Subj: PT/TP 11-03 Bilingual education did not fail
Date: 11/11/03 11:56:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 30 No. 15/ November, 2003
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
http://www.lrna.org
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BILINGUAL EDUCATION DID NOT FAIL
By Gloria M. Sandoval
Learning starts before going to school. Our parents and those
that surround us have been our first teachers. We learn to
communicate and learn words that describe our needs and wants. A
child who has been raised in a language other than English is no
different. Any child feels safe in an environment that supports
and encourages his or her learning.
Since all children learn words and concepts before learning the
spoken language, it becomes important not to retard the language
and learning process by providing this development in the first
language and then introducing the second. When the child starts
school, learning becomes more formal and he or she is further
prepared to write and develop thinking patterns and to learn how
to solve problems. Many studies show that a child that is first
taught in his native language can easily learn to transfer that
learning into the English language (or a second language).
Gradually, fluency in both languages will occur within five to
seven years.
Yet despite its advantages as a method of learning, bilingual
education has fallen victim to political attacks by anti-immigrant
forces which have blamed the program for increasing the cost of
education and lowering the test scores of other children and
students. These attacks have hurt not only bilingual education,
but public education as a whole.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s called attention to the
problems facing minority and culturally different groups. Non-
English speaking students were being treated or identified as
mentally retarded because they could not pass tests in English.
Many would drop out rather than to go through this mistreatment
and humiliation. With the passage of the Bilingual Education Act
in 1968 and millions of dollars of funding, bilingual programs
sprung up throughout the country during the 1970s and 1980s.
Yet, even in the peak years of bilingual education, there were
never any more than 30 percent of non-English speaking learners
enrolled in the bilingual education programs. Seventy percent were
in the English-only programs. During the Reagan Administration
federal funds to bilingual education were reduced, and many state
budget cuts followed.
The English Only movement damaged bilingual education programs
even further. Those behind the illegal immigration hysteria of the
1980s turned parents and voters against bilingual education
claiming that it promoted the use of "public services without
paying taxes." How can anyone living in the U.S. get away with
not paying taxes? It is impossible! But many believed this lie.
It is important to understand that bilingual education as an
educational approach did not fail. Where it was actually
implemented, it was an overwhelming success that is documented in
empirical research. It never had a chance to succeed!
The fact is the implementation of bilingual education has been
uneven and varied from school district to school district. The
lack of teacher training and proper credentialing has not
permitted a complete program to be available at each district. For
example, there may be a bilingual kindergarten classroom but then
no first or second grade bilingual classroom. (In 1988, the
California Department of Education estimated that only eight
percent of English Learners had a qualified bilingual teacher for
two years consecutively.) The lack of consistency has negatively
affected the reputation of these programs and not served children
at the level of quality that was possible to reach. The most
outstanding feature of the demise of bilingual education has been
the lack of funding and the escalation of treating it as a
political football rather than as an educational model.
All these criticisms and problems have built up suspicions,
confusion, and a lack of confidence in the public school systems.
This is evidenced by the growing number of home instruction,
independent/private schools, charter schools and the voucher
movement. One major effect of this attack on bilingual education
is that public education as a whole has been weakened and services
divided. Not getting the appropriate education only tends to cause
learning delays and additional costs to the public. Those who are
now criticizing the school system for not providing a sufficiently
educated workforce are the same ones blaming those who have been
deprived of an appropriate education.
The No Child Left Behind Act will make matters that much worse.
All schools are now legally required to show "Adequate Yearly
Progress" of test scores on standardized tests or face sanctions,
but with no additional financial support. A new burden of proof
has been placed on schools and teachers. That schools need to be
more accountable has become the "new demand." Education as a
whole is under attack.
Our demand must be to prioritize our children by funding
appropriate educational programs for all, not by allowing our
public monies to destroy other countries through war. Our
children are our future, and we must demand that everything they
need for a cultured and happy life be nurtured and protected.
[Gloria M. Sandoval is a high school guidance counselor in the
California Central Valley. She alone must serve over 540 students
in their junior year. "I am doing the best I can to serve them
all," she says. She is available to speak through Speakers for a
New America, 1-800-691-6888 or [log in to unmask]]
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This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
(Online Edition), Vol. 30 No. 15/ November, 2003; P.O. Box 3524,
Chicago, IL 60654; Email: [log in to unmask]; http://www.lrna.org
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
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