I never took High School spanish, so I was unaware. My attitude in High School, and today, is “Why should I learn Spanish? This is the United States of America.”
That’s funny. When my wife offered to teach French at a homeschool co-op, a number of the other mothers asked what was the use of French? French and Spanish are great and important languages. Knowing or even being familiar with a Romance language (including Latin!) helps you understand English better. I get more use out of the smattering of French and the Latin I learned than out of my Honors Chemistry class. All three were worth taking because the things are good to know in and of themselves. A high school is not a vocational school.