My dad was born in the US. His parents were immigrants. They spoke Ukrainian at home and when he went to school, he couldn’t speak English. He survived.
Not only did he learn English fluently, all the while speaking Ukrainian at home and in church, and in the little local community.
He graduated at the top of his class for all four years in high school, was perfectly fluent in both languages without a trace of accent in either.
It can be done and nobody needs to be coddled to do it.
Teaching kids in their native language here just robs them of the chance to become proficient in both languages. They never master English the way the need to.
I agree.
About a month into the school year when I started HS, 2 recent immigrants from Haiti were enrolled. Neither girl spoke English, only French. One was a freshman, in my class, her sister was a year older. By the end of the school year both were proficient in English, and all of us who were blessed with being in the same class with either of them had much help with our French.
The HS I attended mandated 3 years of French and 2 years of either Latin or Spanish for graduation. At the time (I was class of '78) I believe NYS only required 2 years of foreign language.