I think RamPuppy hit it right on the head. It's great to be bilingual, and I do think that bilingual education should be part of the norm. But being able to opt out is important, too - as much as I value education, I don't think that parents should be forced to send their children to learn something of which they don't approve.
I was born in the States but grew up and learned to speak in Panama City, Panama. Up until we returned to America, I spoke Spanish as well as I did English. Upon returning, I didn't get any Spanish lessons until I was in highschool, and so I've lost most of my vocabulary since then. But that's to be expected. What I have always been appalled at, though, is that my English was, and still is, dramatically better than those of my American peers.
We need to have a firm grasp on our primary language, whatever it may be, before we start calling for education in other languages. I certainly think it should be an option, but until our nation's 6th graders can read English at a 6th grade level, I think we should spend less money on second-language classes and more money on basic education.
Oddly, I think that laziness plays into the average American's push towards English, in just the same way that non-English speakers get lazy about learning English. It's real easy to say that foriegners should learn English, but it is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black - I still don't think English is our official language (which should be changed, because even if we don't intend it to be, it is, and it's not fair to say otherwise.) I'm not bothered by signs in Spanish, because I can read them. But I'm also not bothered by signs I can't read, because I like to not understand sometimes.
People let their lack of language get the better of them, and I think that's a crying shame. I know people who's biggest concern when choosing a vacation destination is whether or not they speak English there! I've read that there's an actual statistical correlation between the number of languages a person speaks and the diversity of their travel - it's a phenomenon that is common enough to be a statistic! It almost seems like there's some stigma against other languages, as if countries that don't have a large English-speaking population are somehow more dangerous or unpleasant because they don't share our tounge.
In any case, I think we can all agree that the real problem is the enormous lack of infrastructure in America for rectifying this issue. We barely have enough ESL services to get immigrant kids speaking English, and bilingual education for English speakers is a joke. Adult education isn't even a serious possibility. I've worked with immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries who would have loved to learn English, if they only had the opportunity. But, such is not the case; even if there were some service to offer them classes, their lack of English has them in an employment position where they couldn't possibily find even the time to attend them, let alone tuition, childcare, etc.
I dunno, really... I have a strange perspective. I think that being bilingual is important, any way you look at it. English speakers should learn other languages, and anybody who's going to live in a given community should at least have the decency to take the time to learn to speak the local language. But when it comes to education, we've got to be pragmatic, and take care of primary language first.
~Joe