Letter To The Editor: El Paso

To whom it may concern,

This is a response to the fallacious argument presented in “Pushing bilingual education” published on 3-28-09. To say that area officials want to double down on a losing bet would be generous. Stating that they are gambling, not just with our money, but with the minds of our children would likewise be too kind. In fact, they are pushing a strategy that has repeatedly failed, and yet their solution is to do more of the same. The cynicism embodied in this money grab defies reason.

This is a twofold problem - one part is cultural, and one part deals with educational techniques of teaching English. The problem isn't with literacy, it is with English literacy. Students who enter our schools (mostly illegally) can read, write and speak Spanish well. They often refuse to assimilate culturally or even attempt to speak English. This brings the level of classroom inquiry down to an appallingly low level, with competent English speakers forced to wait on or assist Spanish speaking children. Teachers are forced, by restrictive laws, to accommodate these students. We are dealing with kids that "don't care", as stated in your article and with a culture that is firmly anti-educational. There exists in students from Mexico a contempt for all things American, including English. Many refuse to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, saying "it's not my country"(but in Spanish).

These students should be in phonics-based, English immersion classes before they are allowed into other classes. The main reason "dual-language" classes don't work (despite what you read and hear from UTEP and school officials) is because they teach Whole Language acquisition techniques. Students who learn English using phonics have a vocabulary of 50,000 to 75,000 words. Whole language readers know less than half of those words, due to the fact that they do not know how to break down and sound out words, work from word roots, and use "sight words" that teach them only to recognize the first few letters of any word. Until we start all kids on phonics from day one, we will continue to see declining literacy and academic achievement. Until we have English immersion for new, Spanish-speaking students, we will continue to do all of our children a disservice.

What is perhaps as disturbing as the wrongheaded argument in this article is the lack of journalistic examination. The words of officials and one parent are presented as fact with no facts or varying opinions to counter them. This seems more like a pro-dual language public-relations piece of fluff than an article about the state of our city’s educational health.

P.S. – Please consider publishing this as a guest editorial or other article. I formerly wrote for Newspapertree.com, and do not feel that the 200 word limit for opinion letters suits this letter. I am writing as an individual expressing my observations as a teacher. This letter is not sponsored or endorsed by EPISD .

Robert S. Wiggs
Teacher