Bilingual Education Essay -- essays research papers

Benefits of Bilingual Education David Hosterman The issue of bilingual education is a very controversial issue and many people have different views concerning this subject. "Bilingual education began in 1968 as a small, $7.5 million federal program to help Mexican-American students, half of whom could not speak English well when they entered first grade" (Chavez 23). In addition, it began 23 years ago as a historic order for busing students to schools to achieve racial integration. One would believe that the supporters of bilingual education are Latino's but in actuality they are black and white professionals who know the advantages of their children being bilingual. It has been proven that students who are enrolled in bilingual classes have better scores on standardized tests, such as the ACT's and SAT's, than those who are not enrolled in bilingual classes. Bilingual education is beneficial for our country and enables students to learn English as well as keeping their native tongue for future success in our global econ omy. Bilingual education works in our society and should stay intact within the schools and should be funded to enable students who wish to take these classes should be able to. In aspect of Rudolph Giuliani's view that bilingual education doesn't work and that it is too expensive should be better thought out and he should look at the benefits that come from it. Giuliani was quoted regarding bilingual education by saying, "It's cruel to them and gives them less of a chance to succeed" (Willen 8). This is a bizarre view that Giuliani is issuing considering that it has been proven that students who are enrolled in bilingual classes perform better on standard eyes tests. This is an advantage for these students to succeed considering that the better the test grades the better the opportunity to get into good college. In addition one can notice that knowing more than one language can "utilize the strengths of bilingual children to prepare all students to compete in a global economy that increasingly calls for multilingual and multicultural expertise" (Beyer 11). Bilingual education can be seen beneficial in many schools and helps students prep are for a future in corporate America. In El Paso at a secondary school bilingual education can be seen as helpful for both the students and credibility of the school. At this... ... September 1998:11 EV. Bowen, Ezra. "Education: For Learning Or Ethnic Pride? Parents Politicians and Pedagogues Battle Over Bilingual Classes" Time 8 July 1985: 80. Chavez, Linda. "Bilingual Education Was to Teach English, Not Trap Students" Minneapolis Star Tribune 2 April 1995: 23A. Gonzales, Patricia. "Why Is Bilingual Education Opposed?" The Dallas Morning News 11 July 1996: 23A. Pratt, Chasity. "One Class, Two Languages/ Both English, Foreign Benefit Bilingual Schools." Newsday 4 April 2000: 6A. Ruano-Martinez, Natalia. "Should We Abolish Bilingual Education? No: It Prepares Kids For Global Economy." USA Today 2 June 1998: 13A. Weber, Brian. "Native Tongue Denver Schools Wrestle With Bilingual Education As Feds Make New Demands" Denver Rocky Mountain News 19 October 1997: 40A. Willen, Liz. "Bilingual Debate/ Rudy's Push to Limit Education Programs Draws Flak" Newsday 16 January1998: 8A.