Non English Speaking Children

What Roger Rasmussen has said in his article ("Begin by Teaching Kids English in Preschool," Commentary, Aug. 30) is probably the most important thing that's been said about education in years. Without knowing how to speak, read and write English, children haven't much chance to achieve anything in this society. I applaud Rasmussen's courage in saying it, in view of the Latino insistence on bilingual classes. Unfortunately, non-English-speaking children in this city are used as pawns in a political struggle for power; so the chances of getting that year of pre-kindergarten English instruction--the time and space required--are practically nil. If the politics could be removed from the issue we might accomplish something positive for children and for our society.

What Roger Rasmussen has said in his article ("Begin by Teaching Kids English in Preschool," Commentary, Aug. 30) is probably the most important thing that's been said about education in years. Without knowing how to speak, read and write English, children haven't much chance to achieve anything in this society. I applaud Rasmussen's courage in saying it, in view of the Latino insistence on bilingual classes. Unfortunately, non-English-speaking children in this city are used as pawns in a political struggle for power; so the chances of getting that year of pre-kindergarten English instruction--the time and space required--are practically nil. If the politics could be removed from the issue we might accomplish something positive for children and for our society.

Re "Learn a Language? It's Elementary," Nov. 11: When inner-city children as young as 6 years old are learning to speak Chinese, Japanese and Russian, why are we spending millions of dollars in sorely needed tax revenues to translate everything into Spanish for our Latino population? JOE BRAZAN SR. Chino Hills The article dealing with the success of the Marvin Avenue Language Magnet Center in teaching English-speaking children a foreign language seems to indicate that this is the approach that should be used in teaching English to our non-English-speaking children.

Peter Duignan writes that misunderstandings abound over bilingual education (Commentary, May 27). He then goes on to further those misunderstandings. The same error appears in your otherwise excellent series on education (May 17-19). These articles presume that all non-English-speaking children are either born here or come here before the age of 5. Nearly all of the public discussion of bilingual education has centered around elementary schools. That's just not realistic. Thousands of junior high and high school age children come here as well, and their needs are very different from those of a 5-year-old.

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.

I most often agree with Peter King but I take exception to his analogy of the "'talented auto mechanic" in Russia (Nov. 9). Most educators (and parents) know there is no comparison between the ability of a 6- to 9-year-old child and that of an adult auto mechanic to absorb a new/second language. We must immerse our young non-English-speaking children in the only language that can offer equal opportunity in this English-speaking society. ELLIS KATZ Encino How about sharing some of the realities of bilingual education with Ron Unz and the Gov. Pete Wilson gang.

Peter Duignan writes that misunderstandings abound over bilingual education (Commentary, May 27). He then goes on to further those misunderstandings. The same error appears in your otherwise excellent series on education (May 17-19). These articles presume that all non-English-speaking children are either born here or come here before the age of 5. Nearly all of the public discussion of bilingual education has centered around elementary schools. That's just not realistic. Thousands of junior high and high school age children come here as well, and their needs are very different from those of a 5-year-old.

As a parent in the L. A. Unified School District and a mother of two American-born children, I find it ludicrous that our school system insists on catering to the needs of the many immigrants who come to our country to start their new lives. After many years of fighting a losing battle with Reseda Elementary School and L. A. Unified, I finally took my boys out of school. I home-school them in their native language, English. I was told that because I did not want my children to learn Spanish, I was obviously prejudiced.

About 15 placard-carrying parents picketed Van Nuys Middle School in Sherman Oaks on Monday, complaining that school administrators discriminate against non-English-speaking children and their parents. The pickets demanded that Principal Tony Delgado resign, but he was defended by about 10 counter-demonstrators.

I most often agree with Peter King but I take exception to his analogy of the "'talented auto mechanic" in Russia (Nov. 9). Most educators (and parents) know there is no comparison between the ability of a 6- to 9-year-old child and that of an adult auto mechanic to absorb a new/second language. We must immerse our young non-English-speaking children in the only language that can offer equal opportunity in this English-speaking society. ELLIS KATZ Encino How about sharing some of the realities of bilingual education with Ron Unz and the Gov. Pete Wilson gang.

Re "Learn a Language? It's Elementary," Nov. 11: When inner-city children as young as 6 years old are learning to speak Chinese, Japanese and Russian, why are we spending millions of dollars in sorely needed tax revenues to translate everything into Spanish for our Latino population? JOE BRAZAN SR. Chino Hills The article dealing with the success of the Marvin Avenue Language Magnet Center in teaching English-speaking children a foreign language seems to indicate that this is the approach that should be used in teaching English to our non-English-speaking children.

As a parent in the L. A. Unified School District and a mother of two American-born children, I find it ludicrous that our school system insists on catering to the needs of the many immigrants who come to our country to start their new lives. After many years of fighting a losing battle with Reseda Elementary School and L. A. Unified, I finally took my boys out of school. I home-school them in their native language, English. I was told that because I did not want my children to learn Spanish, I was obviously prejudiced.

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.