[ilbegone]

I'm not sure what to make of this LA Times article but it has to do with all those English learners in the LAUSD school district and and how they learn English. There may be a personal slant to the article by the reporter, but it doesn't seem to be pushing any one course.

I think this discussion is valid because, like it or not, a significant number of those kids are American citizens by virtue of the 14th amendment, and there are serious ramifications if those kids aren't educated, brought into the mainstream of America without becoming a further drain on the tax base and drag on economic productivity.

Is the conclusion to be reached is that:

There should be

English immersion classes

Dual immersion classes

Mixed classes of various English proficiencies

Segregation according to English proficiency

Does any of it help in the long run towards mass English proficiency

Does any of it serve to retain use of a foreign language at the expense of English proficiency

In the last two months, at Granada Elementary Community Charter, Luis has gained a growing command of the language in a class of students with a mixed range of English ability. His father, Jorge, is convinced that his son is learning English more quickly because he hears it every day from more-advanced classmates.

"Kids with little or no English are going to be segregated and told they're not good enough for the mainstream," said Cindy Aranda-Lechuga, a Granada mother of a kindergartner who gathered 162 parent signatures seeking a postponement and spoke against the policy at an L.A. Board of Education meeting last week. "Kids learn from their peers, and they're not going to be able to do that anymore."

the furor over class placements for those learning English raises the controversial question of which is more effective: separating students by fluency level or including them in diverse classes.

And although students may learn "social English" from more fluent classmates, they are better able to learn the "academic English" appropriate for their level in more segregated classes, according to Cheryl Ortega, UTLA's director of bilingual education.

In a Sept. 9 letter to local Supt. Robert Bravo, however, 17 principals from South L.A. schools expressed disagreement with the policy. They argued that fluent English speakers serve as classroom role models for less proficient peers and that segregating students creates a "chasm" among them as well as "communities that are intolerant of those who are different."

In his written response, Bravo rejected the request to delay the moves and told principals they "may be subject to discipline" if they failed to reorganize their classes as directed.

"They're completely taking the parents out of the equation," Garcia said. "There's a bunch of finger-pointing, but no one is taking responsibility. Either way, our kids have to suffer."

A partial quote from commenter skepticalsurfer at 7:41 AM October 20, 2013

I'll bet that the people protesting are the non-native-English speaking parents. If the author would get some candid interviews with the native-English speaking parents, those parents would argue that their native born, English speaking, US citizen children should not be held back by those who do not understand English. It is hard enough to excel in school without the teachers having to spend most of the day translating the lessons for those who speak another language.

A quote from ashamed2011 at 7:44 AM October 20, 2013

This is the net result for you rich Hermosa Beach libs who drive around in your hybrids. You're getting exactly what you voted for. I hope the classes stayed mixed, because you deserve it.

Whole article http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-a...,1836196.story