Schools to Continue Bilingual Program
The Anaheim Union High School District board has voted to retain its Limited English Proficiency program, despite objections from the board president who wants to abolish it.
“The program is doing well at this time, and I don’t see the need to change the direction that we’re going,” said board member R.A. “Molly” McGee.
But Harald G. Martin disagreed, saying he doesn’t think the bilingual program is successful.
“If you teach English, they’ll learn English quicker,” Martin said after the 4-1 vote. “I think it’s the responsibility of the people who come here [from abroad] to learn English, and it’s our responsibility to teach them English as quickly as possible for their benefit.”
Last year, there were 8,500 students with limited English skills, and of those, 378 astudents received primary language instruction in Spanish or Vietnamese for one period a day.
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