The DISD info given to staff in Spanish is for the teachers, who are suppose to be Bilingual and aren't.

At the DISD Board Mtg. last Thurs. it was brought up that they are indeed putting too much emphasis on Spanish in the classroom.

WHY NOT spend more instructional time teaching our children Spanish?

To me it could be started in elementary school and SLOWLY be intergrated throughout the years in English, making it easier when taken in High School.

I myself wish I knew Spanish. I'm in the schools and find myself unable to help someone when needed, because of the language barrier.

My biggest concern comes after Elementary and Junior High.

How are these students going to fair in High School?

What about College? How many college courses are taught in Spanish?

DISD hasn't thought out the end result of handicapping the Spanish population.

One response written last week was about the language barrier with parents, when asking for help volunteering in the schools.

The person wrote that the Hispanics say: "No volunteer at school; school takes care of our children."

Our Junior High school last year was 60-65% Hispanic.

The parents don't come to PTA. I (as a PTA member) only see these parents at Parent conferences or when they are in trouble.

The parents have no incentives to learn English and be involved. They (and their kids) are the future of Dallas.

Many have asked and no one seems to answer the question that keeps being brought up: "How is it the children of Sudan, Bosnia, Asian countries, etc. come here speaking no English then work hard to learn English and succeed?"

It's because they are taught only in English from day one because the District doesn't have a program to teach them in their native language!

At the Bryan Adams parade on Saturday, a group of Folkloric dancers in Spanish costumes kept repeating Viva Mexico--not the theme of the parade which was Viva Las Vegas.

[Ed Note: Yes, we need to figure out what it is we are trying to accomplish here. Are we trying to turn out a generation of kids we're condemning to failure? Are we providing a day care for immigrants? Or do we really care about the future of our Latino kids. I, for one, do care, and it pains me to see the "Russian roulette" we're playing with their future.