by Ernest Smartt

Created on: January 25, 2009   Last Updated: March 18, 2010

A serious look at the need for having bilingual programs in our schools would require us to take a good look at the reasons such a program is needed, and who it is that needs the program. To require a whole school district of teachers and administrators to obtain a new language at their own expense, in order to keep their jobs would be a very wrong approach. However just such a thing is happening in some districts in school America.

No one could say that bilingual education is a bad thing in itself. Knowing more than one language can well be advantageous when a person is in search of employment, or applying for a promotion. There are times when a company or agency needs someone who can interpret for them. Having that extra knowledge can lead to pay increases.

Teaching a second language in the United States does not happen consistently among the states. Some states start the bilingual education process in primary school, and then throughout their regular public school training. In some states it starts later, but in any case other languages are being taught throughout the United States in some form.

It is becoming necessary in some states to have Spanish speaking teachers and administrators because of the influx of Hispanics. Students do usually have some choices as to what language they want to learn. In most cases a foreign language is required.

With all of the positives that learning another language has, there are also some negatives regarding this subject. For at least the past 15 to 20 years, employees who do not know another language, usually Spanish, have been the object of discrimination. For the most part, this has been a legal discrimination because of some demand. Many jobs during that time did not have any requirement to know Spanish in order to be hired. However, when it came time for promotion, knowing Spanish language became an advantage. While it was not a requirement listed on the job description, it played a significant role in choosing the winning candidate for the promotion. The same has often proven to be true in the hiring process.

In many school districts all teachers and administrators are being required to attend classes to learn Spanish, at their own expense, in order to maintain their jobs. This can be observed in several states, and seems to be becoming a trend. While this is taking place, there seems to be no effort to require persons entering the United States to learn to speak English. When they are students, they do learn English,

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