Yesterday I read an article that said the Florida legislator is proposing that all students from kindergarten thru second grade be required to take Spanish. The key word for me being, "required". Not offered but required. The school day wouldn't be any longer, and I don't believe there is any empty space in the current school day, so something would have to give. Math, maybe? Nope. They are talking about reducing or dropping art, music, or PE.
That's Awesome! Let's give up culture for learning someone else's language! (I sure hope you picked up the sarcasm in that line.)
If I still lived in Florida, I would be writing letters like mad. I propose taking the money they want to spend on this madness and using it to check work permits on the citrus farms. Check the guys working the sugar in the Everglades too.
Many schools offer English as a second language to students. Take some money and expand that program. They want to come to the United States, they should learn English. They aren't on vacation here. They are not tourists.
Learning a second language is a great thing for students, but do not offer only one choice, and then make that a mandatory class.
This makes me irritated. I have seen job applications offered in Spanish and English. If they can't read an English job application, then how in the F'ing world are they going to function in this friggin' job!?? None of the managers speak Spanish! 95% of the customers don't speak Spanish. Guess what, you can't work here unless you speak ENGLISH!
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Some of the parents of our hispanic students don't want their children learning English, because they feel it interfears with their cultural heritage.
When you try to explain the ways that it is disadvantaging their child they say that all of America will be speaking Spanish soon anyways. I thought that was kind of laughable, but in light of Florida's educational turn maybe its not so funny.
One thing I noticed in a former life . . . many Spanish-only speakers were illiterate in Spanish as well. I'll just shrug.
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