APANO joins the Center for Intercultural Organizing and Latino Network in opposing Ballot Measure 58 on the upcoming Nov 4 General Election.  Measure 58 is the Limiting English Language Learning initiative by Bill Sizemore, designed to further errode our once proud Oregon educational system.

APANO released the following joint statement for publication in the Voter’s Guide:

NO on 58!

• As immigrants and refugees, as parents, grandparents, teachers, and community members, we believe every child in Oregon deserves a full and equal education. Our immigrant and refugee children come from all over the world—from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe—and success in the classroom ensures their contribution to Oregon’s future.

• Measure 58 harms not only immigrant and refugees who need support in learning English – it harms all Oregonians. Across our diverse communities we strongly believe in fairness, equity and a responsive education for all our children.

• NO on 58! It is a flawed proposal that harms our public school system by forcing students who aren’t yet proficient in English to be “immersed” into an English-only classroom. It eliminates programs and resources that enable the children of Oregon to learn, each according to their ability. This impacts all classrooms, not just English language learners, and ultimately our larger communities.

• NO on 58! Its implementation is very costly, estimated at over half a BILLION dollars, $253 million for each of the first two years. In addition of Measure 58 jeopardizes current and future federal funding that the state needs so critically to help educate students, from kindergarten through high school.

• NO on 58! Measure 58 fosters inequities in our public school system and opens the door for discrimination based on national origin, which is a civil rights violation.

• NO on 58! It is an attack that does not address the needs of all our children or their schools. When any student is shortchanged, we all lose.

We ask fellow Oregonians to join the Center for Intercultural Organizing, Latino Network and the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, in ensuring equal education to all the children of this state by voting NO on Measure 58.

For more information, and to get involved with APANO’s Civic Engagement and No on 58 campaign, please email organizer@apano.org.

Filed under: Position Statement