The Massachusetts English Language Education in Public Schools Initiative was a successful initiative voted on in the Massachusetts general election held on November 5, 2002. [1] It was one of three 2002 ballot measures put to public vote, and the only one to pass.
The initiative was reportedly financed by Silicon Valley multimillionaire Ron Unz, [2] while it was opposed by the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities. [3]
Question 2 on the ballot, "English Language Education in Public Schools". [4]
| Response | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 1,359,935 | 61.25% |
| No | 640,525 | 28.85% |
| blank | 219,841 | 9.90% |
Source: [4]
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1965. Part of Johnson's "War on Poverty", the act has been the one of the most far-reaching federal legislation affecting education ever passed by the United States Congress, and was further emphasized and reinvented by its modern, revised No Child Left Behind Act.
Proposition 2½ is a Massachusetts statute that limits property tax assessments and, secondarily, automobile excise tax levies by Massachusetts municipalities. The name of the initiative refers to the 2.5% ceiling on total property taxes annually as well as the 2.5% limit on property tax increases. It was passed by ballot measure, specifically called an initiative petition within Massachusetts state law for any form of referendum voting, in 1980 and went into effect in 1982. The effort to enact the proposition was led by the anti-tax group Citizens for Limited Taxation. It is similar to other "tax revolt" measures passed around the same time in other parts of the United States. This particular proposition followed the movements of states such as California.
Arizona Proposition 203, also known as English for the Children, is a ballot initiative that was passed by 63% of Arizona voters on November 7, 2000. It limited the type of instruction available to English language learner (ELL) students. Before Proposition 203, schools were free in terms of ELL instruction to use bilingual or immersion methods. According to a cover letter from the Arizona Department of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan to the Arizona Legislature, it was impossible to make a correct analysis regarding how many students were learning through English as a second language programs, as opposed to bilingual education. The school districts had submitted "conflicting information," and 40% had not submitted any data, in spite of three deadline extensions.
Ron Keeva Unz is the editor-in-chief and publisher of The Unz Review, a website that promotes anti-semitism, Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories, and white supremacist material. In addition to Unz's own writings, the site has hosted pieces by white supremacist Jared Taylor, among others.
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A Massachusetts general election was held on November 5, 2002 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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The Massachusetts general election held on November 5, 2002, included three ballot measures that were voted on by the public.
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