Learning the Language

Bill Sizemore is not a familiar name to all of you. But his name is familiar to educators of English-language learners in Oregon. He was the sponsor of Measure 58, a ballot item that was rejected by Oregon voters on Nov. 4. If approved, it would have put a cap of two years on the amount of time that ELLs in that state could have received instruction in their native languages.

A Dec. 1 article in the Oregonian says that Mr. Sizemore was jailed after a county judge found him in contempt of court for the fourth time. The article says Mr. Sizemore is "the most prolific ballot measure author in Oregon history." He sponsored five ballot measures on the Nov. 4 ballot, and all five were rejected by voters.

The judge ordered him jailed until 2006 and 2007 federal and state tax forms for charitable organizations are filed, according to the article.