Three different schools to cover grade levels K-12? During the past 53 years, I've worked, as a teacher or administrator, in several different systems that had K-12 on just one campus. Of course, those were small communities where the total school populations ranged from 150 to 1000. There are many advantages in a system like that... the whole community focuses support on just one school, and parents don't have to deal with the different programs, personnel, and practices in as many as three different schools at one time. Most of the younger kids have older siblings nearby, and the older students can learn responsibility by helping with the younger kids. Very important, too, the school staff has a vital connection to the whole community, and communication is on a much higher, more positive, level. In practice, that kind of system is superior, and much more effective, than the way the school populations are divided up in larger communities. Imagine... what if, fifty years ago, the Las Cruces school system had decided to organize into communities that had common interests, based on geographical location, social, cultural, or economic/business similarities... and provide K-12 campuses of 500 to 1000 students in each community? Such a plan probably sounds crazy to most of the readers of this blog, and it would be impossible to convert, in our present situation, to something like that... but, I can dream, can't I?
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"Not only should all Americans speak English, total immersion is by far the easiest and quickest way to learn a language". Says who? It's funny that when a few people hear or go through one bad bilingual education situation, everyone is ready to throw it out the window. Maybe we should fire all of our reading teachers and specialists because more than half of our students are NOT reading at grade level. Maybe we should do away with Special Education since almost all of our schools didn't make AYP in that subgroup. It's the "quickest and easiest" according to one blogger.
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To the parent who feels that no one is listening ... contact Community Relations director Kathy Vigil. Too many times, principals forget that parents feel intimidated by asking that time be given to a concerned parent of a student. Ms. Vigil is there to bridge the gap! There are great people who can help --- the school counselor, Dr. Greer from the school psychologists office, and others. Please don't let your child feel sad and you don't have to feel no one cares. Ms. Vigil will listen ---527-5802.
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"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, it's broke, are we going to fix it (It is us, the Las Cruces Public Schools)?
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These weeks of instruction after CRT are a joke...our school year is reduced to only 3 quarters!
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My elementary principal could use some help from anyone; he just cannot write!
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What follows is an attempt to make the argument that people who have enjoyed societal privileges based on the color of their skin, as well as on their cultural and linguistic identities, are obligated to not only recognize and acknowledge their privilege, but to also share their privilege with people who have been and who continue to be ostracized for living outside what is determined to be the "norm" in U.S. society. Thank you for reading. (JB) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~The following blogger comments reflect the prevailing presence of European colonial invasion in which White English-speaking immigrants felt threatened by the appearance, language, and culture of the natives and so declared them inferior and in need of cultural and linguistic salvation (Gould, 1981; Menchaca, 1999; and Spring, 1997):"...wouldn't it be nice if the non-English kids were encouraged to learn the language of America?""...'English-only' folks are finding that it's more work, and time-consuming, to be English-only.""I agree with the post about bi-lingual education being a bad idea...not only should all Americans speak English...I think all English speaking elementary students should be given the opportunity to take Spanish as a Foreign Language""...the universal language of discourse in America is and should be English."I challenge the speakers of these comments, as well as others who embrace similar rhetoric, to acknowledge and examine systems of White privilege that dictate who and what exemplifies the "norm: in our U.S. society (Wildman & Davis, 2000). The normalizing assertion that English is the universal language of discourse in America magnifies the need for members of the dominant English-speaking group to counter the perceived threat of native Spanish speakers by pushing for assimilationist policies and practice designed to divest Mexican[s of their culture and language (Valenzuela, 1999).I challenge myself and all educators to consider the damage we inflict upon students and each other in our community when we paint native Spanish speakers with a broad brush saturated in deficit-based ideology and language that marks Spanish speakers as Others, except of course, for those nglish speaking elementary students [who] should be given the opportunity to take Spanish as a Foreign Language. Note the inherent privilege in this statement taken from above. According to this person, bilingual education for native Spanish speaking students is a bad idea but for native English speaking students, learning Spanish should be a privilege they are entitled to. This notion of entitlement is at the core of White privilege (Frankenberg, 1993; Tatum, 1997; and Wildman & Davis, 2000).I challenge myself and all educators to examine how we as individuals and group members benefit from systemic White privilege. Recognizing and acknowledging White privilege will enable us to further examine how we engage in subtractive schooling practices [and everyday living practices] that strip students [and others] of their cultural and linguistic identity (Valenzuela, 1999). How do we, under the guise of Education and Americanism, silence the voices that speak to and from the myriad of life experiences lived beyond what is deemed normal and acceptable in White society? These are not easy challenges when we live in a society defined and protected by systems of White supremacy and privilege. But I believe they are challenges we can overcome if and when we engage in mutual and critical dialogue centering on multiple perspectives, particularly those of people who, because they do not conform to the dominant status quo, are labeled Other.In the spirit of continued critical dialogue, I end for now with the words of Chicana lesbian feminist Gloria Anzald:"So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity “ I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself. Until I can accept as legitimate Chicano Texas Spanish, Tex-Mex and all the other languages I speak, I cannot accept legitimacy of myself. Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate.I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing. I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my serpents tongue my woman's voice, my sexual voice, my poet's voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence."Borderlands/La Frontera ~ The New Mestiza (1999, p. 81)