"Citizenship requires passing a test on American history in English. If that's true, then we do not have to create ballots in any language except English," he said.
Peter Zamora, co chairman of the Washington-based Hispanic Education Coalition, which supports bilingual education, said, "The tone of his comments was very hateful. "
He said research has shown "that bilingual education is the best method of teaching English to non-English speakers."
Spanish-speakers, Zamora said, know they need to learn English. "There's no resistance to learning English, really, among immigrants, among native-born citizens. Everyone wants to learn English because it's what you need to thrive in this country."
In the past, Gingrich has supported making English the nation's official language. He has also said all American children should learn English and that other languages should be secondary in schools.
In 1995, for example, he said that bilingualism poses "long - term dangers to the fabric of our nation" and that "allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous."
Bilingual programs teach students reading, arithmetic, and other basic skills in their native language, so they do not fall behind while mastering English.
On voting, federal law requires districts with large populations of non-English speakers to print ballots in multiple languages.
Tancredo to launch '08 run
Representative Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado and an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, will announce his bid for president tomorrow.
Tancredo will kick off his campaign with an announcement in Iowa, where political caucuses start the presidential nominating season, an official close to the representative said.
