Education: A Failed Path

When Education Secretary William Bennett stood up to speak on bilingual education last week in Manhattan, everyone should have known what was coming. During eight months in office, the tough-talking Secretary has taken on everyone from students to Congress to the Supreme Court. This time he unloaded against the bilingual learning programs that have cost the Federal Government $1.7 billion in 17 years, calling them "a failed path." He was particularly rough on the policy of giving foreign-language-speaking students schoolwork in their own tongue, rather than teaching them English as quickly as possible. "As fellow citizens, we need a common language,"...