My good friend Mike follows government (especially Texas government) very closely, he basically is the only reason why I know what is going on with our elected officials. There is currently a bill that takes learning a second language to a new extreme. Mike and I sometimes debate the merits of Dora (my daughter loves Dora), but I think he is onto something here regarding this bill. I would appreciate any and all opinions on this issue.
Now I admit I have not read the text of this bill and am only reporting what I heard. HB 2814 establishes a “dual language” classroom setting under the premise of bringing the ESL students in with English-speaking students, rather than have them isolated in separate classrooms. To to this (again, this is what I have HEARD, not READ), they will have 30 minutes of classroom instruction in English and 30 minutes in Spanish. The added benefit, as the promoters of the bill state, is that the English-speaking students will have more immersion in the “other language” (read: Spanish, as we all know that “bilingual” ALWAYS means Spanish these days) and will be better suited to conduct business abroad.
Okay, so enough of the CRAP. In my opinion, what this bill does, if it passes, is to reduce actual learning by ALL students by 50%. But really, this benefits only the Spanish speakers in that they ultimately receive no incentive to learn English. The goal here should be to bring the Spanish speakers up to full proficiency rather than spending half of every class period for every subject taught forcing the English speakers to learn in Spanish. Currently, Texas requires two years of foreign language (electives in which the students CHOOSE the language they wish to study). This seems to me to remove that choice. It’s only a pilot program now, so I’m just waiting for it to be declared a success and implemented state-wide. Another side effect, it seems is that school districts will either have to hire additional Spanish-speaking teachers or require all teachers in the state be bilingual English/Spanish. I’ve heard Texas has recruited teachers from Mexico in past years to handle the ever-increasing number of ESL students. I guess this will be the same resource they’ll tap to accomplish their goals of destroying our American language and culture. I wonder what Conchita from Guanajuato will teach little Johnny about Gonzales, the Alamo, or Zachary Taylor’s march to Monterrey.
A lack of incentive to learn English by Mexicans AND robbing 50% of the classtime from our English speaking students. What a great idea – and it has the support of TEA. I guess my kids will go to private school…and learn German.
So there you have it, what are your thoughts on this matter?
