Reply #199: The school's job is to educate ALL the students. [View All]

[noamnety]

Not just yours.

Research has shown that the most effective education for ESL students is bilingual. I don't understand why you'd want to deliberately use methods that are the least effective for 85% of the class. That gets to the heart, though, of what "privilege" is all about.

If your daughter is being given separate instruction for part of the day that is more focused on her needs, be grateful for it.

Your language choices are odd here, by the way. Not sure if you are aware of that or not. I assume both groups are getting instruction that is best tailored to their needs - differentiated learning, if you want to call it that. It's not that THEY are getting "special" instruction ... the language is reminiscent of people referring to gay marriage as "special" rights. It's equitable rights - instruction that best meets their needs. Try phrasing it that way, without weird implications about whose classroom it is. I had to go to separate classrooms for art classes all through school - I never viewed it as being removed from "my" classroom.)

So ... here's my rewrite of your first sentence: For a portion of the day, native English speakers and ESL students are separated so each can receive lessons tailored to their needs.

Thanks for doing the fundraising for teachers who were let go. My own hours (and pay) are cut this semester. But the administration needed to do it, I suppose, for the greater good. Their priorities should be with the needs of the students, not loyalty to the staff, even when our demographics change.

I applaud your school for doing what was necessary - some schools aren't progressive enough to embrace the most effective means of educating all their children, and instead would deliberately hang onto discriminatory (inequitable) teaching policies.

I'm finishing up my masters in education right now, and in the fall I had a course on bilingual education. What your school is doing really is the responsible approach, even if you don't personally like it. Not sure that makes it any easier for you to swallow, but maybe you will give it some thought at some point in the future.