Miami-Dade Schools Move For More Bilingual Education

BYLINE: Jeanne Meserve, Pat Neal

Bilingual public education was born out of necessity in South Florida after a wave of Cuban immigrants landed in the early 1960’s. Now, it is considered critical for students to speak, read and write in two languages to help assure them jobs in tomorrow’s job market.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: As California voters appear ready to chase bilingual education from public schools, one community is demanding even more emphasis on teaching a second language.

CNN’s Pat Neal has that story from Miami, where public bilingual education began.

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PAT NEAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wendell (ph) speaks Creole, French and English, so why does he spend almost half his day learning in Spanish?

WENDELL: So I can communicate better and have a better chance to get a job.

LOURDES ROVIRA, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY SCHOOLS: Because of our geographic location and our economy, it’s a needed skill.

NEAL: Bilingual public education was born out of necessity in South Florida after a wave of Cuban immigrants landed in the early 1960’s.

That was then; now the concern is economics.

(on camera): Miami’s trade with Latin America has boomed, and it’s the business community that’s demanding more bilingual education.

(voice-over): With a global economy leaders are concerned South Florida could lose competitive edge.

ROSA SUGRANES, PRESIDENT, IBERIA TILES: It’s not a political issue; it’s not even an immigration issue. We are not talking here about teaching English to immigrant kids; we are talking about teaching a second language to all American kids.

NEAL: Rosa Sugranes owns a import-export tile business, and heads a task force to identify language needs in the community. Of concern: employees like Vicky (ph). Since she grew up speaking Spanish at home, she never studied it in school and cannot write proficiently. What happens when her boss needs a business letter in Spanish?

VICKY: I pray I that I can turn it in tomorrow. I’m so embarrassed to say that there was this one time I took it to my mother.

NEAL: That’s why youngsters like Milene (ph) are encouraged to keep studying in both her native Spanish and English.

MILENE: The universal language is English, so I think I should speak English to communicate with my customers.

NEAL: The Miami-Dade County School Board voted to expand bilingual education to make it available to every public school student, from kindergarten to the 12th grade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT #1: The more languages I know, the smarter I will be.

NEAL: The goal: graduate students who can speak, read and write in two languages. Here it’s seen as critical to the future of students and the community as well.

Pat Neal, CNN, Miami.



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