Thursday, September 21, 2006Bad English
Raleigh City Council member Tommy Craven said the city should be teaching new immigrants English, not how to improve their Spanish.

So he voted against a program to improve Spanish literacy at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The free program would be open to anybody, including English speakers seeking to bone up on their Español.

As proposed, the city would provide classroom space at the Method Road Community Center. Wake Technical Community College and the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh would pay for upgrades to the space and equipment, including computers, with grants.

Craven figured there would be some cost to the city. Jack Duncan, the city’s parks and recreation director, said it would cost $25 to $35 an hour to rent the classroom space.

“I would far prefer we teach them bad English than better Spanish,” Craven said.

But he was the lone naysayer. The council voted 7-1 for the program.

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