Reply to Oyster vs. Ross

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]That's so goofy.  They won't consider someone who also speaks English a Spanish speaker?  Why don't they just do what they really want to do and ask whether the parents speak English well (and to my skeptical thinking, is low-income)?  My kid was always verbal and is the best Spanish speaker in a dual language school at PS3 but also speaks good English for a 3 year old.

And what is the point of a bilingual school that cheers bilingualism at age 5 but won't accept it at age 4?[/quote]

What are you talking about?!?  This rant makes absolutely no sense.[/quote]

The Oyster "Spanish-dominant" lottery should be about identifying kids with the ability to speak Spanish and it seems like they're tweaking it to not allow kids who also speak English to use that as the lottery of their choice, because it works.  And I know I am being cynical but I am afraid they are doing it for social engineering purposes rather than simply identifying language abilities, as they are happy to have bilingual children after entry. [/quote]

No, the real problem is that, in the past, savvy parents have successfully gamed the system.  These parents don't speak a lick of English, however, they place their children in the care of bilingual schools or Spanish-speaking nannies, and then claim a seat from the Spanish dominant side of the lottery.  Those kids aren't bringing much to the Oyster community except so-so Spanish skills.  Trust me, at 4 years old, kids who have been in bilingual schools or have Span. speaking nannies (but come from exclusively English speaking homes), understand Spanish much better than they speak it.  These kids are not offering any of the cultural benefits or broad Spanish vocabulary that kids who come from Spanish speaking homes bring to the table.  They are simply stealing a space from a kid who truly offers those benefits.  And once again, if your child's score is higher on the English test than the Spanish test, then clearly your child is English dominant.

Btw, I walk the walk.  Our bilingual kid (from preschool) is IB for Oyster and we could have lied and gotten in on the Span. Dom side.  As an IB family we are pretty much guaranteed a PK seat on the SD side.  However, we know that was wrong (I.e., no rationalizing about our kids language abilities, etc).  We were unsuccessful in the IB English-Dom PK lottery, so we waited our turn  until our kid could enter Oyster in K--the honest way.  Our son is thriving there and my conscience is clear.

And what "social engineering purposes" are you speaking about at Oyster?

[/quote]
My conscience is clear too. My nanny-raised bilingual child got a slot on the Span. Dom. Side and is do it again in a heartbeat. Kids raised here are all English dom. Unless straight off the boat.[/quote]

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