Controversy Over Bilingual Education in L.A. Schools
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.
It’s time that we in California face the fact that changing demographics require that teachers meet the needs of non-English-speaking children. Isn’t this, after all, the primary reason for being a teacher?
ANNA KAMMER
Santa Barbara
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