See Dick run. See Jane run. See spot run. Run, Spot, run! 
Posted on 07/15/2006 11:00:12 AM PDT by calcowgirl
A high-decibel debate among education officials, politicians and advocates of bilingual schooling that led to the recent yanking of funds from the state Board of Education boils down to one difficult question:
How should California teach roughly a quarter of the state's public school population -- students who are not native English speakers -- how to read and write?
The persistent issue moved into the spotlight last week when former governors Gray Davis and Pete Wilson urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to resist bilingual activists and stick with California's current approach to teaching English learners how to read and write.
There is no argument that a solid grounding in those skills is essential to success; they open the gate to almost everything else students will learn. And both sides agree that students must learn to read and write in English, as mandated by Proposition 227 in 1998.
But even in English-only public schools, there's controversy over how best to reach students who are typically among the poorest-performing in the state.
One side insists students new to English should learn to read and write in a way that's geared toward non-native English speakers. They've yet to develop specifics, but advocates say the approach would incorporate more pictures, written passages with simple syntax, common vocabulary and less academic English.
The other side demands all children learn to read and write the same way, whether English is native to them or they're just learning the language.
They argue that reading and writing lessons geared for English learners would amount to state-sanctioned segregation.
"Why would we then give them something different from, less than, what native English speakers get? It's an equity issue," said Dale Webster, a policy consultant with the state Board of Education.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The parents don't usually like it, of course, but unlike the American Indians used to perfect this technique, the Mexicans came here voluntarily and knew what to expect.
They could take their complaints to the Mexican Congress I suppose.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1111944/posts
I would teach them how to read and write their native tongue and forget about English all together. Teaching them English only helps them to stay in this country. Learning their own tongue would not!
A quick way to cut the numbers of non-English speaking students would be to not allow non-citizen students in public school classrooms. The United States should not have to spend tax dollars to teach illegal immigrants.
Immersion is the only way to go, kids are language sponges and learn quickly. The younger the better.
And the English learned will be proper English.
Thanks.
FYI...
I didn't "complete the excerpted article"--there were 500 words I didn't post--but I guess I did go over the word limit when including that last sentence in a separate post.
Uh...how was it done for over the last one hundred years of American history? English only in schools and every where else public. Period. Amazing what that does and how well it worked. If they want to preserve some kind of ethnic heritage (as to why I don't have a clue; what does it mean to be an American? I thought it was to shed all that baggage from the sh%$hole you came from) then let them go to some Saturday class offered by their private community center or some such nonsense (all that does is make the parents happy). I don't get it; you are either desirous and proud to become an American, or don't come at all. We don't need people who want it both ways or just want the economic benefits and remain neutral or eventual enemies of America. Am I dense or what?_
Thank you!!!
But what did THEY know ...
I'm with you Mike. From personal experience, when my wife and 8 year old daughter came here From Chile (legally) in the 70's, the only English the girl knew was "hamburger." She was put in a regular class with no ESL stuff. It was sink or swim. Half way through the school year she was fluent in English. At the end of the year, she had no accent. (Except for the word "yellow.") And this kid was no Mensa candidate. She flunked SPANISH in high school. Yeah, that's what I said.
How should California teach roughly a quarter of the state's public school population -- students who are not native English speakers -- how to read and write?
In the words of Algore: "The debate is over". The people of California settled this through direct vote. Of course for leftists issues are only settled when they get their way.
See Dick run. See Jane run. See spot run. Run, Spot, run!
That's a good start.
I've posted this before:
My grandma taught 2nd grade in Delano, CA in the 1920's. There was a large influx of Russian families in the area at this time. The students passed from language-appropriate grade to language-appropriate grade at the rate of their own learning. Grandma had 15-year-old boys and girls pass through her classroom as they learned the language.
Since we no longer have control over the behavior of students, this might prove problematic. Maybe we should regain control over students' behaviors.
WRONG! My kids were educated in the CA school system. The BIGGER question based on my experience shoud be "How should California teach roughly THREE QUARTERS of the state's public school population -- students who ARE native English speakers -- how to read and write? The schools are failing these kids, too.
That would at least get her served at Ginos in Philadelphia!
As I recall, "hamburguesa" was the first Spanish word I learned when I worked in Santiago, Chile a long time ago.
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