The Proof is in the Banner

The cover of your May/June issue is living proof that Bilingual Education is in need of major overhaul -- "Educate Don't Seperate" (sic). Having been involved with ESL for over 25 years, I can attest to you that given one year of intensive ESL, the vast majority of students would be able to mainstream into the regular academic program with all of their courses taught in English.

Graduating a year later than most kids their age would be a major improvement over this costly and absurd system of dragging out language training over years. The argument that a person who is not involved in a bilingual education classs will no longer have the right to speak their native language is a crock.

No one is advocating that. My wife and I both speak Japanese and have taught our children some basics of the language. It is not the American school system's responsibility to teach my children or any other children in a language other than English. Schools can and should continue teaching foreign language classes which these "deprived" students should take advantage of. I would be willing to be that that march was organized by the teacher's union. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it was the teachers who wrote and misspelled the banners.

I wonder if they are the same ones so active in their opposition to your ads paid for by the English Only Foundation. So much for diversity and free speech.

Michael Sudlow
Monmouth, Oregon