The language trap

Learning English is the way to go

A presidential panel is woefully shortsighted in asserting that English-only public school tests discriminate against Hispanic children.

The President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans claims that some states are harming Spanish-speaking students by requiring them to take English-only tests that determine whether they are promoted or given a diploma.

Quite to the contrary, it would be truly harmful to award any student a public high school diploma that she or he could not read in English.

English always has been and will continue to be the functional language of the United States and the international language around the world.

To participate fully in the American experience, and to succeed in this country, it is absolutely essential that citizens be fluent in the language of the land. That is why most immigrant groups have insisted on English immersion for their children a system designed to teach the language well and quickly.

So, too, should Hispanic leaders.

Bilingual education can play a transitional role in bridging the language gap for children who are not yet conversant in English. A year or two at most should be allotted for the transition.

Decades of experience with bilingual education shows the longer students are left out of regular classrooms, the further behind they fall each year.

Teaching, learning and testing in English is not discrimination. It is the only road to true citizenship in America.



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