Kids kicked off a bus for speaking English

ktsp.com ^ | 01/09/2007 | staff

[Nachum]

Imagine sending your kids off to school, but when they get to the bus they are told they can't get on because they speak English.

That's right, English.

It happened to a few children in St. Paul and now the school district is apologizing.

Rachel Armstrong sent her kids to pick up the bus as usual Monday, but after the driver let the kids on, he told them he would not pick them up again. He even said he wouldn't take them home that afternoon.

Armstrong left work early Tuesday, forced to pick up her kids from Phalen Lake Elementary School.

Her twin girls, 10, and her son, 8, were kicked off their regular school bus. They were told by the bus driver the route is for non-English speaking students only.

"I was furious. I was at work and I was just mad." Armstrong said. "I felt like we were being discriminated because we speak English. Just because they speak English, they can't ride the school bus. I mean, this is America, right?"

Administrators at St. Paul Public Schools admit the district made a mistake when it stranded the kids at school Monday.

However, the district points out, that particular bus route serves one of three language academies. The one at Phalen Lake is for Hmong students learning English.

The academies all have separate bus routes to keep its students together.

The district decided to enforce the separate routes beginning Monday, but it did not tell the Armstrong family.

"It is our responsibility to ensure the safety of these kids and we made a mistake. The kids should have gotten home that day," Dayna Kennedy, public relations representative.

The district also discovered the Armstrongs no longer live in the Phalen Lake School boundary because they moved last year.

So even thought the district apologized, if they want to still go to Phalen, they are going to have to get their own ride.

[Michael.SF.]

Back in the 80s many parents insisted on English only in the home so that their children would be real American,

Not just the 1980's, but the 1880's as well.

My wife's father tells the story of his Uncle coming home from school after having been beat up for speaking Swedish (Minnesota 1915). The edict was then laid down by her Grandfather that only English would be spoken from that day forward. Plus side is the kids all learned English, down side is the ability to speak Swedish was lost.

[Robert A Cook PE]

BS.

I have seen few here NOT capable (with effort) of teaching their kids anything up through most HS science and math. ALL MS math & science.

Grade school teaching is easy - only the teachers make it appear difficult and troubling.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Great link! Notice it's located in beautiful Fresno, California, home of FreeRepublic!

[wintertime]

I have seen very few people even here capable of teaching anything above elementary or rudimentary subjects.(justshutupandtakeit)

And lets also not forget that most of our Military personnel come from families of middle to upper middle class families and above. ( EndWelfareToday)

Grade school teaching is easy - only the teachers make it appear difficult and troubling. ( Robert A. Cook, PE)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Our military personnel do come from the middle and upper classes. This means that it was their parents who taught them and created a learning environment for them to teach themselves. Remember. ALL academically successful children are homeschool, even if they are institutionalized in a government school. The only thing the government school is doing is sending home a free curriculum for the parents and child to use.

Oh...and Robert A. Cook PE is completely correct. Teaching the elementary material is easy. Parents are finally figuring out that the so-called "Professional" claiming to have specialized knowledge in teaching is really a fraud working the levers behind the curtain in the Emerald City. Homeschoolers, like the little dog Toto, has finally exposed them as the charlatans that they are.

As for my own kids ( who would likely be average among the children of Freepers here) were in college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13. All three children finished all levels of calculus ( Calc III) and all their general college courses by the age of 15. The two younger finished their B.S. degrees in math by the age of 18 at our flagship state university. The oldest of these two recently finished a master degree in math at the age of 20.

The oldest is a nationally and internationally ranked athlete. He is study accounting since it meshed well with his heavy training and travel schedule. He also took off 2 years to serve a church mission in Eastern Europe. He returned home totally fluent in Russian, and will soon finish his accounting degree at the same age as his institutionalized contemporaries.

The NEA and teachers would like our citizen to think that teaching is a higher calling of some sort. What they are really doing is blowing smoke, flashing a lot of mirrors, and pretending they are the "Professor" working the levers in Emerald City.

It is time to send these charlatans Over the Rainbow.

[swheats]

"Why should the district pay money to pick up kids who don't live in their district?"

If only that was the only true reason they couldn't ride the bus. We could all accept that one. Kids not riding because they speak English...yet the kids are learning English at the language school. Just doesn't make sense. Then to have a choir get beaten up after singing a patriotic song. Pizza business accepting pesos. Makes you wonder what the heck is going on.

[ThanhPhero]

Downside also was that they probably learned learned English with Swedish accents. But then, without that there would not be a Minnesota Accent today.

[ThanhPhero]

The math books in public schools are written to require teacher presentation and are very difficult to learn math from without a teacher. The Saxon Series, on the other hand is designed so that it can be read, understood , and taught, by just about anyone. I got the Saxon Algebra 1 when it first came out and gave it to my 8th grade son who taught himself algebra from it. I read it myself and followed directions and it was perfectly laid out for that. The year before I tried to help my nephew with his public school algebra book and was mystified. I could help him learn algebra but could not tell whether it was what the book wanted. Saxon is mostly used in private schools and at home because it makes teachers feel unnecessary and the union doesn't like that. Some public schools seem to be going to Saxon for the elementary grades but at the lower levels there is a tremendous amount of paper and worksheets so I guess that satisfies teachers that they are useful.

[wintertime]

The math books in public schools are written to require teacher presentation and are very difficult to learn math from without a teacher. The Saxon Series, on the other hand is designed so that it can be read, understood , and taught, by just about anyone.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My children used the Saxon Math books, and excelled. They were finished all general college requirements and Calculus III by the age of 15. The two younger earned B.S. degrees in math by the age of 18, and the older of these two, a masters in math at 20.

You make an interesting point about public school text books being written so that a government teacher is necessary. I would bet, that they are also written in this manner to mystify the parents, and reinforce the idea that only so-called "professionals" can teach.

[ThanhPhero]

I would bet, that they are also written in this manner to mystify the parents, and reinforce the idea that only so-called "professionals" can teach.

That has been my impression. My wife's school tried out the Saxon series a few years ago and rejected it after a year because some teachers thought it was too easy and they felt left out.