Know Your CEO!

Reed Hastings, CEO: Netflix

“Bilingual education was the biggest mistake ever,” CEO and former CA State Board of Education president said at a recent conference on bilingual education in Watsonville, California.   “Teaching English-language learners in their native language was a terrible idea.  Without exposure to English, the kids will get farther and farther behind.”

Apparently, someone needs to educate Hastings on what the prefix “bi” means. As I understand it, bilingual education means students are taught an equal amount of time in the classroom in both English and in their native language, which provides much needed access to content-area subjects such as Math, Science, and Social Studies. Bilingual education in no ways prohibits students’ exposure to English.

A strong proponent of Proposition 227, which aimed to dismantle bilingual education in California, Hastings claims to know all there is about how to succeed as an English Language Learner. Unfortunately for Hastings, since 227’s implementation in 1998 has resulted in virtually no closure of the achievement gap. Many believe the gap has only widened.

Hastings served under the Grey Davis administration as President of the State Board of education from 2000-2004. The Democratic Hispanic caucus had its way in seeing that Hastings not continue in this position by blocking his nomination in 2004. State Senator Martha Escutia sited her opposition in that Hastings shortchanged students in bilingual programs by persuading the Board to withhold federal funds from classrooms that failed to teach English a specified number of hours per day.