Board Votes To Close The District's Newcomer School

[tiredofit]

Tulsa School Board Votes To Close The District's Newcomer International School

By Ashli Sims, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Tulsa Public Schools voted Wednesday night to shut down a school dedicated to educating non-English speaking students.

More and more parents are deciding not to send their students to the special program at Newcomer Elementary at 10908 East 5th Street, choosing traditional neighborhood schools instead.

"This is not an easy decision, any time to close a school or program," said Brian Hunt, a Tulsa School Board Member. "But I believe we're at a point where the customers are telling us that they've chosen other places."

Newcomer International School opened back in 2002 when Tulsa started to see its Hispanic population climb. The school focused on English language learners.

Currently, Tulsa Public Schools teaches about 2,700 English language learners and less than half of 1% of them attend Newcomer. The district says about 113 students attended Newcomer last year.

"We're pretty confident about what's going on," said Millard House, Tulsa Public Schools Associate Superintendent. "But there are positive things going on at Newcomer. There are positive things going on in our neighborhood schools also."

The district says of the 15 schools with about the same students as Newcomer, 12 of them out-perform the international school.

But Newcomer parents say it should be about more than just test scores. They say it should be about support, and putting kids who can't understand English into a classroom where only English is spoken will have a long term impact on their education.

"Then it's going to feel neglected, frustrated and that can come to anger," said Marcelino Leal, a parent. "And later on that can translate into something else, that nobody in this society wants."

House says the decision to close the school is not a financial decision.

Current Newcomer students and teachers will be reassigned to neighborhood schools. The school district is considering putting an early childhood education center in the building.

http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=12662397

[defaoite62]

"Then it's going to feel neglected, frustrated and that can come to anger," said Marcelino Leal, a parent. "And later on that can translate into something else, that nobody in this society wants."

That almost sounds like a threat....

Def

[draindog]

whine an cry, then threaten hostility.typical criminal behavior train of thought. teach the little ones english, for gods sake, in japan the kids can even grasp the darn concept. not like its an elective class, YOUR IN AMERICA.

[AngryTX]

But Newcomer parents say it should be about more than just test scores. They say it should be about support, and putting kids who can't understand English into a classroom where only English is spoken will have a long term impact on their education.

How about learning English(on YOUR own dime, BTW...) before enrolling in public school.

[sarum]

Yes, my grandparents studied "elocution." Poor as they were they managed to learn to speak English with no accent at all even though it was not their first language. They did this because the prejudice and barriers to success were very real so learning the language and assimilating as much as possible had a direct correlation to job prospects.

My mother-in-law was born here but into an all Spanish speaking Mexican community. She did have an accent but through common sense she proudly corrected her accent as much as she could. She would even compare her English to those of other Mexican descent people and show how she had improved her accent. Because of her effort she was able to get jobs not available to other Mexican descent workers at a time when most current Mexican descent citizens would now like to believe that they were marginalized in the fields and into their own communities. Her first job was in the public library.

We fail in many aspects as a nation. I know that in European countries people commonly have 4 languages but here in the US I know children from many nations who have matured and still cannot speak English properly - even those who do not have a community of native speakers around them.

I also heard the threat of Marcelino Leal. Do liberals hear this and just not believe?

[Floorguy]

I thought Oklahoma was cracking down on illegals?