Position of the Government and Governor Schwarzenegger - Research Proposal Example

An Advisory report to Governor Schwarzenegger The purpose of this paper is to provide Governor Schwarzenegger with research and information necessary for him to engage in negotiations with the Californian Indian Council regarding the potential for oil extraction at the South Mojave Reserve as inhabited by the Hacama tribe. The format of this paper will involve first provide a summary of all the information that will be relevant for Schwarzenegger. Secondly this paper will highlight two positions/policies that the governor could adopt in order to have a resolution of the situation. Finally this paper will outline my own recommendation based on the strengths and weaknesses of the information provided. Summary of Information As explained in the case, unknown quantities of oil reserves have been located on the South Mojave Reserve. The Hacama tribes are the inhabitants of the reservation and this group is a member of the California Indian Council. It is the case that the Reservation property has legal status as private land and as such the Hacame tribe is legally entitled to whatever property lies beneath the soil. Whilst the quantity of oil available beneath the land is legally entitled to the Hacama tribe it is the case that they are demanding through the council that the State of California provide bilingual education for all Indian groups in California in exchange for providing the State, access to the oilfields. First an analysis of the current markup of the California Indian Tribes will be provided. Whilst there are a number of different Indian tribes across California, it is the case that for the purposes of this report only recognized California Tribes on reservations. Whilst it is the case that there are a number of State and Federally unrecognized tribes they are not represented by the Californian Indian Council and as such would not be part of the bilingual education program. California happens to have an extremely diverse indigenous population both linguistically and culturally. According to the California Indian Library Collections (2009)The linguistic groups in California can be broken up into six groups (Athapaskan, Algonquian, Hokan, Penutian, Uto-Aztecan and Yukian). According to Leanne Hinton (1993) before contact with outsiders there were over 100 spoken indigenous languages in California, and whilst most of them still exist today it is the case that many of them have become functionally extinct and many more are endangered. Hinton (1993)further argued that a conservative estimate of Shasta Language speakers as between 0 and 1, with similar numbers for Modoc, Cupeno, Cahto, Juaneno, Maidu, Tolowa, and Miwok. In Southern California it was estimated by Hinton (1993) that the total number of tribal speakers remains higher but the future seems grim as some languages have fewer than a hundred speakers left. It was later argued by Hinton (1998) that none of the indigenous languages of California are spoken on a daily basis as a principle form of communication. The issue of native languages in California is further complicated as many languages including Hacama have no standardization of spelling and grammatical rules, building on this point is the lack of availability of teaching tools (Textbooks, videos, charts etc.) in Native languages. The realistic costs of native bilingual education in California could be staggering. According to the Massachusetts Coalition for Bilingual Education the estimated cost for providing a bilingual education using 1993 figures is $1.13 to every $1.00 mainstream public education student. Much of this is dependant on the type of bilingual education offered as it is the case that in order to achieve bilingualism there can be an number of different approaches to education such as Bilingual with initial emphasis on the second language. Bilingual with the initial emphasis on the mother tongue. Mixed language with emphasis on majority and minority. Two majority language educations. The issue is further complicated as there maybe difficulties in securing adequate bilingual teaching staff and securing enough language resources to effectively educate the students. To determine what the current situation is with bilingual education in California we must briefly cover Prop 227. In brief Prop 227 is legislation that requires all public school instruction should be in English. The bill further provided $50million per year to provide English tutoring to non native English speakers as well as intensive English language immersion programs. While bilingual education in California often only refers to Spanish only education, most bilingual programs were abandoned simply because only a very small percentage of students learned enough English to be moved into mainstream classes. Furthermore it is the case that there are a plethora of minority languages spoken in California and it is often argued that it is educationally and fiscally impossible to provide education in hundreds of different languages. There are a number of exceptions to this rule. Namely, it is the case that there are a number of private bilingual educational schools in California, such as the Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley (French), The German International School of Silicon Valley (German), and the Russian American International School (Russian). Whilst there may be theoretical financial support from the government it is the case that these schools get the majority of their funding from tuition payments and donations. The issue of whether or not Bilingual education is beneficial for children is a hotly debated issue. It is the case that Prop 227 was voted in 1998 but that has not stopped a number of private institutions from flourishing. It has been argued by the Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley that there are three main benefits to children being involved in a bilingual education. Cognitive- Bilingualism has been argued to increase mental flexibility, and improved analytical orientation. Furthermore it has been argued that children who study a second language score higher on verbal standardized tests as well as improve problem-solving skills. Social/Emotional/Interpersonal- Bilingualism helps create sensitivity and understanding to other cultures, as well as promoting increased awareness towards the needs of listeners. Professional-Speaking two languages is a real benefit in an increasingly global competitive environment.   Complications As it is the case that the oilfields may extend into Arizona it is important to consider what the status of bilingual education in that State is. Whilst it is the case that Meyer v. Nebraska in 1923 determined that bilingual education was not unconstitutional, according to the Arizona Association for Bilingual Education all learners are to b assessed in English but do not prohibit assessments in other languages. However much like California, Arizona passed an “English for the Children” initiative effectively mandating English immersion programs for non native English speakers and as such has moved most bilingual education to the private sector. Position Statement: Against Bilingual Education If it were the case that Governor Schwarzenegger was to adopt a policy of not agreeing to a policy of bilingual education there is a great deal of arguments behind this policy. In the case of indigenous languages it is simply the case that there is nowhere near enough qualified linguists that are also trained educators available to provide the education. Building on this point as it is the case that many of the languages have no formalized or standardized writing system it is extremely difficult to guarantee the same level of language education across even the same language in different schools. As a consequence to this decision it will probably be the case that the Hacama Tribe and the Californian Indian Council would reject the exploitation of the oil reserves. As an alternative to flat out rejection of Bilingual education money could be invested in new reservation cultural centers with language training facilities available to those who want to take advantage of it. In this circumstance it would be beneficial for the all people not just young students and by centralizing the facility there may be a higher degree of control and the resources available for the language education. Position Statement: For Conditional Bilingual Education In this circumstance there should be one major clause before the decision to implement a total bilingual education policy across the native reservations, and that is that there should be more exploration of the oil reserves to determine the value of the resources. As it is the case that implementing the bilingual education policy could prove to be very costly it should be the case that the cost benefit analysis of the policy should be weighed very carefully. If it is the case that the oil reserves are not as grand as expected it may be that financially it would not be in the best interest of the state to pay for the bilingual education policy. However, if it is the case that the reserves are proven to be financially viable the implementation of the bilingual education policy should be conditional on the availability and feasibility of the reservations being able to provide qualified teachers. Once it is determined that there is in fact a qualified education professional capable of providing lectures in a native language and that there are sufficient learning aides and an approved native language curriculum can be put together then the state can proceed with the policy. Almost certainly this will bring an outcry of complaints from other minority language groups demanding that bilingual education should be made available in their languages. As it is the case that native languages are by definition indigenous languages of the United States and by implementing the bilingual educational model for the reservations the state is in effect trying to preserve American history. Furthermore it could be argued that as the as reservations are self governing they can in fact implement whatever education policy they deem is in their best interest. Recommendation In my own personal opinion it is the case that bilingual education has been proven to be beneficial in a number of different countries and cultures such as French/English in Canada, Gaelic/English in Ireland German/French/Italian/Romanish in Switzerland. There is no reason why a bilingual educational policy wouldn’t be beneficial in the United States. However, it is extremely difficult to educate a class in a bilingual environment if there are not adequate learning aides, and the teacher has only a small command of the Native Language. It is my recommendation that the schools should be allowed to provide bilingual education in their own native language, providing that there remains a strong emphasis on English language education and that the curriculum incorporates adequate learning tools and the educators can pass language proficiency tests. This is in effect a bilingualism policy with emphasis on the mother tongue (English) with an effort to bring proficiency in another language. The consequence of this decision is that a number of different groups will come out seeking money for bilingual education in their communities hover the arguments outlined in the second position statement could be used. Furthermore it is the case that preliminary exploration of the oilfields should be conducted to ensure that the project is viable and the expenses of the bilingual education are offset by the revenue generated from the oil extraction. References Arizona Association for Bilingual Education (2009) Available online at http://azbilingualed.org/ Accessed on December 10th 2009. California Indian Library Collections: Linguistic Groups Map (2009) Available online at http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc_images/bibs/maps/lingmap.gif Accessed on December 10th 2009. Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley (2009) Why Bilingualism Available online at http://www.eb.org/index.html/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1%3Abenefits-of-bilingualism-and-early-immersion-ecole-bilingue-de-berkeley&lang=en Accessed on December 10th 2009. Hinton, L. (1993) Flutes of Fire: The Indian Languages of California. Heyday Books; 2 edition Hintol, L. (1998) Language Loss and Revitalization in California: Overview. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 132: 83-93 Massachusetts Coalition for Bilingual Education: Frequently Asked Questions (2009) Available online at http://www.massenglishplus.org/content/Bilingual_Education/General_Info/BilingualEd.html Accessed on December 10th 2009. Read More