Thread: Dual Language programs SUPPOSEDLY benefits Texas

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Carlos I. Uresti: Dual-language programs benefit Texas
By Carlos I. Uresti \ Guest columnist
Posted: 06/12/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

The old saying about cooperation and problem-solving -- two heads are better than one -- continues to withstand the test of time.

That same idea is quickly becoming the foundation of another common wisdom: Two languages are better than one.

Because of Texas' economic and cultural ties to Mexico and our rapidly changing demographics, the linguistic diversity that has always existed in the Lone Star State is becoming more common and more important -- both socially and economically.

This new reality is evident everywhere in Texas.

We see it every day in our schools, churches, and workplaces.

It must be embraced and encouraged, and a great way to do that is through dual-language education.

Currently, there are more than 20 dual-language schools in District 19, and these programs have already shown great success among minority children.

The ability to communicate in two languages gives students the opportunity to explore both their native and adoptive cultures and the skills they need to be successful.

The benefits of dual-language programs are forcing school districts across the state to take a second look at traditional bilingual education, where children are instructed in their native language while transitioning into English.

In these programs, students tend to lose their native language. And when that happens, more is lost than just the words.

Dual-language programs teach academic content in both their native language and English. In many
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programs, children who only speak English learn Spanish and children who speak Spanish learn English.

Both the native speaker and the English speaker are placed in the same classroom.

The dual-language immersion approach is clearly more beneficial to students in Texas, which is already a so-called "minority-majority" state and will post a Hispanic majority in the near future.

Dual-language programs validate native tongues, provide more confidence to native speakers and make both Hispanics and Anglos more competitive in the job market.

More and more, educators are viewing dual-language education as a way to close the achievement gap between non-English speakers and their counterparts in public schools. It provides native Spanish speakers with the English language skills they need and enriches the lives of native English speakers who want to learn a second language.

So for students who hail from both cultures, dual-language programs foster knowledge, understanding and mutual respect, and widen everyone's path to succeed.

In the Texas that is fast approaching, two languages will be much better than one.

Sen. Carlos I. Uresti, D-San Antonio, represents District 19 in the Texas State Senate.

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I'd just like to know WHO decided that the second language in this country should be Spanish? I'm from the "old school" where a second language was considered to be an "elective" not mandatory.

Originally Posted by elpasoborn

Sen. Carlos I. Uresti, D-San Antonio, represents District 19 in the Texas State Senate.

You're an idiot Carlos Uresti. There is but room for one culture, one language and one people in America. That is AMERICAN and ENGLISH. It is idiots like you that need to be voted out and replaced with representatives that care about this country, not a foreign one. If you want to be a Mexican and speak Spanish then stay in Mexico.

Originally Posted by bigtex

Originally Posted by elpasoborn

Sen. Carlos I. Uresti, D-San Antonio, represents District 19 in the Texas State Senate.

You're an idiot Carlos Uresti. There is but room for one culture, one language and one people in America. That is AMERICAN and ENGLISH. It is idiots like you that need to be voted out and replaced with representatives that care about this country, not a foreign one. If you want to be a Mexican and speak Mexican (they don't even speak Spainsh) then stay in Mexico.

Before we know it....the official language of the United States will be
"Spinglish" and or "tex mex".

Originally Posted by elpasoborn

Before we know it....the official language of the United States will be
"Spinglish" and or "tex mex".

We here in Houston know just what you guy in El Paso are going through. We have a ghetto tex-mex slang here too. They are so proud to speak Spanish but they can't get two words of grammatically correct Spanish out of their mouths. There is no benefit to this as they have bastardized both the English and Spanish languages.

I visited San Antonio last year with my oldest granddaughter - never again! Downtown 2 block walk from Riverwalk to our hotel frightened her. Buildings all empty, bums sleeping in doorways and on benches. Skateboarders all over and around the empty storefronts. In fact, I wrote to the Visitors Center and complained when I got back, because one morning I walked over to a police car and complained and he was disinterested in calling it in and asking for patrol in the evening. It never happened. I complained also to the hotel for allowing bums to sleep on the bench in front, they told me they were harmless. How would they know?

Sen Uresti would serve his district much better if he would fix the obvious problems that affect tourists instead of coddling illegals. Now, I'm from Atlanta but know enough not to go there at night, especially with my granddaughter, so I am not easily skittish. I trained at Fort Sam Houston in the 80's and Riverwalk was so very different.

Nothing has improved with illegals except the pockets of the very rich.

The last time we went to San Antonio...we didn't realize that the stupid Hispanic week festival crap was happening at that time. What a nightmare.

Do you think we could have an annual anglo festival?

It is definitely not an asset. In Miami and Miami Dade County bilingual means fluent Spanish and minimal English. I am not joking. My daughter had to speak to someone in human resources in the county and the woman kept repeating que to her. The man in charge of technology dealing with the police radio system in the City of Miami barely speaks English. There are more and more dispatchers in Miami Dade County with Spanish accents and some struggle. There is one that talks like a 6 or 7 year old. When there were alot of calls and you had to multitask she started dispatching in Spanish over the police radio. One officer actually started answering back and realized and stopped. Last weekend she was working and you could feel the tension as a public service aide, another hispanic came on and was unable to think of a word he had to say in English as they were unable to speak Spanish to each other. They are so accustom to not using English when with fellow hispanics that they have problems when they can't. Then she over does the accent when she says boulevard and it is vey annoying. One officer got so fed up that when he had a traffic stop on that road he imitated her when he radio in to her.

There already is a native language in Texas. It's English.

This is getting so bad, that when I called a WalMart in Illinois, the phone was answered in Spanish.

WELL....HERE'S A POSSIBLE HINT AS TO WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN THE SCHOOLS.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_15281629

Sen. Eliot Shapleigh: EPISD engages in 'cheating'
By Adriana Gómez Licón \ El Paso Times
Posted: 06/12/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

EL PASO -- State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh has asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the El Paso Independent School District, which he said has manipulated standardized tests so that certain low-performing students did not take them.

"The model of excellence for El Paso is based on cheating," Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said at a news conference Friday.

Unbeknownst to Shapleigh, a former history teacher, Stanton Bulloch, made similar complaints against the district on Friday.

School Superintendent Lorenzo GarcÃ*a called a news conference of his own to say that Shapleigh's claims were untrue.

"They are false, hurtful and unnecessary," GarcÃ*a said. "We are very accountable to our community."

Shapleigh stood alone at his news conference, but he later received unexpected support from Bulloch, who taught at El Paso High School until retiring last year.

Bulloch said he witnessed widespread manipulations of standardized testing at his school last year.

A teacher for 24 years, Bulloch said sophomores who spoke English poorly were "reclassified" as freshmen in March or April, just before they would have taken the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test. How students performed on the TAKS exam counted toward the school district's compliance with federal standards.

These students remained in the same classes but did not take the standardized test, Bulloch said in an interview.

Shapleigh gave an account similar to Bulloch's. But Shapleigh also said EPISDwent so far as to transfer some students to other high schools or simply told them not to show up on test day.

He said GarcÃ*a's administration altered the test-taking pool to avoid low scores and costly sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Bulloch said he saw students who were weak in English excluded from standardized tests in April 2009.

"What they told the kids to do is they had to go to the cafeteria to sign in," Bulloch said. "They just told the kids that they didn't have to take the tests."

He said the office of the principal reclassified sophomores as freshmen or juniors, based on their language proficiency.

"In my particular class, I counted 30 students that I had all year long but that were reclassified" so they were not tested, Bulloch said.

He said it was the first time in his career that he saw a school cheating on standardized tests. He taught seven years at El Paso High.

He said numerous teachers know about the problem but are afraid of being fired if they talk about the fraudulent testing system.

He said he was speaking out now because retirement had freed him from intimidation.

"I'm not that brave. I wouldn't be speaking out if I hadn't retired," Bulloch said.

Luis Liaño, principal of El Paso High School, said he was not in charge during the time Bulloch said cheating occurred.

"From my experience and what I've done this year, that is not happening," Liaño said.

Shapleigh said manipulations on standardized tests had occurred mostly at Bowie High School.

He said he had learned from teachers and counselors that the district blocked certain students from taking the mandated tests.

Thirty-seven percent of Bowie students passed the TAKS test in 2008. Fifty-eight percent passed last year.

Shapleigh alleged that the improvement was at least partly because certain students were purposely blocked from taking the test by GarcÃ*a's administration.

GarcÃ*a has said no cheating or manipulation occurred at Bowie or elsewhere. Rather, he said, Bowie was on the upswing, as evidenced by improved graduation rates.

Shapleigh said other high schools such as El Paso High, Coronado, Austin and Burges ought to be part of a districtwide investigation.

Shapleigh is campaigning against the district's tax referendum, which voters will decide on Tuesday. The EPISD is asking voters to authorize a 13-cent increase in the tax rate. That would equate to an annual increase of $130 for a $100,000 property.

"More money into a bad model won't make better schools," Shapleigh said.

GarcÃ*a said politics have much to do with the claims Shapleigh has made.

"We must question the senator's motives, his agenda, his timing. He seems to be overzealous," GarcÃ*a said.

GarcÃ*a said Shapleigh began making accusations of fraud in testing at the beginning of the 2008-09 year. He said he met with the senator, who agreed to stop attacking the district.

But, GarcÃ*a said, Shapleigh revived his accusations in mid-May because the district was seeking the tax increase.

School board members said they had not heard any complaints from community members regarding standardized tests.

They said they trusted that the administration was not breaking the law.

"We always have room for improvement," board member Lisa Colquitt-Muñoz said. "Right now, we are following the rules as a district."