On California proposition 58

Have you heard of Chinese Immersion school, French Immersion School, Hebrew, German, Russian, Farsi, etc.? Wait, there are also Spanish Immersion schools.

There share one thing in common. None of them are "regular" public schools. Most of them are private, while a few are charter schools.  For private schools, parents pay high tuitions to send their kids there. There must be something good they expect. Otherwise, why spend the money?

Bilingual immersion schools were prohibited in "regular" public schools in California. That is, English-only in acedemic subjects.  With high percentage of Hispanic population, especially in poor Hispanic neighborhoods, English-only education imposes a challenge in academic subjects, especially for new immigrants.  One year ESL is proved not sufficent for the majority students.  On one hand, for kids who failed to pass ESL tests after one year, they feel discouraged that they are forced to spend multiple years in ESL and not receive education in academic subjects.  On the other hands, for kids who passed after one year, research shows most still encouter great difficulties in academic subjects due to language issues.  From the perspective of the whole society, it is benefical to provide bilingual educations for them, in the long term.  

Kids are not required to participate in bilingual immersion programs, if they are provided by the schools. It is parents choice.  Kids and their parents can decide if they want to or not.  I would say why not, if your kids are interested.  I don't see disadvantages to learn a new language, and it is provided for free since it is public school.

I wish Chinese population were big enough so that a similar proposition were passed for Chinese immersion programs in pubilc school.  There are many Chinese Immersion schools in Bay Area. To tell the truth,  it is highly competitive to get in. As far as I know, all are private schools, except one. 

Here is a link for FAQ. http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/ip/faq.asp

Sincerely recommend that people read the original documents, or articles from reliable sources.