GED in Spanish Is No ‘Passport Out of Poverty’

Re “Program Helps Migrant Workers Earn a GED,” April 24: While I admire the tenacity and work ethic of the Toxquis in pursing their dreams for a better life, as a 30-year teacher of adult English as a second language, I was appalled to read that the GED they earned was studied for and taken in Spanish. It took them “three to five months.”

What lesson does this tell my non-English-speaking students at Evans Community Adult School? They come from 80 different countries to study English. It often takes them more than four years and they do “get frustrated.” But they don’t give up. Often they pass the GED and continue on to get an American high school diploma. But their GED and the high school classes are all in English.

Your article seems to imply that the GED the Toxquis earned is equal to the GED achievement of my students. What an insult to my students! They know that the “passport out of poverty” is fluency in English and that it does take a long, long time to achieve--and they do not give up.

Planaria Price

Los Angeles