Help needed for non-English speaking children
By: Dr. Mae Sakharov
Walking along the streets of my hometown, one quickly observes many young mothers pushing babies are speaking Spanish to each other.
Over the past decade, as in other hamlets and cities across the United States, the bilingual population has grown considerably.
The majority of these new arrivals come from Mexico and Central America. They are descendents of proud indigenous cultures that have suffered from prejudice and a lack of opportunity in the land of their birth. One can sympathize with a desire to leave such hardship behind, seeking work and opportunities in far off lands.
I do not know which of the newcomers are in the country legally and which have arrived without the proper documentation. Legal or not, every child born in the United States is given automatic American citizenship.
According to a 2002 analysis of birth records complied by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., "one in four births in the United States was to an immigrant mother, legal and illegal, the highest level in American history."
This astounding number makes it difficult for the children to assimilate without intervention and to learn spoken and written English. However, putting such intervention in place is complicated and costly.
School districts are caught in a difficult bind; few teachers are trained in English as a Second Language. Financially strapped school districts do not have the resources to institute costly comprehensive bilingual program when other needs are pressing.
One method of establishing bilingual programs is to increase the burden on local and state governments. Raising property taxes to finance ESL programs is sure to raise the ire of many homeowners. Many individuals may resent school taxes being channeled into bilingual education when their district lacks other necessary resources. Many districts do not adequately meet the educational requirements of students of students whose primary language is English.
Examples of this frustration have been especially felt in border states such as New Mexico, California and Arizona. Schools in the southwestern town of Nogales, Ariz., are flooded with hundreds of people every day who cross the border and are attempting to root out all illegal pupils.
Tim Vanderpool, a correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor, reported in March 2004 on the school district’s conflict. On one hand, it wants to help children improve the quality of their lives. On the other, school budgets are shrinking, leaving legal students with insufficient supplies.
It is not known how many illegal students are being educated in the United States. Federal law does not permit school districts to ask parents or the children whether or not they are legal. State law does require all students have proof of residency in that district.
Gabriela Lemus, the policy director of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington, D.C., voiced her organization’s stand on the problem.
""My sympathy is always with educating children," she says. "But we need to find an open way to deal with children who do not speak English because there is a cost to both tax payers and communities."
The complexity of this problem is so perplexing the organization Ms. Lemus directs cannot offer a solution.
Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned a report on bilingual education, the results of which have been eagerly awaited. The focus of the report was to ascertain whether or not bilingual education is helpful to students learning English.
However, the results of this report have been withheld with the Education Department claiming the report is flawed. Critics dispute this and claim its controversial topic was one the government preferred not to lock horns with.
There are so many serious problems facing our country in terms of adequately educating its citizens. Millions of children fall through the cracks. The time is long overdue to step back from the materialism that defines our culture, change priorities and better meet the needs of English and non-English-speaking students.
To repeat a cliché, children are our future. Let us demand more federal resources are geared toward the education of all children whether English is their first language.
Dr. Sakharov’s Web site is www.maesakharov.com.

