Bilingual Classroom

As a bilingual classroom teacher I feel the need to address the issues raised in this article. The workload alone involved in teaching in a bilingual classroom merits higher pay; in addition, bilingual teachers must be proficient in two languages and have an understanding of the different backgrounds of the linguistic minority children they teach. Too many teachers who embrace "English-only" don't know the first thing about language acquisition or ESL teaching techniques. They are ill-equipped to teach language minority children even if California adopted English immersion rather than bilingual education.

Paul Brownfield's interview with Paul Rodriguez shows the perils of asking celebrities their opinions on issues that they may know nothing about ("Funny How He Speaks His Mind," June 25). Because Rodriguez is Latino, Brownfield asks him why he voted for Proposition 227, prefacing his question by saying "you grew up with bilingual education." Wrong. Rodriguez is 43, so he went to school from about 1960 to 1973. That was a time of English immersion in California schools. Since Rodriguez had no experience with bilingual, i.e. two-language education, he opposes it by falsely saying that students in the program only learn Spanish, and that Spanish will not help you get a job. Rodriguez himself has gotten a lot of work on Univision programs precisely because he speaks Spanish fluently, though his command of grammar is about that of a first-grader.

Paul Brownfield's interview with Paul Rodriguez shows the perils of asking celebrities their opinions on issues that they may know nothing about ("Funny How He Speaks His Mind," June 25). Because Rodriguez is Latino, Brownfield asks him why he voted for Proposition 227, prefacing his question by saying "you grew up with bilingual education." Wrong. Rodriguez is 43, so he went to school from about 1960 to 1973. That was a time of English immersion in California schools. Since Rodriguez had no experience with bilingual, i.e. two-language education, he opposes it by falsely saying that students in the program only learn Spanish, and that Spanish will not help you get a job. Rodriguez himself has gotten a lot of work on Univision programs precisely because he speaks Spanish fluently, though his command of grammar is about that of a first-grader.

I work for the Oxnard Unified School District, where I teach a bilingual fourth-grade class. For two years I have been working hard toward completing my teaching credential. In doing so, I have come across much research concerning the effectiveness of bilingual education. According to the research that I have read, it is vital to teach a child in his or her native language in their first four years of attending any type of academic institution. The reason is that when these children are taught in their native language for the first four years, they will make the transition to English much more easily, giving them an opportunity to succeed.

Your editorial (June 24), "Bilingual-Education Boost," reeks of intellectual shallowness, truncated logic and a "Danny Do-Good" view of what is going on in many classrooms. Why, oh, why, don't you ask some of the more than 300 teachers in the Santa Ana Unified School District how much of a failure the present bilingual education law is? Why don't you ask some of the more than 200 teachers of the Garden Grove Unified School District the degree of failure for the native language, usually Spanish, bilingual program?

As a parent of a child at Dysinger School in Buena Park, I feel compelled to respond to recent controversy surrounding the school and the Centralia School District ("Bilingual Education Debate Heating Up," Jan. 19). I have had two children attend Dysinger School and . . . would put the education they have received from the teachers at Dysinger School up against any school, public or private. I also do not believe the parents should be able to choose the teachers their children are going to have, barring some terrible personality conflict.

I work for the Oxnard Unified School District, where I teach a bilingual fourth-grade class. For two years I have been working hard toward completing my teaching credential. In doing so, I have come across much research concerning the effectiveness of bilingual education. According to the research that I have read, it is vital to teach a child in his or her native language in their first four years of attending any type of academic institution. The reason is that when these children are taught in their native language for the first four years, they will make the transition to English much more easily, giving them an opportunity to succeed.

Re "Campaign Targets Bilingual Education," July 9: It is good that Ron Unz and Gloria Matta Tuchman want parents to get their wish in which educational program they choose for their children. But the verbiage is too extreme and ethnocentric. Only when parents truly understand the intent of bilingual education can they make an informed choice. I've taught for 14 years in a bilingual classroom, and only twice have I seen at my school site any comprehensive meeting to inform parents of what each educational program offers their children and the proven research that validates bilingual education, as well as other programs.

Just ask big screen mass-murderer Freddy Krueger. Or Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams. Mr. Senior Citizen Universe. Actor Ed Begley. Chevy Chase's wife, Janie. Or the folks from Good & Plenty candy, Magic Mountain and the Frigo Cheese Dinosaur Man. Bozo the Clown, however, pulled the ultimate no-no: He said N-O. So did Cheech Marin. But Mother Mooch knows you can't win 'em all. Savvy celebrity-stalking and big-business mooching can sometimes be tricky.

Re Robin Abcarian's "Sunday Reader Angst: Getting Real About the Estate" (Aug. 29): What a disappointment. I love Abcarian's columns. She isn't afraid to take risks, usually for the downtrodden. She seems so real when she gives us a glimpse into taking care of an ill parent or her newborn daughter. How could she be so cavalier about rejecting the neighborhood schools, and especially the bilingual classes, without at least visiting them and talking to the teachers? I drove my daughter to a school out of her attendance area especially to attend a bilingual kindergarten class last year.

Re "Campaign Targets Bilingual Education," July 9: It is good that Ron Unz and Gloria Matta Tuchman want parents to get their wish in which educational program they choose for their children. But the verbiage is too extreme and ethnocentric. Only when parents truly understand the intent of bilingual education can they make an informed choice. I've taught for 14 years in a bilingual classroom, and only twice have I seen at my school site any comprehensive meeting to inform parents of what each educational program offers their children and the proven research that validates bilingual education, as well as other programs.

Re Robin Abcarian's "Sunday Reader Angst: Getting Real About the Estate" (Aug. 29): What a disappointment. I love Abcarian's columns. She isn't afraid to take risks, usually for the downtrodden. She seems so real when she gives us a glimpse into taking care of an ill parent or her newborn daughter. How could she be so cavalier about rejecting the neighborhood schools, and especially the bilingual classes, without at least visiting them and talking to the teachers? I drove my daughter to a school out of her attendance area especially to attend a bilingual kindergarten class last year.

Just ask big screen mass-murderer Freddy Krueger. Or Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams. Mr. Senior Citizen Universe. Actor Ed Begley. Chevy Chase's wife, Janie. Or the folks from Good & Plenty candy, Magic Mountain and the Frigo Cheese Dinosaur Man. Bozo the Clown, however, pulled the ultimate no-no: He said N-O. So did Cheech Marin. But Mother Mooch knows you can't win 'em all. Savvy celebrity-stalking and big-business mooching can sometimes be tricky.

As a parent of a child at Dysinger School in Buena Park, I feel compelled to respond to recent controversy surrounding the school and the Centralia School District ("Bilingual Education Debate Heating Up," Jan. 19). I have had two children attend Dysinger School and . . . would put the education they have received from the teachers at Dysinger School up against any school, public or private. I also do not believe the parents should be able to choose the teachers their children are going to have, barring some terrible personality conflict.

As a bilingual classroom teacher I feel the need to address the issues raised in this article. The workload alone involved in teaching in a bilingual classroom merits higher pay; in addition, bilingual teachers must be proficient in two languages and have an understanding of the different backgrounds of the linguistic minority children they teach. Too many teachers who embrace "English-only" don't know the first thing about language acquisition or ESL teaching techniques. They are ill-equipped to teach language minority children even if California adopted English immersion rather than bilingual education.

Your editorial (June 24), "Bilingual-Education Boost," reeks of intellectual shallowness, truncated logic and a "Danny Do-Good" view of what is going on in many classrooms. Why, oh, why, don't you ask some of the more than 300 teachers in the Santa Ana Unified School District how much of a failure the present bilingual education law is? Why don't you ask some of the more than 200 teachers of the Garden Grove Unified School District the degree of failure for the native language, usually Spanish, bilingual program?

Regarding the Fillmore bilingual education controversy ("Parents Lobby for Changes in Bilingual Program," Sept. 30), critics of the current program should note that research has consistently shown clear academic benefits for both language groups in the bilingual classroom -- not to mention immense cultural enrichment for the native speakers of English. Given the widespread dissemination of such findings, one cannot help but suspect a measure of xenophobia and racism in the outcry of local parents groups.

A frustrated G.H. Dysinger School parent made another plea to the Centralia School District Board of Trustees this week to get his first-grade son moved from a bilingual classroom. "His teacher says he's in a very precarious position, and by the end of the year he'll probably be below grade level," parent David Kendrick told the board Tuesday night. "I don't know if it's because he's in a bilingual classroom.