In the article from the Boston Globe, "English Period," we read about a seven-year-old-girl--Marian Loran. She is being imersed in an English-only class, but she speaks no English. Marian and many other students in Framingham are being forced to remain in English-only classes for the first thirty days of their education in America. The Framingham school district has bilingual programs, but students must first take thirty days of English only classes; then, their parents have to sign a waiver for them to get into a bilingual program. Almost all bilingual parents sign the waivers for their children.
I think forcing students who speak no English to be in English-only education programs (even if only for thirty days) goes against the NCLB Act. Teachers are supposed to make it so all students are learning, and no one is left behind. Sitting in a classroom where nothing is understood is not going to educate students. It is going to make them hate the education system. They are not learning if they do not understand a word coming out of the teacher's mouth. When American students learn a foreign language, they are taught in English and the language. They are at least told what a word means in English so they will be able to understand a little bit of what is going on. So why should students who don't speak English be denied the chance to learn just because they don't know English? Thirty days is a long time to be denied an education but still have to sit in a classroom to wait for your chance to learn.
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I agree with you that it is a terrible thing to do to a student that doesn't speak any English what so ever. Students, no matter if they speak English or not, should have the same opportunities as everyone else does. They should not be pushed into something that will not benefit them in the least. Putting students in a classroom where they are not going to be able to learn will not help them out in the long run. After thirty days of not learning anything and then being put into another learning environment could possibly set the student back from everyone else in the classroom, which also does not help them learn because then they have to try their hardest to catch up with everyone else so that they can receive the same education as everyone else. In the end every student who can speak English should be given the same opportunities as students who can speak English, it is their right and it should always be given to them.
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