The ballot initiative that would end California's failed bilingual- education program looks headed for success next June. The most recent portent: Besides commanding huge support in polls of registered voters, "English for the Children" almost won the endorsement of the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the largest teachers' union in the state. Against the wishes of the union leadership, which has a vested interest in preserving the bilingual boondoggle, 48 percent of the members of the union voted to endorse the initiative.
The union leadership was chastened by the results. The president of the union, in a letter to members, acknowledged that had the leadership not " advertised its opposition to the referendum," the upstart members might have carried the day.