District of Colombia: ‘Au Revoir’ to Fo reign Language for District 9th Graders

[Harold Schiffman]

February 21, 2008

'Au Revoir' to Foreign Language for District 9th Graders

Ninth graders in D.C. public schools will not be allowed to enroll in
foreign language courses next year, the Examiner reported yesterday.
The rationale behind the decision, according to a spokesperson for
Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, is to help students focus on classes
they must take for graduation. Audits done by school leaders have
shown that guidance counselors are frequently not properly scheduling
students. Consequently, as students reach their junior or senior year,
they have missed core classes and can't graduate on time. Since
foreign language courses are considered electives, they are being
shelved until students hit 10th grade.

In a new report released this week by the nonprofit education group
Achieve, Inc., the District of Columbia was recognized as part of a
group of only 19 states that require students to complete a "college
and career-ready curriculum" in order to earn a diploma, including
four years of mathematics through at least Algebra II, and four years
of English. A foreign language is not required.

Since only 58 percent of students in D.C. graduate high school at all,
some might argue that the primary goal should be doing what it takes
to help more students earn diplomas. But why aren't foreign language
courses considered core subjects in the first place? Many parents are
upset that high-achieving students will miss out on opportunities
because of the new policy, or that the benefits of foreign language
study will be diminished by only being offered late in a student's
academic career. Wouldn't a better solution be to place greater
accountability on school counselors to properly schedule students?

"Are we surprised to find out that D.C. has incompetent counselors who
can't figure out how to prepare students for college, a global
economy, and a U.S. with more immigrants than at any other time in
history?" said Aaron Seligman, a former high school Spanish teacher at
Friendship Collegiate Academy, a charter school in Northeast. "No
other subject pushes logical thinking, communication, and provides a
tangible skill set more than foreign languages. I guess the message
the counselors are sending is 'No se puede.'"

http://dcist.com/2008/02/21/au_revoir_to_fo.php
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