Two jobs?" blares a poster at a bus shelter here. The words are in Spanish over a picture of a tired-looking Hispanic woman in a janitor's uniform. "Work and Work but You Still Can't Get Ahead?" reads another ad on a bus shelter down the street. At the bottom, the small print: "Free English classes . . . in 60 locations.

The ads are part of an unusual campaign by the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce to spur the city's 150,000 immigrants to learn English. Here in the most Latino big city in the country -- where fewer than one in five residents speak English at home -- business leaders decided that simply offering free English classes was not enough. The chamber is spending $4.5 million to cajole residents to take the classes and get English workbooks into their hands.

It's an economic development plan, not a political statement, said Michael Metzler, president of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce. After surveying the city's manufacturing, service and transportation businesses, among others, he said, the chamber realized that employers "could not find enough qualified employees, because when they found somebody who had enough qualifications, they didn't speak English."

The three-year campaign includes outdoor ads, door-to-door outreach and radio spots. The chamber is also buying kits that include a simple computer, which people can use to learn English on their own. The kits are distributed to parents of schoolchildren and to businesses. Read More

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