowed to transfer to a school offering such classes. A parent or guardian could sue to enforce the proposed law and, if successful, would receive attorney's fees, costs and compensatory money damages. Any school employee, school committee member or other elected official or administrator who willfully and repeatedly refused to implement the proposed law could be personally ordered to pay such fees, costs, and damages; could not be reimbursed for that payment by any public or private party; and could not be elected to a school committee or employed in the public schools for 5 years. Parents or guardians of a child who received a waiver based on special needs could sue if, before the child reaches age 18, they discover that the application for a waiver was induced by fraud or intentional misrepresentation and injured the child's education. All English learners in grades kindergarten and up would take annual standardized tests of English skills. All English learners in grades 2 and up would take annual written standardized tests, in English, of academic subjects. Severely learning disabled students could be exempted from the tests. Individual scores would be released only to parents, but aggregate scores, school and school district rankings, the number of English learners in each school and district, and related data would be made public. The proposed law would provide, subject to the state Legislature's appropriation, $5 million each year for 10 years for school committees to provide free or low-cost English language instruction to adults who pledged to tutor English learners. The proposed law would replace the current law, under which a school committee must establish a transitional bilingual education program for any 20 or more enrolled children of the same language group who cannot do ordinary classwork in English and whose native language is not English or whose parents do not speak English. In that program, schools must teach all required courses in both English and the child's native language; teach both the native language and English; and teach the history and culture of both the native land of the child's parents and the United States. Teaching of non-required subjects may be in a language other than English, and for subjects where verbalization is not essential (such as art or music), the child must participate in regular classes with English-speaking students. Under the current law, a child stays in the program for 3 years or until the child can perform successfully in English-only classes, whichever occurs first. A test of the child's English skills is given each year. A school committee may not transfer a child out of the program before the third year unless the parents approve and the child has received an English-skills test score appropriate to the child's grade level. A child may stay in the program longer than 3 years if the school committee and the parent or guardian approve. Parents must be informed of their child's enrollment in the program and have the right to withdraw their child from the program. The proposed law's testing requirements would take effect immediately, and its other requirements would govern all school years beginning after the proposed law's effective date. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

2002 - Norfolk County - Question 2Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 1, 2002?

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Norfolk County Results
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City/Town Ward Pct Blanks Total Votes Cast
Totals
170,471
75,015
19,843 265,329
Avon
 
1,285
391
241
1,917
Bellingham More »
 
4,144
1,240
394
5,778
Braintree More »
 
10,393
3,301
1,186
14,880
Brookline More »
 
8,135
10,927
1,305
20,367
Canton More »
 
6,205
2,166
644
9,015
Cohasset More »
 
2,532
801
407
3,740
Dedham More »
 
6,726
2,480
1,263
10,469
Dover
 
2,101
657
127
2,885
Foxborough More »
 
4,938
1,535
381
6,854
Franklin More »
 
7,928
2,855
547
11,330
Holbrook More »
 
3,125
1,016
213
4,354
Medfield More »
 
3,936
1,452
247
5,635
Medway More »
 
3,630
1,175
297
5,102
Millis More »
 
2,367
891
166
3,424
Milton More »
 
7,381
4,421
899
12,701
Needham More »
 
8,347
5,093
1,094
14,534
Norfolk More »
 
2,747
894
248
3,889
Norwood More »
 
7,107
2,729
1,370
11,206
Plainville More »
 
2,099
669
93
2,861
Quincy More »
 
20,096
8,023
3,016
31,135
Randolph More »
 
6,347
3,109
900
10,356
Sharon More »
 
5,045
2,583
250
7,878
Stoughton More »
 
6,788
2,716
676
10,180
Walpole More »
 
7,065
2,144
832
10,041
Wellesley More »
 
7,443
4,068
433
11,944
Westwood More »
 
4,812
1,644
688
7,144
Weymouth More »
 
14,871
5,000
1,701
21,572
Wrentham More »
 
2,878
1,035
225
4,138
County Totals
170,471
75,015
19,843 265,329