Latino Parents Decry Bilingual Programs

[Harold F. Schiffman]

I think that another issue that must be addressed here is that so-called
bilingual programs are often unequal in quality, and both the children and
parents notice this--the textbooks in the 2nd language are often inferior
in appearance, at least, to those in the dominant language, and both
parents and children feel they are being given second-hand goods, that
they are being ghettoized, and kept from getting the "good stuff".
Bilingual programs are sometimes rushed into production, and the quality
suffers.  The literature on bilingualism has long focused on "quality"
issues, and the need to have balanced programs that produce balanced
bilinguals.

I'm guilty of this to a certain extent myself--back in the 1970's, I and a
colleague worked in Gypsies in Tacoma, WA to try to create some materials
for Romany with which they could get federal funding from OBEMLA.  The
prototype materials we produced were amateurish, but it was the best we
could do with zero funding.  Had the program been funded, we would still
have been hard put to produce anything that would compete with the
full-color bling-bling English materials available. (This was before
desk-top publishing etc.)

Children are famous for being able to detect microscopic differences in
the size of two pieces of cake, so they are also quick to discern
differences in the quality of materials, in the quality of teachers (and
their preparation, their education, etc.), in the way teachers are treated
by administrators, etc. etc. and this results in rejection of programs
that aren't perceived as "quality" programs.

Hal Schiffman




On Tue, 20 Jul 2004, Felicia Briscoe wrote:

> Lynn Goldstein brings up a pertinent point.  When you read the text of the
> article, its not bilingualism that parents are objecting to, but the way the
> bilingual programs are run.  And the problems discussed with the program are
> what parents are concerned about.  The title of the article was VERY
> misleading.  Why do you suppose this title was used?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lynn Goldstein [mailto:lgoldstein at miis.edu]
> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 4:18 PM
> To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> Cc: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> Subject: Re: Latino Parents Decry Bilingual Programs
>
>
> I am a fervent supporter of  bilingual education. However, there are several
> issues that haven't been addressed and that seem to be influencing at least
> some of these parents' reactions:
>
> --Some children are put into bilingual classrooms that do not belong in them
> ( cases, for example, where a child has a Spanish surname, but is a native
> or proficient user of English)
>
> --Some bilingual programs are not sound and the children's language and
> academic proficiencies can be  negatively affected in these unsound
> programs.
>
> It's far more complicated than just parents not knowing what is best for
> their children when it comes to bilingual education. We need to also listen
> to what these parents are saying.
>
> Lynn Goldstein
>
> lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu writes:
> >Hi Paul!
> >
> >For years we've been telling speakers of minority languages that
> >"maintenance of the L1 along with the acquisition of an L2 is enriching
> >and empowering."  So from where I sit, I've got questions like, Why
> >aren't they
> >buying it?"  "They aren't listening to us, so who would they listen to?"
> >
> >Stan
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: <Paul_Lewis at sil.org>
> >To: <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> >Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 4:17 PM
> >Subject: Re: Latino Parents Decry Bilingual Programs
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Stan and all:
> >>
> >> I think the phenomenon described in the NY Times article and that you
> >(and
> >> I) have observed elsewhere is a common one - parents want for their
> >> children what they perceive will be best for them.
> >>
> >> What is missing, however, is the opportunity for those parents to
> >> have a larger perspective on "what is best". Maintenance of the L1
> >> along with
> >the
> >> acquisition of an L2 is enriching and empowering.  The acquisition of
> >> L2
> >at
> >> the expense of L1 is impoverishing though it may, for the moment,
> >> seem
> >like
> >> the best option.
> >>
> >> Informing individuals and the community as a whole of the value of
> >> and options for language maintenance is what we CAN do without
> >> imposing a decision from the outside. With adequate information and
> >> education about language and, in particular, the value of L1, many
> >> parents would make different choices.
> >>
> >> Your kids attending an English school is a choice for L1 maintenance
> >> in your case while at the same time, I know (because I know you),
> >> you are also encouraging and providing opportunities for your
> >> children to
> >acquire
> >> and use a second language in a variety of contexts.  That is a choice
> >that
> >> many parents don't think they have - and in many cases don't have --
> >> because policy and practice forces them towards language shift.
> >>
> >> M. Paul Lewis
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>              "Stan & Sandy
> >>              Anonby"
> >>              <stan-sandy_anonb
> >To
> >>              y at sil.org>
> ><lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> >>              Sent by:
> >cc
> >>              owner-lgpolicy-li
> >>              st at ccat.sas.upenn
> >Subject
> >>              .edu                      Re: Latino Parents Decry
> >Bilingual
> >>                                        Programs
> >>
> >>              07/19/2004 02:57
> >>              PM
> >>
> >>
> >>              Please respond to
> >>              lgpolicy-list at cca
> >>               t.sas.upenn.edu
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Maybe most people place more value in getting ahead economically than
> >> on preserving their language.  Here in Brazil the government promotes
> >> bilingual education for the Indians.  Nevertheless, in almost all the
> >> villages
> >I've
> >> been to, both parents and children are adamant that they prefer
> >> "white teachers", who teach only in Portuguese.  This is true even in
> >> villages where the kids are monolingual Indian language speakers.
> >> This makes me sad, but what right do I have to tell them to do
> >> otherwise?  I put my
> >children
> >> in
> >> an English school for the same reasons the Indians put their children
> >> in Portuguese school.
> >>
> >> Stan
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Harold F. Schiffman" <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> >> To: "Language Policy-List" <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 10:04 AM
> >> Subject: Latino Parents Decry Bilingual Programs
> >>
> >>
> >> > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/education/14educ.html
> >> >
> >> > >From the NYTimes, July 14, 2004
> >> > ON EDUCATION
> >> >
> >> > Latino Parents Decry Bilingual Programs
> >> > By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN
> >> >
> >> > ON a sultry night in late June, when the school term was nearly
> >> > over,
> >two
> >> > dozen parents gathered in a church basement in Brooklyn to talk
> >> > about
> >> what
> >> > a waste the year had been. Immigrants from Mexico and the Dominican
> >> > Republic, raising their children in the battered neighborhood of
> >> Bushwick,
> >> > they were the people bilingual education supposedly serves.
> >> > Instead,
> >one
> >> > after the other, they condemned a system that consigned their
> >> > children
> >to
> >> > a linguistic ghetto, cut off from the United States of integration
> >> > and upward mobility.
> >> >
> >> > These parents were not gadflies and chronic complainers. Patient
> >> > and quiet, the women clad in faded shifts, the men shod in
> >> > oil-stained
> >work
> >> > boots, they exuded the aura of people reluctant to challenge
> >authority,
> >> > perhaps because they ascribed wisdom to people with titles, or
> >> > perhaps because they feared retribution. With the ballast of one
> >> > another's company, however, they spoke. Gregorio Ortega spoke about
> >> > how his son Geraldo, born right here in New York, had been abruptly
> >> > transferred
> >into
> >> a
> >> > bilingual class at P.S. 123 after spending his first four school
> >> > years learning in English. Irene De Leon spoke of her daughter
> >> > being placed
> >in
> >> a
> >> > bilingual section at P.S. 123 despite having done her first year
> >> > and a half of school in English when the family lived in Queens.
> >> > Benerita Salsedo wondered aloud why, after four years in the
> >> > bilingual track at P.S. 145 in Bushwick, her son Alberto still had
> >> > not moved into English classes. Her two other children were also
> >> > stuck in bilingual limbo.
> >> >
> >> > "I'm very angry," Ms. Salsedo said in Spanish through an
> >> > interpreter.
> >> "The
> >> > school is supposed to do what's best for the kids. The school puts
> >> > my kids' education in danger, because everything is in English
> >> > here." And
> >> the
> >> > children had no trouble expressing their own frustration lucidly
> >enough
> >> in
> >> > English. "I ask the teacher all the time if I can be in English
> >class,"
> >> > said Alberto, a 9-year-old who will enter sixth grade in the fall.
> >"The
> >> > teacher just says no." For the time being, Alberto added, he learns
> >> > English by watching the Cartoon Network.
> >> >
> >> > Listening to this litany, I experienced the sensation that Yogi
> >> > Berra memorably called "dj vu all over again." Five years earlier,
> >> > in the rectory of another church only a few blocks away, another
> >> > group of immigrant parents voiced the identical complaints about
> >> > bilingual education - that the public schools shunted Latino
> >> > children into it
> >even
> >> > if those pupils had been born in the United States and previously
> >> educated
> >> > in English, and that once the child was in the bilingual track it
> >> > was almost impossible to get out. An association of Bushwick
> >> > parents, virtually all of them Hispanic immigrants, had gone as far
> >> > as suing in State Supreme Court in a futile attempt to reform the
> >> > bilingual
> >program
> >> in
> >> > local schools.
> >> >
> >> > Back then, the school system's many critics ascribed the bilingual
> >fiasco
> >> > in Bushwick largely to the failed policy of decentralization. What
> >> > "community control" meant then in Bushwick was a school district
> >> dominated
> >> > by the neighborhood's City Council member, Victor Robles ( now the
> >city
> >> > clerk). School jobs, including those in bilingual education, were
> >> > patronage plums.
> >> >
> >> > For years, bilingual education coasted along on its perception as a
> >> > virtual civil right for Hispanics. Maybe such a reputation was
> >deserved
> >> 30
> >> > years ago, when the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund sued and won a
> >> consent
> >> > decree requiring that New York City offer bilingual education. But
> >> > as
> >the
> >> > innovation hardened into an orthodoxy, and as a sort of employment
> >niche
> >> > grew for bilingual educators and bureaucrats, the idealistic veneer
> >began
> >> > to wear away.
> >> >
> >> > The grievances of Bushwick's parents point at an overlooked truth.
> >> > The foes of bilingual education, at least as practiced in New York,
> >> > are
> >not
> >> > Eurocentric nativists but Spanish-speaking immigrants who struggled
> >> > to reach the United States and struggle still at low-wage jobs to
> >> > stay
> >here
> >> > so that their children can acquire and rise with an American
> >education,
> >> > very much including fluency in English.
> >> >
> >> > As a candidate for mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg assailed the status
> >> > quo
> >in
> >> > bilingual education and called for its replacement with
> >English-immersion
> >> > classes. His pledge rested on firm ground. Reports commissioned by
> >> > Chancellor Ramon Cortines in 1994 and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in
> >2000
> >> > concluded that children qualified for mainstream classes more
> >> > rapidly coming from English as a Second Language programs than from
> >> > bilingual ones. E.S.L. classes take place largely in English;
> >> > bilingual
> >education
> >> in
> >> > the students' native language.
> >> >
> >> > With decentralization dismantled in 2002 and a hand-picked school
> >> > chancellor installed the next year, Mayor Bloomberg seemingly
> >> > backed
> >> away.
> >> > Diana Lam, the top aide to Chancellor Joel I. Klein until her
> >> > ouster,
> >was
> >> > both a product and proponent of traditional bilingualism. The mayor
> >now
> >> > emphasizes improving the existing bilingual program, despite its
> >> > demonstrable shortcomings.
> >> >
> >> > WITH Ms. Lam gone, perhaps the mayor and Mr. Klein can fulfill
> >> > their erstwhile pledges. Carmen Faria, the new deputy chancellor,
> >> > yesterday promised large-scale reforms beginning next September.
> >> > What she means
> >by
> >> > that is not junking bilingual education or even curtailing its use
> >> > as
> >> much
> >> > as improving teacher training and incorporating clear performance
> >> > standards and oversight. Yet the Department of Education already
> >> > has a highly successful model of E.S.L. instruction in two existing
> >> > high schools, Bronx International and La Guardia International.
> >> >
> >> > "Bushwick is a test case of how bilingual programs are actually
> >> > being implemented," said Michael Gecan, a national organizer for
> >> > the
> >Industrial
> >> > Areas Foundation, which has worked closely with parents there for
> >> > more than a decade. "We have great confidence in Klein. We've found
> >> > him to
> >be
> >> > very responsive and very aggressive. But we've been concerned about
> >the
> >> > bilingual effort. This is a large vestige of the old school
> >> > culture.
> >It
> >> > remains in the system. And it's intensively guarded by the local
> >> > politicians and the teachers' union."
> >> >
> >> > In one respect, though, the bilingual program in Bushwick did
> >subscribe
> >> to
> >> > the English-immersion approach. Parent after parent in the church
> >> basement
> >> > last month remembered receiving, and then naively signing, a letter
> >from
> >> > school that apparently constituted their agreement to having a
> >> > child
> >put
> >> > into bilingual classes. The letter, recalled these Spanish-speaking
> >> > parents, was written only in English.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > E-mail: sgfreedman at nytimes.com
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>