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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]BASIS doesn't withhold language. If language is important to you then choose a school that prioritizes language or as other posters have said, supplement. No school can be all things to all people. If you want a school to teach your child languages in 5th then pick a school that teaches languages in 5th. If that's not BASIS then pick another school. If you absolutely want BASIS and want languages, then supplement languages. Why is this so hard.[/quote]

The BASIS policy on language instruction mirrors the one in place at the low-performing rural MS I taught at in the...early 90s. Where are we, and which decade is this?

Our near neighbors in VA and MD, particularly in MoCo and Fairfax, have it right. Teach modern languages just like...other core subjects are taught.

Don't cut out languages any more than you'd cut out science or math. Don't pick another school: pick politicians prepared to risk political capital on building a 21st century urban school system worthy of the name.
  
What's hard is how far behind DC is on education. BASIS DC, the cream of the local crop for academic rigor without appreciation for the accomplished bilingual students the school system that supports it funnels in. If BASIS families had other appealing choices for MS rigor EotP, your argument would be stronger.

You can toot BASIS' horn without altering the fact that their policy on language instruction is at least 30 years out of date in the East Coast urban context, maybe 40.[/quote]

You overestimate how well foreign languages are taught in public schools in DC.

Kids can take Spanish at Deal for 3 years and not hold a basic conversation.  Plenty of kids spent years at Yu Ying and speak very limited Mandarin.

Unfortunately, except for a few places like DLI in Monterey and the MTC in Salt Lake City, the US does a poor job teaching languages.  And that is especially true in public schools.[/quote]

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