Bilingual Dilemma Diana Heil
* Students can be stuck without strong English or Spanish skills, which may have a negative impact on all their academic studies Santa Fe Public Schools are becoming like a Tower of Babel and some of the multilingual confusion comes as a surprise to at least one native Hispanic. Roberto Mondragon, co-founder of Aspectos Culturales, sums up the problem this way: "A kid from Mexico says, 'I'm Mexican.' "A kid from here says, 'I don't know what I am.' '' His solution: "It should be for every child in New Mexico. Even Anglo children should graduate speaking Spanish." Ortiz Middle School, on Santa Fe's growing south side, is dealing with that issue more than the other three middle schools. There are native-born Hispanic children whose grandparents, or even parents, speak "kitchen Spanish" at home, and the middle school students don't understand the value of understanding the language. A portion of these students possess neither strong English skills nor strong Spanish skills, which may have a negative impact on all their academic studies. "We have a lot of kids around here that don't know the beauty of their culture," said district bilingual resource specialist Polly Beckmon Zazueta. New Mexico is unique because the Constitution supports bilingual education, according to the state Department of Education. At Ortiz, 36 students, mostly Mexican immigrants and a few Tibetans, don't speak English at all. Some come with strong basic academic records, while others do not read or write in their first language. About 200 students about one third of the student body come from families where Spanish or another language is spoken at home and they have limited English skills. Many take breaks from school three weeks at a time. "These poor children are frustrated, and we're not meeting their needs," Ortiz principal Janet Taylor said of the Spanish-only speakers with low basic skills. "They become discipline problems." Taylor and Mondragon reviewed concerns last week as members of the newly formed bilingual advisory committee at Santa Fe Public Schools. "The problem is the population is growing, and it's getting in our face," Taylor said. English fluency results won't be available until October, but Taylor estimates students at Ortiz with language issues have increased by 30 or 40 students this fall. Ortiz Middle School is up to 595 students in grades six through eight, 45 more than predicted in enrollment projections. Ortiz also gained a part-time teacher who will pull poorly performing students out of class for four periods of intensive English studies a day. Last year, about 60 Mexican students were segregated in classes apart from native Hispanic students. The groups frequently clashed. This year Mexican students with limited English skills have been included in regular classrooms, with the option of taking a Spanish language-arts elective. "I've had zero problems so far this year," Taylor said. "I think it has made a difference." Only the immigrants with intense language needs are taken out of the regular classes for history and science in their home language and language arts and math in a slowed-down English. The goal is to return them to regular classrooms as soon as they are ready. Taylor receives money for materials, computer software and tutors but not enough to pay one teacher from the state for bilingual students. About $700,000 in the bilingual money that student numbers generate districtwide flows into the district operational fund for bilingual teachers' salaries, district bilingual director Rick Gutierrez said. This school year, Ortiz will test every child's English skills to make sure no limited-English-proficient students are overlooked. Taylor has hired more bilingual teachers than ever. "Every teacher at this school should be bilingual just as I should be and I'm not yet." She is taking online courses through The College of Santa Fe. Class sizes are higher this year, which affects all students. To be more effective, Taylor could use four more teachers, but the district is financially strapped. She said she has been frustrated that the district doesn't have a diagnostician who can test Spanish-speaking students to see if they qualify for special-education services; the district is about to contract for these services. The state Department of Education has given Ortiz poor accountability ratings the past three years. Many of the bilingual education changes under way were crafted in a school improvement plan last year. "Just don't label us; help us," Taylor said. She said she has gotten more federal funds over the years, but she contends she needs even more. Beckmon Zazueta has been helping Ortiz teachers cope and develop a sheltered English program, which immerses students in English before placing them in regular classrooms. "It's time for the U.S. to turn its monolingual attitude around," she said, noting that all ethnic groups are forced to shed their language to join the melting pot whereas other regions of the world applaud the use of multiple languages. Gutierrez sees the world from three vantage points. His mother, now 77, was not allowed to speak Spanish at school in Pojoaque. "The same thing happened to me," he said. Now his daughter through such events as the Latin Grammy Awards is recognizing that Spanish is cool. She wants her parents to speak it at home. But she has often asked her father why the gardener and the maid in movies always had Hispanic surnames while the homeowner had a British surname. "We've lost our language for many, many, many years," Gutierrez said. "They've taken our language away, and now we're trying to take it back." |