percent of her students still manage tornfail her class.rnTo gauge the impact of “bilingualism,”rnconsider the following, completernessay written in a “college-level” class atrnBronx Community College by a Dominican-rnborn, New York high schoolrngraduate:rnI am going to college, to learn arnprofession for my future. My majorrnis computer Science. In this momentsrnis difficult, to someone get arngood job. It is Important, you gornto school to learn, because you finishrnmajor. After that do you get arngood job, in Important company.rnThey pay a lot money, do yourncould a position in the society andrnevery do you Want, for that I amrngoing to college.rnSue Dicker, Hostos’ director of ESLrnplacement, argues that immersionrnwrongly gives pride of place to the “majority”rnlanguage, to the detriment ofrn”minority” (read; foreign) languages. Incredibly,rnDicker claims that immersionrnprograms seek to eliminate students’ firstrnlanguage. Imagine the response in thernDominican Republic, if English-languagernadvocates demanded an end tornthe dominance of Spanish! Consideringrnthat polyglot countries (e.g., India) havernsurvived only by forcing all groups tornlearn a common language, the multiculturalrndefense of minority sovereignty is arncase of backdoor colonialism.rnIn the fall of 1995, Spanish-born Hostosrnprofessor Rose Aruffat distributed inrnthe English Department a portion of anrnessay that attacked conservatives who rejectedrn”any suggestion to expand and reorientrnbilingual education programs tornpromote bilingual students’ literacy skillsrnin their primary language” and who opposedrnthe “expansion of bilingual educationrn[that] would transfer status andrnpower (as well as jobs) to minorityrngroups who have the linguistic and culturalrnabilities to work in such programs.”rnNote the second-class role the writerrnenvisions for English. For separatists,rn”bilinguals” is a code word for “Hispanics.”rnThus, a candidate illiterate inrnEnglish and Spanish, but who has a Hispanicrnsurname, would have a betterrnchance of landing a “bilingual” job thanrna non-Hispanic white fluent in both languages.rnDespite millions of successful cases,rnCUNY’s ESL Council insists “there is nornevidence” that immersion works. ThernCouncil’s crusade against CUNY’s vastlyrncheaper and more effective language ImmersionrnInstitutes, which opened in Octoberrn1995, anticipates the loss of untoldrnmillions of dollars in patronage jobs andrnstudent aid checks, and the loss of “haterncontrol.”rnWhy should American taxpayersrnsupport students lacking any intellectualrnpromise, much less immigrants (orrnillegal aliens) learning a foreign language?rnHow could students have receivedrnAmerican high school diplomas,rnwhether in Puerto Rico or New York,rnwithout knowing English? Why are collegesrnbeing used to teach ESL?rnNo other country recognizes a right tornuniversity matriculation (or to financialrnaid, for that matter) for illiterate immigrants.rnWhen we spoke last July, CUNYrnspokeswoman Rita Rodin was extremelyrndefensive: ‘Tou can’t compare [CUNY]rnwith other systems. There are many differentrnfactors. You have to allow for therndifferent starting points.” Such caveatsrncould invalidate all grading and testing,rnand justify unlimited financial aid.rnHostos was the scene of a near riot onrnFebruary 26, as student and staff goonsrnloyal to President Santiago menaced facultyrnsupporters of Dean of Faculty CarlosrnAcevedo, whom Santiago had suddenlyrnfired. Acevedo’s supporters claimed thatrnSantiago had scapegoated him for thernfailures of Hostos’ bilingual pedagogy,rnwhich both sides supported. Anotherrnbilingualism supporter, Bronx CountyrnDemocratic chairman Roberto “Bobby”rnRamirez, anticipates “the day, when arnNew York city mayor speaks Spanish.”rnResenting Ramirez’ Bronx machine, arnnaturalized Dominican student flyingrnthrough paralegal studies at Bronx CommunityrnCollege intends to sign up as Republicansrnas many of his conservativernCatholic and Pentecostal fellow countrymenrnas possible.rnThere was a time when a large chunkrnof CUNY’s professors were City Collegernalumni. Now, but a few relics remain. ArnPuerto Rican City College graduate recallsrnwith a wan smile the aristocraticrnPuerto Rican professor she admired duringrnthe 1950’s. “She said that after thernrevolution, she would be the minister ofrneducation. . . . Thirty years ago, I supportedrnthe civil rights movement. Now,rnI regret it.”rnRobert Berman is a teacher and freelancernwriter in New York.rnLetter FromrnEnglandrnby Jeremy BlackrnWhy Johnny Bull Can’t ReadrnEducation has long been a political hotrnpotato in Britain. For decades it hasrnbeen the central issue that links nationalrnpolitics to the politics of the localities,rnthe politics of class, and the politics ofrnparty. This might appear surprising in arnsociety where over 90 percent of schoolchildrenrnare educated in governmentrnschools, where the government controlsrnthe parameters within which privaternschools operate, and where there is onlyrnone private university.rnIn short, the state has won the battlernfor control of British education. Yet, thisrntriumph has been a hollow one; the staternhas taken over educational provision onlyrnto find the resulting system become arnsource of acute dissatisfaction.rnThe nationalization of education wasrna long-term process that reflected thernextension of the welfare state. The 1870rnEducation Act divided the country intornschool districts and required a certainrnlevel of education, introducing thernschool district in areas where existingrnparish provision was inadequate. ThernEducation Act of 1918 designated 14 asrnthe minimum age for quitting school.rnThe Education Act of 1944 obliged everyrnlocal authority to prepare a developmentrnplan for educational provision, andrnthe Ministry of Education imposed newrnminimum standards in matters such asrnschool accommodation and size.rnThis state control of education alsornput an end to the streamlining of childrenrnby ability into different schools afterrnexamination at the age of 11 (12 in Scotland).rnGrammar and secondary schoolsrnwere replaced by comprehensive schools,rna policy actively supported by thernLabour government (1964-70) and further,rnalthough with less zeal, implementedrnunder its Conservative successorrn(1970-74). Motivated m part by class hatredrnor guilt. Labour politicians regardedrngrammar schools as elitist and favored arnmore egalitarian approach. Anotherrnmajor shift was away from single-sex andrntoward mixed schooling. This was arn42/CHRONICLESrnrnrn