Do you believe that we are responsible for paying the cost of non-english-speaking children in our schools?

caly925

i don't believe its my or any ones responsibility.. if your gonna live in the united states speak read and write the language do not intentionally give your child a handicap

John16

The cost in dollars and cents does not concern me half as much as what it costs the children themselves. You are absolutely setting these premising young Americans up for failure by teaching them in a dead language.

Some of the smart kids can learn both languages but others can only learn one and in those cases the choice must be English.

You can not get a job if you lack the skill to communicate. They will be pushing a broom for the rest of their lives.

Liberals are killing these kids' future with kindness. They have to be stopped.

Made_in_America

It sickens me. Illegal and getting educated for breaking the law.

Tell the U.S. government that you want classes in German and see what happens.

desert_kats

I think that the majority of the money to educate children should come from the parents, whether the know English or not, and not the taxpayer who has no children. Our property taxes are high enough, parents should pay more.

cyborg_2099

we should not have to pay..it will be a domino effect.. which language does it stop at....stick to english....i think it is only hurting her kids to not teach them English...they will be looked at as an outsider when they get to school with other kids and they cannot communicate very well with them....

thedothanbelle

I do not want sound rude, but this is a touchy subject that could offend some people. Personally, I do not feel as tax payers that we should be forced to learn Spanish as a second language...this is America, we speak English, and I feel anyone coming from another country, should learn our language, just as we would if we were in their country. We should NOT have to conform for someone entering our country. I do not like the idea of my taxes going for someone to be paid more to be bi-lingual when this America. They should be taught English, how to read, speak, and understand it. Years ago this would have never happened.

DAR

We are being held responsible for it but I think we shouldn't be, although aid to legal immigrants who CAN'T speak English is a different thing.

Angel of Man

Nope. Should not have to pay anything extra. American citizens know how to speak English. No, I understand if an American wants to learn how to speak another language, that's fine. But paying to teach Somone how to speak English..no.

ditto

We shouldn't.

It will divide the country. Giving the Latino countries one step closer to their real objective, "World Domination".

Sentinel

NO! This is the United States of America, and the National Language is ENGLISH!

hillbilly named Possum

i can see both sides. there is a sizable Russian-speaking settlement a few miles north of where i live. dont get me wrong i love the people there, they are sold out Christians and they are really cool.
But some of the children cant speak English too well, so they have to have translators in school. the money it takes to give these children "special" treatment could go a long way towards hiring another teacher.
On the other hand, if these children do poorly in school, theyll end up on welfare or in prison for the rest of their lives, so i guess its cheaper to give them a proper education.

just my 2 cents,
Possum

Tracy

OH **** NO!!! However, you know we will pay for it. I don't believe people who can't speak English should be here in the first place. It is a disgrace to our country. It's bad enough that Hispanics come here and have 5 years of tax free income. They should use that money for personal tutors to learn English.

Let's go to Mexico and see if they would accommodate our needs at their expense.

KC2EGL

During the composing of our constitution our founding fathers voted for the official language of the just born Republic called the United States of America. The vote was between English and German. English won out by ONE vote. So when you hear those who refuse to use English and they say there is no official language of the United States of America please remind them that there is an official language, and that it is ENGLISH!!!!

Kiki

I agree to some extent that the mother should teach her child English as well as Spanish, only because she already knows English.

However, in defense of all of those Spanish-speaking parents, who don't yet have a fluent grasp of English, the United States has NOT declared English its official language. Thus, failure to try to teach a child who speaks another language is against the law. Secondly, when my father-in-law was in school, his books were in Norwegian and English. I don't think there was any fuss about it; it was just understood that Norwegian immigrants were still learning English. It was understood that they would assimilate and learn the language and eventually the bi-lingual books would no longer be necessary--which is exactly what happened. I believe the same is true for Spanish. While some would argue that there is no incentive to learn English if the books are bi-lingual, there are bi-lingual ballots, etc., I believe that the children of immigrants will learn English due to immersion and the fact they generally want to assimilate. Finally, arguing that tax payer dollars should not be used to hire a teacher who speaks Spanish, etc. is a very slippery slope. Again, I think in this particular instance that expense could be avoided since the mother already speaks English and could teach it to her child. However, if we're debating ESL teachers in all instances, I think we need to be very careful about analyzing how much tax dollar money goes for different kinds of students. One could easily start to argue against special education, which consumes a much larger portion of tax payer dollars than ESL, I can assure you.

Ophelia

If we got rid of bilingual education, and instituted English immersion for all children who do not speak English, that would get rid of the cost. Next time you see her, tell her 30% of non-English speaking children drop out of school, and even more will not continue to college. She came her so her kids could have a better life, I would assume, it would only make sense to teach her the things that will benefit her future.

Tonatiuh

as a teacher my job is to educate all students: this includes student's whose native language is not English, students w/ disabilities (physical or learning), students who don't want to learn, students who are homeless, and those students who have everything!!!!!!!

if our government can spend 185 million in Iraq for "our freedom" we can spend a fraction of that money to educate all children......

living in a country where children are uneducated because they don't speak English is not the type of country America is!!!!!!

ursaitaliano70

I believe that English should be the official language of The United States. Then, perhaps we wouldn't feel obligated to teach or cater to specific groups. If I intended to reside in another country, I would feel obligated to speak their language; for respect if nothing else. If this gets out of hand, we may see in the near future; "push one for Spanish (or whatever) and TWO for English!"

gokart121

I support english-only instruction in american schools, and then teach other languages in high school...likewise I believe that all official business in the US, including government, should be conducted in english ONLY. Furthermore, I think Mexico's ultimately going to end up speaking english. Half the world does, and they're neighbors and all, diversity shmiversity, if you brought your kids to the United States, it's pretty much inevitable they're going to end up speaking english. They can cry a river about that all day long, but hanging onto spanish is hanging onto the past. Spanish isn't even the REAL native language of the americas, just one of the earliest dominant ones. The native americans in the americas learned spanish from the spanish conquistadors, often at sword-point. Well, now english has become the international language of business, and this IS the 21st century,
and stuff, I'd say if they have an issue with the english language, they can write a letter to the queen of england and whoever runs spain these days, and try and sue em for damages...might be a while before they get a response on THAT letter! LOLOL

Mexico is going to get modernized, and part of that is going to be learning english...whether they want to, or not...

Nightchild

we shouldnt have to the united states official language is english and if i were you i would tell the immigrant to teach her english or she might not get to go to school because now that english is the us's official langauge im pretty sure schools rnt required to teach kids who dont know it

SittinPretty!

Ok, first of all I do not agree with bilingual teaching, when I started kindergarten (back in the dinosaur era) I did not know english because my parents whom came here illegally (gasp!) didnt know the language to teach their children, all of whom were born here(yes, I am an anchor baby!! lol) and so therefore without the bilingual teaching one was basically forced to learn the language and at a much faster rate. Now, those of you complaining that all your tax money is going towards their education, you are right and bilingual teaching does slow down the process of learning the language, I will give you that. But do not say that they are not learning it, I will give you just one example. I know a family who came here illegally just four years ago with their three daughters, the oldest started her freshman year in high school here, now keep in mind that the older you are the longer it may take to pick up the language, well to make a long story short, this girl not only learned the language, she graduated this past june with honors and EARNED a scholarship to a university here in S. California. Now while I know that this case may be the exception compared to all those that fail, why not also complain of those fortunate enough to have been born in this country and who throw their life away on drugs and such only to end up in the welfare system anyways?! Or are these cases ok because they did not come over illegally??!!

Mr. Boof

I don't feel that we the taxpayer should have to foot the bill for any of this nonsense. Throughout the entire history of this country, we have not had to accommodate immigrants like this and we have been just fine. The people who have come here in the past have learned the language, and to me it shows that you are sincere in wanting to become an American.

cyclops

No, and hell no, English only, We don't need to handicap future generations. Total immersion in the English Language , sink or
swim. We also need to stop , the printing of Bilingual materials
in America. You want to come here Learn our Language and our customs, Or stay where you are at. I'm fluent in three Languages
,I don't expect other people, to do things, I'm not capable of myself.

fanofkeanur

The US is generous enough in bridging the gap of the language barrier of the immigrants. The process will only be effective if addressing the issue starts at home. These kids should be groomed at home to speak their language, as well as English. The earlier the acquisition of both languages is better for the children, understanding that one defines your cultural background and one unifies you with other ethnic groups.

There is no reliable cost analysis of bilingual programs and its effectiveness. With the the rate of the hispanic population growth of three times than the rest of the country, they should make the consensual effort to be not the minority model for highschool drop outs despite the use of bilingual programs.

The concept of total English immersion implementing it as the method of instruction would seemed to make immigrant kids work harder but will be much more effective in the long run. Giving them other option is quite debilitating.

Nexus K

What do you care if she teaches spanish to her child?My mom taught me spanish when i was smaller and there hasn't been a day that I haven't thanked her for it.Because of that I'm now bilingual and am able to obtain a better job.In case you never read any article about the learning abilities of children you will find out that small children can pick up any language easily.This in no way will mess the child up but will help them.If her mom teaches her spanish at home and she hears english at school she eventually will be able to differentiate the two and speak both languages.The problem here is that you have too many people who want things to be easier for them and therefore want their children taught in their language,wich I don't think is right.Children are not stupid and if forced to learn something they will learn it,but if not forced to then they won't.Being bilingual,trilingual or whatever lingual you are isn't bad,its bad that the children aren't forced to also learn English,wich is the language that is mainly spoken here.

La Gueta Micaela

Now you want to dictate the language that a person speaks in their home where they pay the rent. This child I assume is USA born. I think it highly intelligent of this mother to equip this child with 2 languages.....Most American born children cannot read and write or even know colors and the basic Alphabet when going to schoolf or the first time.......That particular child of which you speak will learn the Basics that everyone learns in Kindergarten just as fast as our own children....Come on what is the point?

Meow the cat

We shouldn't. But this story soundslike a woman at home and you said schools. Let them learn in Spanish, then when they fail in life we can all laugh at them.

dognhorsemom

They said exactly the same thing about our Irish, German, Polish, Dutch, etc ancestors.

partout250

Is spanish her first language?
What are you meaning ,Please, explain.

Cora R

it doesnt matter if you look on one side whats the fastest growing race in america thats right hispanics........ So it really dont matter cause were paying taxes to damnit

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