The letter that appeared in your Aug. 8 issue, “A.G. Rulings Boost Bilingual Education” was entirely erroneous.

The controversial part of the bilingual guidelines that I issued was the part setting minimum test scores for a student to demonstrate “good English skills” in order to qualify for a bilingual waiver. For example, I specified a “four” on the most commonly used test, referred to as the LAS Test, where some school districts were using a “three,” which the publisher identifies as “limited English skills” rather than “good English skills.”

The attorney general specifically found that I did have the power to issue those guidelines, but that the scores that I set “must be supported by facts that establish that the scores are the average for students at the appropriate grade level…”

I do have those facts to support the minimum scores established. For example, the publisher of LAS has written to us:

Consistently, the native English speakers scored in the low to mid-90 (raw score). The translation table, found on page 19 of the LAS-O Technical Manual, shows that with Form 1 (Grades 1-6), this is a 5.

Some have objected that that is a national average rather than an Arizona average. I don’t know why anyone would believe that Arizona students speak English more poorly than students nationally. However, note that the score set forth in the guidelines last February was a “four,” not a “five.” Even if Arizona students speak English more poorly than students nationally, the chance that they speak that much more poorly is exactly zero.

Furthermore, the publisher has written to us on this issue as well:

Although the statistics do not disaggregate where each state falls with average LAS scores, it can be concluded that the national average would indeed reflect the state of Arizona.

Similarly, the publisher of the IPT has written to us: “I have full confidence that the results from the national normative sample should apply to Arizona.”

Clearly, the guidelines issued by me are “supported by facts that establish that the scores are the average for students at the appropriate grade level.” By the standards set forth by the attorney general, the guidelines I issued last February were proper and enforceable.

What this is all about is what is in the best interests of the children. This is shown in an article in Education Next, which is published by Harvard, Stanford and two research institutions. You can log onto the article at www.educationnext.org, then click the “Fall 2002” issue and review the article on “Bilingualism.” It establishes that students who have been in English immersion programs outperform students who have been in bilingual programs, in that

1. They have more years in school;

2. More of them enter college;

3. They have a higher annual income;

4. They exceed the bilingual students in entering high-status occupations by almost two to one.

Finally, I am happy to report that all of the school districts indicated that they will abide, starting with this school year, with the guidelines that I issued last February.