Pros and Cons on Bilingual Education

Thank you for your editorial. You correctly point out that the program’s objective is to keep students from falling hopelessly behind in academic subjects while they learn English. Calling attention to the fact that only a fraction of the teacher’s union membership voted on the question of maintaining the bilingual program places that vote in its proper perspective. However, to understand the dynamics of the teacher vote, it’s important to realize that the average teacher in Los Angeles was trained to teach native-born English speaking children. The demographics of our state have changed enormously since most of our teachers were trained.

Fifteen years ago children in need of bilingual education comprised a small percentage of the total population of Los Angeles city schools and, by and large, were concentrated in one area of the city. Today, nearly 30% of the children in L.A. city schools do not speak enough English to understand the instruction in a regular classroom. It is easy to sympathize with the frustration of teachers who do not speak the language of their students, but turning our backs on these children’s needs will not solve the problems of underachievement and dropping out.

A commitment by the teacher’s union to work with the Legislature to tap the enormous language resources of the state and to train more bilingual teachers will go a long way towards solving these problems.

PATRICIA GANDARA

Assembly Office of Research

Sacramento