Reply to Entering Oyster as Spanish-dominant -- Spanish proficiency test?

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Reply to "Entering Oyster as Spanish-dominant -- Spanish proficiency test?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
It's often not a matter of "lying" but of stretching the truth ("sure, my cutie is Spanish dominant because she's spent 3 years full time with her Salvadoran nanny!").

OP: yes, there's a test, and quite in-depth.[/quote]

For one, there's no such thing as Spanish dominant. There's umpteen threads on this already. Please do a search. Unless your child just arrived here in the States, he/she is English dominant- even if the parents do not speak English.

Secondly, my child was in Spanish-only daycare and developed perfect Spanish fluency. She passed the test at Oyster with flying colors. If the kid can speak Spanish, the kid can speak Spanish.

Don't get rattled by these Span. Dom. Truther Bullies. They may have moral objections to what you chose to do or whatever. That's their problem.[/quote]

The lottery application for Oyster states the following:  "Please note that this is a dual-language program. The dual language program at Oyster-Adams has two separate lotteries for pre-k, kindergarten, and 1st grade students – one for children whose dominant language is English, and another for those who are native Spanish speakers whose dominant language is Spanish. Admitted students will be assessed to confirm their dominant language."

There is no ambiguity.  If your child is not a native Spanish speaker whose dominant language is Spanish, then you have stolen the seat from a child who fits that description.  In other words, you are a liar and a thief.  Btw, there are plenty of children who are born and raised in this country (by two Spanish speaking parents) who are, in fact, Spanish-dominant.  Your kid and others have skirted the rules and stolen seats at Oyster, but it's not without risks.  Parents who are attempting this strategy need to be prepared to lose their seat if they do not speak Spanish...karma does exist. 
       [/quote]

I think the fair thing to do would be to assess the fluency, and culture, of the parents.  If they're native speakers, then the child gets preference.

A child who has learned a language at school, or in childcare, isn't a native speaker.  They're a kid who has learned a language at school or childcare.  They might speak Spanish as well as a native speaker, but they're still culturally Anglo.  I thought the whole point of having the double lottery is to encourage families from both cultures.  Instead it seems like another way for schools to give advantages to families with resources, in this case the resource to hire a Spanish speaking language, and to weed out kids with disabilities who would likely not be able to pass a language fluency test in any language.

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