(Dallas) Bilingual-principal plan approved

[question everything]

Bilingual-principal plan approved

DISD trustees' debate over policy pitted blacks vs. Hispanics

Friday, August 26, 2005

By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas school board meeting turned racially heated Thursday night as trustees voted 5-4 to require some principals to become bilingual.

The policy, which pitted blacks against Hispanics, will apply at campuses where at least half the students enrolled in the last three years have had limited English proficiency.

In elementary schools, the requirement applies to principals in schools rated acceptable or unacceptable by the Texas Education Agency.

More..

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-disd_26met.ART.State.Edition2.1de0bb97.html

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[msongs]

1. how about seperate schools for spanish &non-spanish speakers?

hey if some people do not wish to learn english, why not give them their own schools? that would make many spanish speakers extremely happy, if local so cal sentiment is a good guide (happy for many spanish speakers and english speakers as well. Not sure how various asian groups would react tho.

of course that brings up many related issues does it not?

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[MissMarple]

3. It would probably have to be voluntary.

They could set up a school for kids who speak or who want to learn how to speak Spanish, but parents would choose the school. It would be like a magnet school. Placing it in a neighborhood school serving primarily Spanish speaking children might be an option. Also, many of these kids need instruction in Spanish to improve their vocabulary, language use and writing skills. Sometimes schools like this attract primarily English speaking kids whose parents understand the value of being fluent in more than one language.

And principals need far more skills and resources than just being able to speak Spanish and perhaps having an hispanic surname.

[donco6]

17. I honestly don't think you could even do that.

OCR would still come down on them if the school's population became too segregated. We entertained the idea of a "language-intensive" elementary that would help our monolingual Spanish kids in getting to English, but realized that the ONLY outcome of that would be an all-brown school. And that just wouldn't work with our agreement with OCR.

[MissMarple]

34. What about as a charter school?

As long as the focus and mission are race and culturally neutral would that be a way to do that? Many of our schools are predominately one color or one culture because of the neighborhoods they serve. A charter school could be less so because it would not be neighborhood based, theoretically it would pull kids from a variety of neighborhoods.

Also, a developmentally based instructional paradigm (like Montessori, for instance) could draw interest from another set of parents.

[donco6]

35. Charters aren't exempt from federal regs.

They're still public schools. A truly private school could get away with it. But even a charter magnet school would have to try to draw in some white kids or they'd almost certainly be in trouble down the road. I'm not saying this is GOOD - please don't get me wrong - but I'm just saying this is what usually happens.

I do think such a school, under the right circumstances and with the right motivations, could be really good for kids who are monolingual Spanish and need to get to English quickly. But setting up a school just for them is virtually impossible. You'll be accused of creating a segregated school and OCR will be down your neck.

[donco6]

6. You'd be sued so fast by the Office of Civil Rights,

it would make your head spin.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Beat me to it, donco

And I thought California stopped their bilingual classrooms several years ago.

[donco6]

13. Great minds and all . . .

I actually guffawed when I read the suggestion, thinking of everything we've been through with OCR! On the face, you can see why people might think it's a good idea, but in reality it just leads to brown schools and white schools - and we know where that goes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. We have had our fair share of OCR complaints

They are not the least bit enjoyable.

[Karmadillo]

2. Kick

nt

[redqueen]

4. I've talked to a few people who are very upset about this.

I don't get what the big deal is, really.

*sigh*

[spinbaby]

5. What IS the big deal?

Bilingual principals in Texas seems like a good idea.

[donco6]

7. Here's the Big Deal:

You've got a school that has been 90% black. Now the neighborhood changes - more monolingual Spanish students move in. Under the policy, as soon as that percentage gets large enough, the principal HAS to become bilingual. If the principal is well-liked by the community, and happens to be black, you face the possibility that the principal could be forced out by the new Spanish-speaking community.

[redqueen]

8. But that's so not true... the principal takes the classes,

learns Spanish... problem solved.

[donco6]

10. Oh c'mon. Have YOU tried learning Spanish?

As if one class would make someone "bilingual". It's a farce.

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

9. It's 110 in Dallas and things can't get hotter

I'm going to chime in here as a resident of Dallas. Assuming most of you know nothing about Dallas, let me just say that it is probably one of the most corrupt cities in the US. And it's probably one of the most racially tense cities as well. Since the 1980s, when a white police officer was executed on a downtown sidewalk to the cheers of a black crowd, this city has been heading for disaster.

Currently, there is an FBI investigation into city councilmen who seem to be wrapped up in steering Federal Housing moneys into their own pockets via hidden corporations. A Federal Grand Jury is taking testimony right now. And all of the players just happen to be black.

Dallas is divided into black and white sections, the south being predominantly black and the north being predominantly white. In that there are those divisions, it goes without saying that the older southern area is the area receiving Federal funding for renovation, low cost housing, etc. And it goes without saying that their politicians are black. It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to see that any improprieties on a politicians part would probably come from a black councilman and his appointees.

So what the common cry in Dallas, since the 80s, anytime a black politician is investigated, indicted or tried is "you're targeting us because of race".

Last week, a black Dallas councilman publicly (on MSM broadcast) called for race riots unless the FBI dropped its investigation. Nobody noticed. Nobody stood up and cried foul. In this "Tom Delay Doctrine" world we live in, where it's okay for somebody to call for the executions of judges or a foreign head of state, it's alright if our politicians, even at the lowest level, call for public violence.

This story, which talks about "The policy, which pitted blacks against Hispanics," is really sad. You only need to come to Dallas to feel the hatred of blacks against all other races. Shit rolls downhill in Dallas and at the bottom are the poor Mexicans who work their asses off here. It's totally amazing to see the ones who can cry "race card" first and foremost yet turn it on someone else in a heartbeat.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

[NNN0LHI]

11. Welcome to DU JustSayNO 2 Sheeples n/t

[question everything]

15. How sad. It seems that they offer the wrong solution to the wrong

problem.

And, sadly, it seems that Dallas is a powder keg ready to be ignited. But, hey, Bush and DeLay and the rest of them are too busy cultivating their money guys and it is obvious that the Republicans cannot benefit from a fund raising event in Dallas.

[Doremus]

21. "You only need to come to Dallas to feel the hatred of blacks...

...against all other races."

I'm not from Dallas, but I do know broad brushes when I see them. Your 'one-size-fits-all' phrasing casts doubt on your assertions, at least to me.

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

24. My apologies...

for using such a broad brush. It was not my intention. So I'll just use a broader brush: Racism is alive and well in Dallas from ALL sides. As is the hatred.

[Doremus]

31. Thank you, JustSayNO 2 Sheeples.

Your revised statement sounds much more credible ...

unfortunately.

:(

Living in Cleveland with the ages-old 'East-West' feuds, I'm all too familiar with racial tensions. Our dismal economy (30% unemployment in the city) seems to have changed most folks' attention here to activities like finding work and eating.

I wish Dallas all the best in finding a peaceful bridge between diverse cultures.

And welcome to DU!

[Ilsa]

32. Hi there. I lived there in the late eighties, early 90's so I know what

you are talking about. I was downtown with a window on Elm Street and the windows on Main Street when the riot broke out in 1993 after the parade for the Cowboys.

I'm not convinced this language requirement is the right move, but since I don't live there anymore, I wouldn't be likely to get into the middle of a debate on it. I figured the race problems there had something to do with it, but I didn't know how it all fit together. Thanks for a good summary and update.

[DisgustedTX]

14. More of what we need - sponsored laziness

United States of America.

National Language - English

Generations of immigrants have landed in the US and learned the native language while maintaining their own cultural identities.

Should we all migrate to Mexico and demand they change everything to accomodate us because we don't have enough respect for them to learn SPANISH?

This is backward - and no - I'm not pressing 2 for Espanol.

[donco6]

18. And you know . . .

it's not that hard to pick up a *little* Spanish. (NOT enough to be truly bilingual - that takes years). But enough to be polite and participate in a very light conversation. And I'd bet 90% of people's interactions here are to that level.

[DisgustedTX]

27. And it's not that hard to pick up a little ENGLISH

What's your point?

[donco6]

28. The point is . . .

. . . that you, yes you, could learn the tiny amount of Spanish you would need to communicate and there wouldn't even be a problem at all. But no. Let's just keep the animosity rolling. :eyes:

[DisgustedTX]

30. Umm - yes, let's keep the EXCUSES rolling.

Who are the residents and WHO are the immigrants?

Forgive me - I'm just a taxpayer IN the county in question who will be forced to SUBSIDIZE this atrocity.

My ancestors were not this lazy or incapable - were yours?

Let's all learn a little Italian, Gaelic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese,
French, German, etc. - after all, it would make things EASIER rather than furthering the ANIMOSITY - correct?

My mistake - Europeans & Asians don't count - they just helped BUILD this country in the early 20th century into what it is today.

[donco6]

33. You got it!

"Let's all learn a little Italian, Gaelic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, etc. - after all, it would make things EASIER rather than furthering the ANIMOSITY - correct?"

Exactly!

[tanyev]

19. Wow. I didn't think it would pass.

Why couldn't they just require that for a school with x number of students, then at least x number of full time staff would have to be bilingual.

Too logical?

[donco6]

20. Too impossible.

Finding *bilingual* teachers - good ones - is very, very difficult. If you "guaranteed" that you had X%, and you DIDN'T, OCR would come back down on you and levy some penalty.

[tanyev]

22. Bilingual principals will be even harder to find.

[donco6]

29. Got a point there.

I don't think either option is feasible. You could get SOME bilingual teachers, but there are no guarantees about how many. On the other hand, finding a bilingual principal is almost impossible.

[Maple]

23. Texas Becomes a Majority-Minority State

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Texas has become the fourth state to have a non-white majority population, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday, a trend driven by a surging number of Hispanics moving to the state.

According to the population estimates based on the 2000 Census, about 50.2 percent of Texans are now minorities. In the 2000 Census, minorities made up about 47 percent of the population in the second-largest state.

Texas joins California, New Mexico and Hawaii as states with majority-minority populations - with Hispanics the largest group in every state but Hawaii, where it is Asian-Americans.

Five other states - Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona - aren't far behind, with about 40 percent minorities

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050811/D8BTJN0O0.html

[dsc]

25. This does sound like a bit of an unreasonable demand

Presuming they mean truely bilingual this would eliminate many good principals. Good principals are virtually impossible to find in many big city schools. Adding a requirment like this would only make it much harder.

[Maple]

26. You don't have any

hispanic teachers who are eligible to be principals? They'd be bilingual.