Bilingual Education

After having read many articles on the failure of bilingual education, and the advice of some “experts” to discontinue its use, I thought it was over. Apparently I was wrong. In 1907, when my mother’s family came to this country, there was no such controversy. This was America and in America you spoke English! My mother, her sisters and brother went to school not knowing any English at all. They came home and taught their mother as they learned. She was eager to communicate in her new adopted country.

I don’t think we are racist, prejudiced or cruel to teach English. It is English speaking that will allow exit from the barrio and entrance to the community as a whole. In fact, aren’t you discriminating against the thousands of students who do not speak Spanish? Is there a bilingual instructor for the child from Africa? What about France, Sweden, Germany?

Talk to the people who immigrated here before bilingual ed. Yes, you can interview them because they all speak English.

ROSALIE SMITH

Huntington Beach