Teachers and Bilingual Education

* Kathleen Salisbury’s July 19 Community Essay (“English-Only Teachers Need Not Apply”) misses the most fundamental lesson of education, that learning is a lifelong project. With the speed of change of our contemporary world, professionals who do not adapt their skills to the changing demands of their profession become obsolete overnight. This is true of secretaries who did not learn the language of computers, scientists who ignore dramatic changes in science and teachers in Los Angeles who do not learn Spanish.

It has been no secret for some time now that Los Angeles has become nearly 50% Latino, and that a very large percentage of this population has arrived within the last 30 years. All arguments for or against immigration and for or against bilingual education aside, if one is to communicate effectively with the new, large Latino population one better learn Spanish--sooner rather than later.

A highly trained Russian-speaking physicist would be totally incompetent in teaching me physics; I speak no Russian. A bright English-speaking high school student, on the other hand, could teach me plenty.

Instead of bemoaning the fate of obsolescence that every non- adapting professional has experienced, a teacher who has really learned the lessons of education eagerly adapts by learning the new tools of the trade, which in Los Angeles happens to include speaking Spanish.

ROBERT J. RODINO

Malibu

* Our country is made up of people from all over the world. Many came to our land not speaking any English. Two of my grandparents came from the old country. One of them as a child came home from the first day at school and told her parents that she couldn’t understand anything said that day. From that day on she and her parents spoke only English in their house.

Our government, a generation or so ago, dreamed up an idea to have teachers teach those who didn’t understand English to help them assimilate into society. It was a novel program. As time has gone by, politicians stepped in and did their meddling. Now the bilingual program is outmoded and antiquated. The district and the politicians have stretched the safety net too far.

We need only to look at the media and real life to know that the program is in disarray and our teachers are in the middle of it. Experienced, dedicated teachers are getting the short end of the stick.

DAVE LOFFTUS

Glendale