Teaching all kids in both English and Spanish failed when tried before, so of course, the Austin Independent School District is going to waste even more money — and kids academic lives — by doing it again. That’s what inept bureaucracies do: spend money on fads, rather than results.
The program would have kids taught in both languages in all classes, with the goal of making all kids “bilingual.” Unfortunately, experience shows it just makes all kids dumber. The Austin American Statesman is reporting that 330 school districts around the country (newsflash, there are 1,035 in Texas alone) have been playing with this fad for a couple years and its “gaining in popularity”.
Too bad “popular” isn’t synonymous with “successful” or “effective.”
The executive director of bilingual education for Austin schools said the program “creates an atmosphere where everyone is learning a language.” Yeah, right. But try this on for explanation: “It becomes a situation where, if I’m a Spanish speaker, I can help my English speaking classmates as much as they can help me. There’s more of an equality, and kids feel more empowered.”
Ah, so this is about making the kids “feel” a bit “more empowered.” Yep, that’s much more important than making them better educated.
By the way, the next time you hear the union thugs talk about the need to do more across the board pay raises, remember the quote above: students are doing the teaching, not the teachers. What a great idea… to waste your money and ruin your kids.
