SALMON'S RUN
House Republicans are poised to strike a modest blow against bilingual education. Arizona Republican Matt Salmon has won a commitment from Bill Goodling, head of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, promising that his "Parents Know Best Act" will be included in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Salmon's act would require school districts to obtain parental consent before enrolling children in native-language programs. As matters stand, many schools simply toss kids into bilingual education without bothering to ask parents whether they want their children in classrooms where they won't have an opportunity to learn English immediately.

Salmon's supporters had worried as recently as last week that Goodling would block his proposal. They already knew the chairman was opposed to a more aggressive idea — block-granting bilingual-education funds — and settled for this common-sense reform.

Goodling should defend it against predictable Democratic attacks. Says Linda Chavez, head of the Center for Equal Opportunity: "If the Republicans can't pass this, they're useless on the whole issue of bilingual education."

REVISIONISM WATCH
Speaking of bilingual education, Jagdish Bhagwati had this to say in his Wall Street Journal review of George Borjas's book Heaven's Gate: "Last year, Hispanic parents in California overwhelmingly supported Proposition 227, which brought bilingual education in that state to an end." Well maybe, but only 37 percent of Hispanic voters supported it.

BLUFF CALLED
Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR, in Beltway-speak) today to keep the federal government going for three weeks as budget-writing continues. The White House had demanded a two-week CR in the hope that Republicans would set themselves up for embarrassment by being unable to finish the budget in that time. The Republican leadership went ahead anyway, with substantial support from Democrats.