California: Palo Alto schools reject Mandarin immersion

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the NYTimes, February 1, 2007

Palo Alto Board Rejects Classes in Mandarin
By JESSE McKINLEY

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 31 It would have seemed to be a perfect fit: an
academically ambitious plan for an ambitiously academic city. But after
weeks of debate occasionally tinged with racial overtones, the Palo Alto
Unified School District decided early Wednesday against a plan for
Mandarin language immersion, citing practical concerns as well as whether
the classes would give the small group of students in them an unfair
advantage. The proposal, which was voted down 3 to 2 after a marathon
six-hour meeting of the district school board, would have established two
classes taught mostly in Mandarin the world's most spoken language, used
by nearly one billion Chinese to 40 kindergarten and first-grade students
at a local elementary school.

Grace Mah, a second-generation Chinese-American and the founder of Palo
Alto Chinese Education, which lobbied for the program, said the vote was a
major disappointment. I think there's a number of people who are afraid of
change, said Ms. Mah, a 46-year-old computer engineer and a mother of two,
including a third-grader in Palo Alto schools. I think there's a number of
people who don't believe in alternative education. And I think there's a
number of people who insist on equity, when in life, it just isn't. She
added that her group might now try to start a charter school devoted to
Mandarin. The plan had prompted a flurry of community response in Palo
Alto, an affluent Silicon Valley hub 35 miles south of San Francisco,
known as the home to Stanford University and as a place where competition
for slots in its excellent public schools can begin in kindergarten. About
17 percent of Palo Alto's population is Asian, according to the most
recent census statistics.

The idea for a Mandarin immersion program was first floated here four
years ago. The most recent plan was proposed to the board in December and
then modified earlier this month. If approved, Palo Alto would have joined
two other Bay Area cities with Chinese language immersion programs in
schools. They are Cupertino, a Silicon Valley neighbor, and San Francisco,
which has two Mandarin immersion programs and five in Cantonese, another
Chinese dialect. And while Tuesday night's and Wednesday morning's debate
was civil, two board members said they had received racially charged phone
calls, e-mail messages and letters in the weeks leading up to their vote.
One of the board members, Dana Tom, said he was upset by some of the
comments, and surprised that they had come from a populace that prides
itself on its sophistication. I have higher hopes for our community, and
yet, I'm not naive, said Mr. Tom, who is Chinese-American and voted
against the plan. Sadly, we're not past all of that.

Proponents of the program cast it as not only a valuable tool in the
global economy, but also as a way for Palo Alto to lead the way for other
California school districts. We are in Palo Alto; we have the resources
that other places don't, said Camille Townsend, the board president, who
voted for the plan. When we say we cant do it here, its like saying you
cant do it anywhere. But Ann Pianetta, whose 16-year-old son is a
sophomore in Palo Alto and soon faces the college admissions tests, was
among other parents who said the idea of some children having access to
special programs struck them as undemocratic.

I'm all for foreign languages, but I think the delivery system is bad,
said Ms. Pianetta, who started a volunteer after-school Japanese class for
her son and other students. It deprives this education to all these other
kids. A public school is supposed to be a public school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/us/01palo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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