A Teacher's Side: What is Best for Our Students
The most basic motivation behind the bilingual education is to aid a child’s English development. But then why has this simple task turned schools into a battlefield? We need to focus on the children, not politics.
The main issue at hand is that bilingual education programs today have developed into the “extended segregation of non-English-speaking students.” Not only are English Language Learner (ELL) students separated from other students, they can be trapped there for years and face discrimination.
Instead of focusing on the main goal, teaching children English, and bilingual education classes are more concerned about “maintaining the ethnic culture of the family than with teaching children English.” Proponents of bilingual education claim that schools must meet needs of ELL students, but they in reverse create "special help" that students may or may not need. Schools want students to succeed and have a successful future, and to achieve those goals ELL students must learn English and gain the ability to compete with native English Speakers in mainstream English-only classes.
Teachers are the ones who first-hand experience the struggles of the children, and do not see them as statistics. Devoted teacher of Puerto Rican students in Massachusetts, Rosalie Porter, was once a strong advocate for bilingual education. As a teacher she saw that “ it didn’t work well in practice [...] it segregated our students from the English-speaking children far too long.” Working first hand with students, Porter saw that the bilingual education that the schools provided was not effective, and turned to English immersion and saw tremendously positive results within a few years. Deeply moved and persuaded by her experience, Porter now advocates for the nationwide use of English immersion classes. Similarly, a charter elementary school in eastern Los Angeles County saw that low income Hispanic students tested in proficient levels on state exams because of immersion programs.
Not only have teachers turned against the system of bilingual education, but also parents ELL students are resisting and fighting alongside them. This phenomena can be seen in the case of Proposition 227 in California. During 1998, California had a large multicultural population, of whom 61.28% voted in favor of the bill because they knew that it was the most effective way to help their children learn English. It was concluded in 2009 that test scores have risen of Hispanic students in a wide range of subjects in effect of the law. Although many may argue that the result of this restrictive policy has caused generations of Latino children to lose their native languages, the bottom line is that schools are helping their students learn English and do well in schools.
The voices of teachers and parents can he heard in lawsuits against school in states all across the U.S, such as California, Colorado, Texas, and New York. In all cases, teachers and parents blame the bilingual educational programs in schools for hindering ELL students academically.
Bilingual education and segregation go hand-in-hand. Children do not understand politics, and cannot understand why they have to be in special classes away from everyone else.