Free Republic

Prop. 58 effectively would repeal the 1998 Proposition 227 that required English language learners in California schools be taught largely in English only Language Immersion programs are the optimal approach to learn a language. This is never more evident than in the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, a Department of Defense educational and research institution which provides linguistic and cultural instruction. They use classroom teaching as well as immersion techniques for maximum results. Immersion is also the best way to assimilate immigrants into any culture. California Proposition 58, “Non-English Languages Allowed in Public Education” would put an end to...

More city kids are graduating from high school, but that doesn't mean they can do college math. Basic algebra involving fractions and decimals stumped a group of City University of New York freshmen - suggesting city schools aren't preparing them... "These results are shocking," ... "They show that a disturbing proportion of New York City high school graduates lack basic skills." During their first math class at one of CUNY's four-year colleges, 90% of 200 students tested couldn't solve a simple algebra problem... Only a third could convert a fraction into a decimal. The lack of math skills means the...

AUSTIN — Students trying to learn English and those who already speak the language are typically separated into different classrooms at most schools. But a dual language immersion program state lawmakers approved this session will pair those children together in an effort to help all of them become bilingual. The six-year pilot program will be tried out in up to 10 Texas public school districts and 30 campuses. Lawmakers who supported the bill say it tries to address the reality of Texas schools. More than 40 percent of first-graders in the state's largest urban school districts — Houston, Dallas and...

Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich released the following statement today on YouTube in English and in Spanish.

From kindergarten through college, returning students may not be coming back to more difficult reading, writing and mathematical tasks, but they will be able to ascend to the next level of sensitivity. But to what avail? Gender-Bending Etiquette For example, students may graduate high school not ready to read at college level but they will know what to say to someone who just had a sex-change operation. “There’s news today that students at Batavia High School in New York will be greeted by administrators, counselors, and psychologists when they return on September 6th for forums and question-and-answer sessions about ‘gender...

When the Census Bureau released its American Community Survey analyzing demographic trends among U.S. households last week, the Washington Post and the New York Times, the flagship newspapers of the Eastern liberal establishment, celebrated the news with front-page stories. The Census Bureau’s data confirmed that the U.S. continues to be inundated by a flood of immigrants both legal and illegal (a distinction the bureau does not even make). One Nation The top-of-the-page headline in the Post said: “Area Immigrants Top 1 Million.” The Times’ front-page headline read: “New Data Shows Immigrants’ Growth and Reach.” “Last year, one in five people...

Hoping to appeal to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's immigrant roots, educators and legislators Thursday called on the Austrian-born leader to support the use of special textbooks geared toward students born outside the United States. "You're also an immigrant. You still know exactly what I'm talking about, governor," Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, said during a news conference promoting her bill aimed at bridging the gap between native and non-native students. Senate Bill 1769 would require the state Board of Education to develop an approach to teaching reading and writing that incorporates English instruction for non-native speakers. Advocates envision textbooks and teaching materials...

At a time when bilingual education remains entrenched in the United States, two-thirds of Hispanics polled nonetheless support making English the official U. S. language. Most lawmakers have yet to get that message, with a few notable exceptions. At the Eagle Forum Summit this past Thursday, Rep. Steve King of Iowa spoke on “an endeavor for me that goes back to 1996.” That endeavor is making English the official language of the United States. “Throughout all of history, there is nothing more powerful and unifying than a common language.” Rep. King, throughout the past decade, has done countless hours of...

A federal judge Friday ordered the Legislature to spend more money on education for students learning English and said he will impose fines starting at $500,000 a day late next month if deadlines aren't met. U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins also ruled that the estimated 160,000 Arizona students learning English will be able to get high school diplomas without passing the state's graduation test until they've had time to prepare in adequately funded programs. Plaintiffs claim the state's AIMS test is unfair to students learning English because of shortcomings in programs intended to improve their skills in the language....

In 1998, California voters banned bilingual education in that state. But now, some parents have the option of putting their children in "dual immersion" programs where, beginning in kindergarten, students are taught in both languages. In this program, kindergarten lessons are taught 90 percent in Spanish and 10 percent English. In first, grade, it's 80 percent Spanish and 20 percent English and by fifth grade, it's 50 percent to 50 percent. Supporters say it gives English-speaking children a chance to learn another language and ties Hispanic children to their heritage. Half of America's non-English speaking kindergarteners are enrolled in California...

The 10th annual Latino Education Summit, just held in San Diego, wasn't much different from the previous nine. Each year, San Diego County's Office of Education reports to educators, parents and students on how well Hispanics are faring in county schools. The news this year, as in summits past, wasn't good – while nationally there is evidence the achievement gap between Latino and white students is narrowing, especially among younger students, a sizable gap still exists in San Diego. The gap is even larger – up to 51 percentage points at some schools – for English learners, most of them...

A panel of 36 distinguished public policy experts and scholars—ranging from Nobel laureate Milton Friedman to Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey—has selected the Internal Revenue Code as the No. 1 item on this year’s Human Events list of the Ten Most Harmful Government Programs. The programs elected by our judges don’t just cost money, they also attack our values and corrode the spirit of liberty that makes America the greatest nation. As in previous years, we initially asked our judges to nominate programs for the list. The judges were then sent ballots listing...

First daughter Jenna Bush, who put her career plans on hold while campaigning to reelect her father, has decided to live in Washington and plans to teach at a District public school that serves low-income children. The White House would not release details yesterday, but we've learned that she has applied to teach at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in the Mount Pleasant/Columbia Heights neighborhood. The school's founder and executive director, Linda Moore, wouldn't confirm Bush's employment, saying: "We don't discuss the relationship between a prospective employee and the school until we have a formal agreement. This...

On a sultry night in late June, when the school term was nearly over, two dozen parents gathered in a church basement in Brooklyn to talk about what a waste the year had been. Immigrants from Mexico and the Dominican Republic, raising their children in the battered neighborhood of Bushwick, they were the people bilingual education supposedly serves. Instead, one after the other, they condemned a system that consigned their children to a linguistic ghetto, cut off from the United States of integration and upward mobility. These parents were not gadflies and chronic complainers. Patient and quiet, the women clad...

Perhaps this has been going on for a long time and perhaps it has been covered elsewhere, but if so, I've missed it. At 6:50 a.m. (PT) today, I tuned in to PBS in Los Angeles and saw Sesame Street with all the characters speaking Spanish. I did not watch long enough to see if the whole show was in Spanish, but at least this particular segment was in Spanish. (No English subtitles, by the way.) So let me get this straight. Millions of native language Spanish speakers illegally enter America to live and the American taxpayer, through federal funding...

<p>As an English-speaking kindergarten student enrolled at Fruit Ridge Elementary's two-way Spanish immersion program, Clare Murphy remembers being scared. "People were talking in another language, and I was all confused," said the strawberry blond with a dusting of freckles on her nose. "Then, it started making sense."</p>

RIGA, Latvia -- About 6,000 Russian teenagers and schoolchildren staged a noisy protest outside Latvia's parliament just before lawmakers passed a law Thursday requiring that all public schools -- including those with all-Russian student bodies -- teach mainly in Latvian. In what was one of the largest demonstrations in recent Latvian history, hundreds of children waved mostly Russian-language placards, one reading, "Don't twist our arms. Let us speak Latvian voluntarily!" The crowd also chanted "hands off our school" and "no to the reforms" in Russian. The new law mandates that at least 60 percent of classes in public schools, even...

Legend has long held that illegal aliens give American citizens cheap lettuce and cheap child care. Excepting for agribusiness and the upper classes, that legend is, in reality, a nightmare, in which the American middle and working classes pay and pay and pay for illegal immigration, and get nothing but grief in return. In states with heavy illegal alien populations, the budget of a middle-class family is full of hidden illegal alien surcharges. As a result, today’s middle-class American family with two full-time working parents has less discretionary income than its traditional forebear, in which the father alone was...

BBy STEVE HOWIE MOUNT VERNON — The school district is studying the possibility of converting one or more of its six elementary schools into dual language programs where the day is divided between lessons in Spanish and English for all students. "Research says that's the best delivery model," Superintendent Mack Armstrong said. "Then the question is, Why wouldn't we do it?" Armstrong's enthusiasm for the idea follows a visit to the district two weeks ago by Richard Gomez, bilingual education director for the state education department in Olympia. In the last three years, Gomez has spearheaded efforts to create 17...

As I write this column, a bit of harmless, racist, fluff is transpiring on the TV screen: The Hispanic Day Parade. A celebration of Latin "pride." The hosts are alleged journalists Jim Watkins, who is white, and Lolita Lopez, who is Hispanic, with Hispanic reporter Matt Garcia working the street (the announcers note that reporter Marysol Castro, who worked with Garcia in 2002, is on vacation in Costa Rica, or she’d be there, too). The parade this year was dedicated to the memory of Latin singer, Celia Cruz, who died on July 16 at the age of "around 79." Lolita...