So disappointed in MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 8 years apart and they bring home the same boring projects. Seriously? Teachers can't think of anything new in 8yrs time? Most time in elementary school is spent working on the kids who don't speak English. It is close to impossible for teachers to work with a class of 25 if 5 don't even speak the language. It is just awful.

You can join the teachers' union in advocating for smaller classes sizes.

Or the republican party in advocating for stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

Can you explain the connection between better enforcement of federal immigration laws and classroom assignments in Montgomery County? Is there a one-to-one correlation I'm not aware of?

[Anonymous]

You probably know that blaming all of one's problems (real and imagined) on one group of people is called scapegoating. It does not lead to good things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

Here is the first sentence of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

Do you see anything in there about speaking English as a requirement for US citizenship by birth? I sure don't. However, if you think it should be in there, contact your senator or US House representative.

[Anonymous]

The county also spend money so some kids can learn Spanish through Spanish immersion and regular language programs. Maybe we should thanks parents who send their kids in already having these skills!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The county also spend money so some kids can learn Spanish through Spanish immersion and regular language programs. Maybe we should thanks parents who send their kids in already having these skills!

Not PP but the immersion program is the biggest waste of funding. It is a game people play to get into a school/class with involved teachers/parents. Sense of false hope to those in crappy ES schools. If it was needed that much our entire district would be an immersion. Right now it is just another hook that MCPS can throw out there to try and look cutting edge while appeasing parents who are not happy with their feeder schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

Because sadly they don't have to. For English press 1. We enable it and then offer free English classes in school? Why would they try to learn. That means they are trying to assimilate which obviously is not a goal for immigrants these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county also spend money so some kids can learn Spanish through Spanish immersion and regular language programs. Maybe we should thanks parents who send their kids in already having these skills!

Not PP but the immersion program is the biggest waste of funding. It is a game people play to get into a school/class with involved teachers/parents. Sense of false hope to those in crappy ES schools. If it was needed that much our entire district would be an immersion. Right now it is just another hook that MCPS can throw out there to try and look cutting edge while appeasing parents who are not happy with their feeder schools.

Really? It's not a good idea unless it's a good idea for everybody?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because sadly they don't have to. For English press 1. We enable it and then offer free English classes in school? Why would they try to learn. That means they are trying to assimilate which obviously is not a goal for immigrants these days.

Have you talked to many immigrants? Is that what they told you? "Assimilation, schmassimilation, who cares?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

....because America is not made up of one culture, and many parents want their kids to be able to speak their ancestral language. Being bilingual has many academic benefits. Learning a new language at a very early age is much easier than learning it later. I regret not retaining my ancestral language and not enforcing the 2nd language at home with my kids. Now they want to learn the language, and it will be much harder for them to learn it (they are 6 and 9).

As a % of the overall budget, how much is MCPS actually spending on ESL? How much does MCPS spend on SN kids?

Or, maybe if all parents disciplined their kids, and teachers didn't have to waste time disciplining in class they could spend more time focusing on actually teaching.

[Anonymous]

Gosh there area some ignorant xenophophibic folks in this thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

Amazing how generations later, people forget that most of us came from immigrant families - most arrived speaking no English or were very poor (or both). Their ancestors worked hard and reaped the benefits of this society to make a better life and now generations removed, they have forgotten their roots. Note that immigrants work damn hard - harder than most Americans do - to make the better life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

Amazing how generations later, people forget that most of us came from immigrant families - most arrived speaking no English or were very poor (or both). Their ancestors worked hard and reaped the benefits of this society to make a better life and now generations removed, they have forgotten their roots. Note that immigrants work damn hard - harder than most Americans do - to make the better life.

Most arrived from "legal" immigrant families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

There are many native-born US citizens who never speak English because they live in communities where English is not the dominant language. I've read in NYTimes about Jewish communities in NYC and surrounding areas where Yiddish only is taught to children. My partner's grandfather grew up in rural LA and only spoke Creole his eighty-odd years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And then, of course, there are the Spanish-speaking children who are US citizens for the same reason that my children are US citizens -- because they were born here.

You mean anchor babies?

No, I mean US citizens.

Why would US citizens not speak English for the first 5yrs of their life? Sorry but I am sick of millions of MCPS dollars going to ignorant people's kids so we can teach them English and play catch up. Learn English and then enter schools. ESL funding is killing our schools.

Amazing how generations later, people forget that most of us came from immigrant families - most arrived speaking no English or were very poor (or both). Their ancestors worked hard and reaped the benefits of this society to make a better life and now generations removed, they have forgotten their roots. Note that immigrants work damn hard - harder than most Americans do - to make the better life.

Most arrived from "legal" immigrant families.

That's because they got here before the Immigration Act of 1924. It's easy to arrive as a legal immigrant when there are very few laws restricting immigration.

Also, of course, every immigrant who arrived after 1492 is an illegal immigrant.