April 28, 1997

Superintendent Mac Bernd, Costa Mesa District

This letter is on the subject of bi-lingual education in our public schools and what is best for the children of immigrants.

I feel qualified to comment on the subject, because my brothers and I are first generation children in America, of legal immigrants from Italy, and our experience in the public schools is germane to this subject.

My brothers and I were born in Brooklyn, New York and we attended school in Long Island through the 7th and 8th grades, before coming to California. My father taught himself English and he worked full-time and my mother stayed home to raise the family and she spoke to us only in Italian. Our situation was very similar to the many immigrant children who are in our California public schools today.

When my older brother first entered Elementary School, he was cleanly dressed and well mannered, but he couldn't speak much English. At the end of the first day of school, when my mother went to pick him up, the Principal of the school, politely greeted my mother and gave her a note for my father to read. The note said that although they would like to enroll my "clean cut" brother, it was necessary that he first learn enough English so they could communicate with him and also, so he could understand what was being taught in class.

My parents were crushed, but they were determined that we were going to get the best education we could, "in the promised land" and my father proceeded immediately to teach us to speak English. By the next semester, my brother started Elementary school and I followed shortly thereafter. However, I profited from my brother's experience and I understood and spoke English before I entered school.

Now it is significant that from that point on, my parents understood how important is was for us to be able to communicate in English, to assimilate and learn from fellow students and to become a part of the American environment. Only in this way, could we take advantage of everything America offered.

My father and mother studied for and became United States Citizens. They involved their children, both in the subject-matter and in the process, of studying for their test to become citizens. They also helped us with our school homework and by so doing, learned more English themselves.

It was always a family goal that we children would someday graduate from college. As it turned out, my brother graduated from USC (under the G.I. Bill) and I graduated from UCLA and did graduate work (under the G.I. Bill) and we both enjoyed successful careers in Engineering.

Now my point is that although some well-meaning school officials and others think it is in the best interests of Immigrant Children to learn and study in their own language, I strongly disagree.

The best thing that ever happened to us was when that polite Elementary School Principal, Mrs. Thompson, told my parents to teach us basic English before enrolling us in school. The prime concentration should be on learning English and proceeding directly into other subjects. In fact, learning from my brother's experience, there should be an emphasis on convincing immigrant families to have their pre-school children learn and practice English before they enter the school system. Those early years, as you know, are very important in the learning process.

Respectfully submitted,

Ernest T. Oddo
Costa Mesa, Calif.

P.S.

As an aside, when my brothers and I attended the New York School System, each grade was divided into different levels such as 7A(Rapid), 7A(1), 7A(2), 7A(3), 7A(4), & 7A(5). This was a "fluid system" and children were placed at a particular level depending on their rate and level of learning and their achievements. At the time, the schools in the East were known to be "more accelerated" than the schools in the West. In fact, when we came to California, our school wanted to "skip us" a whole year ahead because we had already learned all of that material. My parents disagreed and we were only skipped ahead a year.