Multi-Lingual Education Bill (156)

In an effort to strengthen America's primary and secondary education, the National Language Education Association (NLEA) intends to broaden school children's language skills by a factor of two. For example, a child who speaks English in her home could be offered to learn two additional languages at a participating school with the financial support of the U.S. Government (no dollar amounts given).
The NLEA believes that in order for Americans to become more competitive in the global market, they must learn additional languages. Increasing the verbal strength of the next generation seems to be their key issue. They also cite immigration as a reason to institute such a plan as it would allow Americans to "prepare our society for social change." Really - "preparing" for immigration? That almost sounds like we are getting ready for an invasion. Are we?
And what "change," you may ask? The NLEA states: "The traditional picture of America as being white, Anglo-Saxon and English speaking will change as immigrants from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe increase in numbers. Eventually, the number of non-English speakers may be greater than the number of English speakers." I'm afraid this isn't a good selling point for a significant portion of the country. I can already hear the boos and roars from the pro-English speaking groups. Just as the pro-English Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem folks were just quieting down, too...
In many ways, this could be a valuable Bill for children. But the pro-English groups would argue that if such a plan was what America needed to be better at their jobs, wouldn't they have done it already? Many of them see America as the dominant country and, more importantly, the premiere language of the world. To agree to such a bill would be to admit defeat for their long-fought battle over having the English-version of the National Anthem sung at baseball games in English only. To others, it is a matter of history as the first permanent European settlers were English speakers, to which it has remained the prominent language, culture and quite frankly, propagation until recently. This could also have the anti-immigration groups wondering if the Government is sending an invitation to illegals - "Come here, we'll teach not only your kids, but we'll teach our kids your language in our federally funded public schools with taxpayers' money." As I talked to other people about this issue, one lady responded, "No, I didn't know English wasn't the official language of the United States. What is it then?" Her friend rebutted that the official language is English and had been since the founding fathers. So, it appears current Americans have a bit of educating to do, preferably before trying such an experiment on children.
If you are not aware (and you really should know this by now if you have email), there is a grass-roots group listing figures of how much the Government spends on educating illegal immigrant children, particularly those who were born in America to illegal immigrant parents. This will definitely be fuel to their fire, as they feel much of their hard-earned money is going to help people they don't consider to be "true Americans."
You may be wondering - what if the primary language in the child's home is Spanish? The NLEA would supplement Spanish with English and perhaps French, Portugese or German. They insist English would be taught in the three-language set, no matter the native language.
As the Bill had been discussed with the Internal Matters Committee of the House recently, I received a hand-written letter from the Internal Matters Committe, with the following well-meaning, if not watered-down, sentiment: "The Internal Matters Committee is working on a bipartisan effort to encourage and promote diversity in young Americans by providing funding for the education of foreign language education. This is part of a continuing effort by the Committee to work across party lines. At a time when the county is highly polarized, the Committee is heading the fight for a more cohesive house.
Signed - Rep. Gomez, Chair (and members Villary, Nedwick, DeWitt, Zahn and Yarmolinski, listed separately)
Again, the promise of better education, broadening horizons and a more linguistic generation sounds wonderful. The Committee's letter glossed over the controversial aspects of the Bill, perhaps in an effort to gain that bipartisan reach they have extended.
The future of this Bill seems to lie in the marketing. If the NLEA can continue to spin this as a true need for the next generation, it may still have life. My prediction, however, is that the pro-English-speaking groups will loudly protest the cost of the programs and implications it might have on immigration.
The future of this Bill - Does someone have a coin?
E.E.