The Madison Metropolitan School District has a dual-language immersion program which allows parents to opt in or out on their children’s behalf. According to the MMSD website, Leopold, Midvale, Sandburg, Chavez and Glendale elementary schools, as well as Sennett Middle School and Nuestro Mundo (a K-5 charter school), all offer dual-language immersion programs at some level.
According to MMSD, the goals of the program are to promote bilingualism (both verbal and literary) and to foster the development of cross-cultural understanding between students. These are undoubtedly noble goals, but statistics show that the program may be undermining the very cross-cultural understanding it hopes to promote. Evidence shows that students in the program are much more likely to come from white or Hispanic, middle and upper-class families, and are less likely to have special education or behavioral needs. The district may consider cutting or reducing the program to assuage the concerns over inequality, yet despite these concerns, the dual-language immersion program is a positive thing for MMSD, and should not be discontinued only a few years after its debut.
The Directory of Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Programs in the U.S. lists only about 400 dual-language immersion programs in the United States. As the United States continues to become more bilingual, this number will certainly increase. Being able to speak both Spanish and English will be a major advantage in the workplace, and maybe even a prerequisite for employment in some parts of the country. MMSD states that it expects that students who begin the program in their early years will be proficient in both English and Spanish by fifth grade, bequeathing to them benefits for the rest of their lives.
In addition to potential financial benefits, growing up bilingual can completely change a young person’s worldview. Foreign languages, in some sense, open us up to a new world. They certainly open us up to a new culture, and they help promote the idea that our differences should not just be accepted as necessary, they should be celebrated. Our differences are what make life interesting and worthwhile. Learning a foreign language at once enables us to understand and appreciate cultural differences, as well as to communicate with others and find commonality.
All of this sounds wonderful, especially in a city like Madison, which has a large Hispanic population and prides itself on being tolerant of others and embracing all cultures. Where the problem begins is that this program, like so many others, seems to be benefiting the most those who need the help the least.
Students from higher-income families are already given myriad advantages their peers from less-advantaged families are not given. Furthermore, in many parts of the United States, white students are just not going to face the same obstacles their peers of other races will. This raises the question: Is it OK for MMSD to run a program that benefits the most privileged students even more?
This clearly seems to be wrong. Some may argue the program is justified because parents are allowed to opt into the program. It’s voluntary, so if parents choose not to place their children into the program, that’s their fault. I would say that’s exactly right, if by “their fault” you mean the fault of the parents. It’s not the fault of the students, and at roughly five years of age, they are clearly too young to be making these decisions for themselves.
Given the disparities between the students in the program and those not, the dual-language immersion program cannot be justified by the fact that parents have the power to volunteer their child alone. There are many, many parents who, consciously or otherwise, make poor decisions with regard to how to raise their children. Unfortunately, society cannot save children from every poor decision made by their parents, but with respect to education, we can do better than we are doing.
What ultimately justifies the dual-language immersion program is its long-term benefit to the district’s students. The program is young; it only began in 2004. It needs to be given time to expand and flourish, and eventually, if it is as beneficial to its students as it can be, it will become mainstream and maybe even mandatory.
Moreover, the benefits of the program are not solely material. It is unfortunate that those students whose parents elect not to place them in it are missing out on these benefits, but the advantages of growing up bilingual go far beyond simply something one can put on a resume. The program allows students to become better-rounded and facilitates expression of their individualism. These benefits do not put other students at any material disadvantage. Ultimately, the dual-language immersion program is good for MMSD, and rather than being cut, it should be continued and expanded.
Ryan Plesh ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in philosophy and physics.
