The School Systems on Bilingual Education

Throughout the world, language defines who you are and where you come from. Something unique to the United States of America is that we not only have one language that unites us, we have hundreds that separate us; that is the core of the problem. Instead of forcing people to learn English as soon as they enter the country, the government has been mollycoddling and pampering non-English speakers. Such programs as bilingual education have been at the source of the problem. Bilingual education has said to many foreigners that its ok if you come to America and don"t speak English, it"s only our language, but we"ll cater to you. It all simmers down to one simple point that bilingual education is not necessary and is harmful to the United States as a whole.

Voting ballots were just sent out in the mail last week. Something was very noticeable, not only was it in English, but it was in Spanish as well. One very common sign that English education in this country has not improved was just sent to millions of voters all over the country. If things do not improve, the children of those Spanish-speaking citizens, in ten twenty years down the road, will be as illiterate in English as they were the day they were born.

"The character of American life 50 years hence will determined... by what happens in elementary school classrooms where immigrants" children are learning – or not learning – English" (Barone). Everything that influences a child"s life happens in their early years, and if English does not influence them then, they may never be. "...for many years Latino kids failed to learn enough English to score well on tests and qualify for good jobs, thanks to 'bilingual education," which in most cases was neither bilingual or education"(Barone) The school system for non-native speakers seems not only inadequate, but in the need of great reform. Immersion seems to be the only answer to that great problem.

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It is not only theorized that immersing and teaching straight English would be the solution, it was actually tested out. Last June, California was the first state to completely do away with bilingual education with Proposition 227. "The proposition mandated that these students take English immersion classes, unless their parents specifically requested that they continue traditional bilingual education programs." (Forbes) The government gave parents the right to allow their children to continue with the slower bilingual programs instead of letting them mainstream into English. Not only were educators against this move, but also President Clinton himself did not condone it. (Samuelson) The results, however, were overwhelming. "Test scores of children from Spanish-speaking families....rose. In second grade, average reading scores of students with limited English ability have jumped in the past two years from the 19th percentile nationally to the 28th percentile. In math, the same students went from the 27th to the 41st percentile.." (Samuelson). With everyone against this new idea of reform for schooling, not only did they succeed, they out-witted 28 and 41 percent of the country. Something must be done right if such numbers jump in such a short amount of time. " 'The kids have taken to English and are absorbing it like sponges" (Wildavsky). Younger students have more of the want and the need to learn, they don"t become lazy or intolerant of school, something that develops during the teenage years. They have gained a language and a new place and outlook on the world.

Along with this fast paced English education called immersion, comes along a new identity. Until a person understands and can speak the language of the country, he or she doesn"t really feel like a citizen or an American. Many immigrants want this education for their sons and daughters, so that they can have a better life in this country knowing English, unlike them. "A recent national survey conducted by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan organization, reports that 75 percent of the foreign-born parents say that the school"s first priority should be to teach English quickly.." (Pedalino Porter) Immigrant parents are usually very strict on the English education issue, like most parents feel, they want their children to grow up and live American lives, better lives than their parents had back where they came from. Not only do these parents condone the teaching of straight English, but they also become quite rowdy if it does"t happen. "In Los Angeles, the parents of Mexican-American children in the Ninth Street School staged a boycott, keeping their children out of school for several days in 1996 to protest the school principal"s unwillingness to increase the amount of English language instruction after appeals by the parents" (Pedalino Porter) The passion that these parents possess is so fierce for their wish for their children to have a better life, they would give up or protest anything, including a couple of days of their child"s education. "Of course, my parents replied. What would they not do for their children"s well-being?" (Rodriguez 532). With every parent comes that special bond with a child, life seems so trivial when you can give everything you have to better that child"s life and education.

With the knowledge of English, American identity is finally found. "I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen" (Rodriguez 533). That identity can only be found through the English language, the only official and primary language of our country. The English language is what makes us, it is our identity, and it signifies that we are from America, one of the only countries in the world where a beggar can make it as a middle-class person.

The downtrodden and persecuted alike flee to our country in hopes of a better future for not only themselves but also their children. Immersion of the English language is the only way that those people and their children can really identify themselves as being American. Without the language, those people are still what they were before, oppressed in the darkness of ignorance and disillusion. The only way to remedy that is to teach our younger generation, and teach them early enough, the only language.

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