POMONA - Erika Villegas opened Mi Familia and read aloud to the circle of 5- to 7-year-olds at Pueblo Elementary School.

Slowly pronouncing the words and pointing out pictures, Villegas, 28, asked questions and waited for a response from the combined kindergarten/first-grade class. When students answered correctly in Spanish, the bilingual teacher moved on to the next page.

It's one more step to help these students maintain their primary language while improving their fluency in English, she said.

"It's a program that most people don't believe in," Villegas said. "We don't have money to spend. The children who come in here probably come from the most disenfranchised community in the state."

Despite a state law meant to eliminate it, bilingual education is still alive in California, and a recent study says it can be effective.

More than 150,000 students are enrolled in programs throughout the state - with nearly 5,000 in the Inland Valley - out of 1.6 million English language learners, primarily Spanish speaking.

The numbers of students in bilingual education in California have been reduced by nearly 30,000 since 1998, primarily because of a state initiative passed that year.

Proposition 227 required schools to place English language learners into English immersion classes, except when a parent signed a waiver placing them in an alternative study or bilingual class.

"Bilingual education never worked," said Ron Unz, the primary backer of the proposition. "Getting rid of it was an improvement."

Improved statewide test scores since the initiative prove that immersion works, he said.

In English immersion, students are expected to learn English from the moment they start school, with their primary language playing little or no part in their academic instruction.

In bilingual education, like the classes at Pueblo Elementary, students receive significant instruction in reading and other subjects in their primary language, while preparing them to become fluent in English.

The Pomona Unified school students are transitioned into English by the third grade.

READING FIRST

Though state and federal funds have been cut from bilingual programs, a settled lawsuit against state educators by a coalition of bilingual advocates will free up millions of dollars of federal money for bilingual literacy programs.

According to the lawsuit, money from a federal literacy program, funded by the No Child Left Behind Act, were effectively being barred to bilingual programs in California.

The program, Reading First, was aimed at helping at-risk students achieve grade level in reading by the end of third grade.

The settlement forced the state to alter its implementation of the funds and allow bilingual literacy programs easier access.

Pomona Unified was one of the local districts that applied for the newly available federal funds, said Thelma Melendez, Pomona Unified School District deputy superintendent and chief academic officer. The district expects nearly $2 million, with some going toward its bilingual programs, she said.

Melendez believes students should receive a balanced approach to literacy while being able to enhance their primary language. It's a skill that should be nurtured and not erased, she said.

Pomona, according to state department education data, is continuing to meet federal standards for English language learners - something other districts are having difficulty doing.

BILINGUAL EFFECTIVENESS

Another encouraging sign for advocates is emerging evidence that a well-designed bilingual approach works better than an immersion program.

"There are a group of powerful people who believe that the best way to learn English is to learn only English," said Francisca Sanchez, San Bernardino County assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. English immersion advocates believe that if all students do the same thing, they will all succeed, she said.

But Sanchez and others dispute this belief, and point to a report issued in December by Robert Slavin, from Johns Hopkins University, and Alan Cheung, from the Success for All Foundation, that asserts that bilingual education can be more effective.

The report, the Effective Reading Programs for English Language Learners, reviewed years of studies for reading programs for English language learners, and focused on comparing bilingual and English-only programs.

While admitting there were only a few high-quality studies done, the authors concluded that the existing evidence favors the bilingual approach, especially pairing bilingual strategies that teach reading in the native language and English at the same time.

Slavin and Cheung also wrote that a well-designed comprehensive program had to use systematic phonics, one-to-one or small-group tutoring programs, cooperative learning programs and programs emphasizing extensive reading.

"In light of the recent developments in the Reading First program and the release of the Slavin report, we are excited to continue to provide parents with the option of a quality primary language program in which children can both cultivate their primary languages and learn English without sacrificing academic achievement," Melendez said.

ENGLISH-ONLY IMPROVES TEST SCORES

Opponents to bilingual education say that a well-designed program might be beneficial to students, but that bilingual programs vary from district to district and most don't come close to being well-designed.

"The reality is that Latino kids will only succeed in English. A lot of districts are moving away from bilingual to immersion as long as we have a standards-based program in California, all in English," said Kenneth Noonan, Oceanside Unified School District Superintendent and a former bilingual advocate, adding that he worked in several districts and the overall quality of their bilingual programs were uneven.

Noonan said he was opposed to Prop. 227. But after it passed, he and his staff were flabbergasted by the results after the first year.

Students who were in a first-grade Spanish-only class were moved into an English-only class when they entered second grade, said Noonan. The students showed dramatic improvement in both their English reading and writing, he said, while still retaining their primary language.

The district now has no bilingual classes, Noonan said, and attributes the results primarily to passing of the initiative and English immersion.

Politics and faulty research are part of the debate, Noonan said. But he blames political pressure from bilingual advocates for not committing to see if immersion works. He also admitted that while reports may reveal that certain bilingual programs work, cost never seems to be discussed. Immersion is a low-cost and effective method, so why look around for other alternatives, he said.

Advocates said the cost of forcing children into English immersion, which sets them back academically, is higher in the long term than funds used for a well-structured bilingual program. But they believe the recent developments bode well for the future of bilingual education.

"I'm an optimist. I think we are in for a real renaissance," Sanchez said. With more data being released showing the benefits, and people in the business community wanting bilingual employees, "in the matter of the next decade it will turn around."

Unz said schools with bilingual programs were disregarding the law, but he believes most districts will move away from it because of the data and state academic requirements."Most people who have any sense will see the numbers with bilingual education and concede it doesn't work," he said. One unintended benefit coming out of Prop. 227 is that it weeded out the programs that weren't very well-designed, said Maria Quezada, California Association for Bilingual Education executive director. The programs left were fully supported by parents, teachers and administrators, she said.

Quezada said parents should have a choice of where to put their child, not barriers thrown up to take the choice out of their hands.

After all, knowing two languages is part of the state's master education plan, and these students already know one, so why take that away from them, she said.