Bilingual Education The Present System Needs to be Changed
Bilingual Education: The Present System Needs to be Changed Bilingual education programs have been implemented for decades. Non-English speakingstudents in bilingual education programs, however, have shown no academic or socialimprovement compared to similar students in English-only schools. The disadvantages ofbilingual education programs outnumber the advantages. In addition, recent statistics suggest theneed for reconstruction of the present bilingual education programs. Schools began teaching academics in languages other than English as early as the 1700's,but not until the 1960's did society recognize the hundreds of thousands of non-English speakingstudents struggling in the current system. Before that time, immigrants were enrolled innon-English schools. The fight for a bilingual education program started during the Civil RightsMovement. Immigrants, especially Latin and Mexican Americans, observed the progress thatAfrican Americans were making and decided to fight for "equal education." More than 50percent of Spanish speaking students were dropping out of school each year. The schools found adefinite need for intervention. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Bil
A recent survey of 600 Latino parents, taken by the National Center of EqualOpportunity, showed that the majority thought learning English was more important than learningto read and write in Spanish. Another advantage of Proposition 227 is that it gives thefamilies the right to decide for their children. " The Atlantic Monthly May 1998: 28-32. Immigrantswitness the importance of the English language, and they want to see their children learn it assoon as possible. A law suit wasfiled in September of 1995 when 150 parents from Brooklyn Public schools were angered thattheir children remained segregated in bilingual education programs for three to six years despitethe State Education Law that states that students be immersed in English classes after three years. The prediction is that a similar initiative willoccur on the 2000 ballot in Arizona. Theprotest lasted two weeks (Streisand). Sincethen, the United States has spent more than 400 million dollars each year on bilingual educationprograms. States also need additional funding to hire and train paraprofessionals, and someprograms even pay college tuition for paraprofessionals so that they may qualify as teachers(Porter 30). Even whenenrolled in English taught classes, the students of bilingual education programs tend to remainsegregated from the rest of the student body because they were secluded for so long in theirprevious bilingual education classes.
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Acceptance Essays
