Bilingual Education
So the LAUSD district staff recommends expansion of bilingual education and “putting a priority†on hiring bilingual teachers from kindergarten through third grade. Reasonable enough, on the face of it. But look a little deeper, and what does one see?
One sees a sort of hyperactive legerdemain consisting of massive use of undertrained and underpaid bilingual aides and hundreds upon hundreds of monolingual teachers on bilingual “waiver†(“I’ll learn Spanish within seven yearsâ€). Simply being honest about the present charade, meaning paying the aides (teachers, in effect) better than fast-food workers or making a sincere effort to help teachers learn the language--this alone would cost millions of dollars.
But leave reality aside. As Times staff writer Anne Roark makes clear in her valuable series of articles (Part I, March 13-16), credentialed bilingual and/or minority teachers are already in short supply. Drilling more wells will not raise the water table. The new plans are just one more exercise in self-deception and a further betrayal of parents and children who deserve to be told the truth about current realities.
WILLIAM FARRAR
Huntington Park
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