Posted on 05/20/2010 5:12:08 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Buffalo public schools provide inconsistent, inadequate and inequitable services to students who speak English as their second language, according to a scathing report recently released to the administration and Board of Education.
The city's rapidly growing student population of recent immigrants and refugees — now numbering more than 3,000 — has historically been "largely invisible" in Buffalo schools, the report contends.
"The school system didn't seem to notice they were here, didn't think to modify an otherwise successful program to ensure that these newcomers could succeed, and didn't create an effective system to reach out to those communities," states the Council of Great City Schools report, which was commissioned by the board.
"In short, the instructional program for many of these new Americans is poorly defined, inconsistently implemented, and lacking a clear strategy for developing English acquisition skills."
The 158-page report praises the school system's multilingual education department and its director, Tamara O. Alsace, but harshly criticizes the vast majority of principals and teachers who work most directly with students.
It paints the picture of a fragmented school system where instruction and services for the students known in education jargon as "English language learners" vary tremendously from school to school, and sometimes even from classroom to classroom.
The few bright spots noted in the report include the work done at International School 45, the dual-language immersion program at Olmsted, and a "newcomer" program at Lafayette High School. There, the teachers do "an excellent job" but teach in basement facilities that are "cramped, poorly equipped, and isolated from the general school environment."
(Excerpt) Read more at buffalonews.com ...
If they didn't learn quickly they found themselves seriously economically deprived.
So, what happened once the last Polish refugee from Canada learned English?
Since the English language is no longer preferred or required by law (and private companies are prohibited from demanding it in their transactions) perhaps Congress should be forced to learn Spanish and all bills/laws be written in multiple languages.
We can predict that the ACLU will soon demand that Spanish be mandatory in litigation and the courts - because non-English speaking defendants may lose their civil rights as a result of faulty translation.
A melting pot? I think not!!!
It gets worse by the day...people get here illegally and we have to foot the bill to educate them in a language they don’t care to learn or have to learn since we have to communicate in their native tongue in print and in media.
I would love to hear this next time I call in for info:
If you wish to continue in English, push one. If not, stay on the line and you will be connected to the out bound travel assistance program.
Does that make them “bi-ignorant”?
(credit to Bill Bennett’s guest “Scott”)
It's hardly intelligible.
We need an authority to set standards for public use of Spanish so that it will be, where used, understandable by the broadest segment of the population.
In a related story, a group that I was part of failed to get
the local school system to keep the Latin program. (that’s
Latin, not Latino).
Since Buffalo is so close to the Canadian Border I can only assume the bi-lingual program is lacking French teachers.../s
#2 Pressed - "Learn English"
It is the responsibility of the parents to ensure the child can speak English before enrolling in a US school. If the parents fail in this basic responsibility, how can the school be expected to succeed?
I grew up in Buffalo.
In fact, I grew up in one of Buffalo’s federal housing projects (kenfield).
Walking to school i heard a half dozen different languages.
We had students dropped into our classes with virtually no english vocabulary. By the end of the school year their language skills were above the overall level.
The concept of teaching in anything other than english never came up.
To hell with those who don’t want to become ‘americans’. If they choose to cling to their old ways, they are welcome to go back.
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