‘We Speak English Here!’ CA Governor Candidate Steve Hilton Outlines His Plan For English-Only Schools
‘We Speak English Here!’ CA Governor Candidate Steve Hilton Outlines His Plan For English-Only Schools
Jennifer Bowers BahneyMon, September 28, 2026 at 12:20 AM UTC
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Steve Hilton, who's running as a Republican for California's next governor, said he'll mandate English-only in the state's schools if elected in November.
Steve Hilton, who’s running as a Republican for California’s next governor, said he’ll mandate English-only in the state’s schools if elected in November.
On Sunday’s The Big Weekend Show on Fox, host Tomi Lahren mentioned the “English second-language students” in California due to the high Latino population, and asked for his thoughts.
“Well, look, the problem is it’s not just people with a second language, it’s hardly anyone can speak English properly because our schools are such a disaster. You’ve got now less than half of the kids in California public schools meet basic standards in English even though we spend nearly the highest level in the country. And so, we’ve got to get back to teaching kids to read. And this is our country! We speak English here!”
“It’s denying opportunity to anyone — look, I’m a legal immigrant and I want every legal immigrant in California to have a shot of the California dream. That’s not going to happen if you can’t speak English properly,” the British-born politician added. “And this is not a partisan issue. Many years ago Reed Hastings, who is a big backer of Democrats, who was head of the California State Board of Education — he fought strongly to make sure English only was the way we taught kids in school because that’s the way to give them opportunities.”
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Fox correspondent Rich Edson asked Hilton, “What responsibility does the California system have to teach those kids who show up barely speaking a word of English to make sure that they can learn in English?”
“You can deal with that outside of the classroom,” Hilton said, continuing:
And in a moment when less than half of the kids — and just across-the-board, never mind who come from other countries with different languages — actually meet basic standards in English. You can’t be diverting time and attention from the classroom just to serve those needs. They can be taken care of in different ways outside the classroom. But you’ve got to focus on teaching everyone the basics of English and math, for that matter, and it’s gotta be done in English. I totally agree with that, and I’d want to see that. That used to be the law in California — the people voted for that on the ballot initiative and then overturned it, but I think we should go back to that.
Hilton, a former political commentator for Fox News, is running against attorney Xavier Becerra (D), who is leading the race by a whopping 25 points.
Watch the clip above via The Big Weekend Show on Fox.
The post ‘We Speak English Here!’ CA Governor Candidate Steve Hilton Outlines His Plan For English-Only Schools first appeared on Mediaite.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
