Cesar Chavez School Fires Principal; Sarvis Extends Proposal to Keep It Open

» Gee on 11.22.09 @ 04:51 AM

I wonder if anyone has considered the possibility that test scores are low BECAUSE it’s bilingual? Bilingual education is a failure. Case in point. Just give them an ESL class and make them learn in English.

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» Political correctness trumps academic realities on 11.22.09 @ 08:49 AM

How sad that children will continue to be sacrificed by an academic program that fails all state standards and is “abysmal” and are held hostage to a twisted mentality that translates such factual concerns into racism.

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» True racism on 11.22.09 @ 09:05 AM

They are also taught that they are too stupid to learn in English apparently, because they are different. Great for that old “self esteem” that liberals cherish so highly.

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» No wonder gangs thrive on 11.22.09 @ 11:14 AM

The foolish liberals would never send their kids to a Mexican school, but you should??

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» paloma on 11.22.09 @ 01:18 PM

It is sad that Noozhawk attracts such ignorant, racist, eurocentric type of people.  These comments are beyond conversation or acknowledgement.  Paloma

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» Is this Noozhawk policy? on 11.22.09 @ 04:25 PM

Paloma, I agree. It is painful to see this ignorance and bitterness.

Noozhawk, don’t these comments qualify as a violation of your rules? Although we want a free forum for discussion, the language used in these posts does not foster constructive dialog.

To those at Cesar Chavez school, you have my support and sympathy. I hope the board realizes the value of the work you’re doing.

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» Ross M. on 11.22.09 @ 08:20 PM

As one who has been intimately involved with international school education programs, I find it unfortunate that the United States as a whole, and California in particular, will not truly teach English to its non-fluent students.  Elementary children in particular are remarkably capable of learning foreign languages at an incredible rate.  I have seen students start a school year with only a handful of English vocabulary words and finish the year fluent.  It has also been my experience that the natural consequence of this is that they teach their parents English.  To deprive children of this skill development on the mis-guided basis that they cannot compete in another language is discriminatory.  We are sentencing these kids to a second-rate set of opportunities.

Teaching kids English is not racist, and it is not even American.  For those of you who are not aware, the United States did not invent English.  But English is fast becoming the common language in the world, and those that are fluent in it have a much greater chance of taking advantage of opportunities around the globe to advance.  Even India generally shares English as its common language among the thousands of dialects that exist there.

Don’t sell the kids short.  Teach them English.  Make them use English.  You won’t break them.  You’ll only make them more capable.

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» sbjoe on 11.22.09 @ 09:21 PM

While I agree that Caesar Chavez looks like it should be closed,  I would like to point out to “True Racism” that Spanish speakers are not the only ones who have had public school instruction in their native language.  It was somewhat common that in the upper Midwest schools would teach in German in the early 1900’s.  My father went to one.

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» Fix the problems on 11.23.09 @ 07:06 AM

The “English only” folks don’t understand the purpose of immersion schools is to make ALL children bilingual and bi-literate. Children raised with dual language fluency will have higher success than mono language students in the 21st century.  Immersion schools across California are highly successful and Spanish is not the only language taught at them.  There are several new immersion schools established every year. 

The problems with Cesar Chavez School are twofold:

First, in order for an immersion school to succeed the target population has to be a 50:50 mix.  They are not meeting this standard.  The lottery should be adjusted so that more native English speakers and fewer native Spanish speakers are accepted, until they get closer to 50:50.

Second, the Charter governance team is failing to meet general education standards.  Most immersion schools are under the direct governance of the local school board.  If they cannot get their act together, the SB School district should “take over” the school, NOT close it.  The danger of Charter schools is that they are not necessarily held to the same standards as regular public schools.  If they can prove to do a better job, then great, keep your charter.  If not, you lose your charter and will be taken over by the school district.  This does not mean the school, nor the program, need to be shut down.

Stop the banter over the Spanish versus English and fix the core problems.  Immersion programs have a positive and proven track record.  Immersion is not the problem here.

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» John Locke on 11.23.09 @ 07:37 AM

To “Ignorance is a bliss”, the proper phrase is “Ignorance is bliss”.  Where’d you learn English?

And calling for the Noozhawk editor to suppress commentary because you don’t believe with the content is a form of censorship inconsistent with free speech and a free press.  Have you read the Bill of Rights?  Where’d you get your education?

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» A parent's choice on 11.23.09 @ 09:32 AM

While it may be true the English is most effectively learned by immersion, this is a consideration for the _parents_ of ESL students—it shouldn’t be the reason to shut down a legitimate educational option. To claim that the school is a place for Spanish-language maintenance seems (though that may not be the intention) to assume that the parents are resistant to English. This assumption about the parents of ESL kids is totally unjustified and it also ignores the parents of non-ESL kids.

Fix the problems’s remark seems on target. Bilingual education has worked and can—we just need to target the problems specific to this case. Perhaps that means adjusting the number of ESL students, but that’s a question for those who know more about the particular situation at CCS.

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» Is this Noozhawk policy? on 11.23.09 @ 10:12 AM

JohnLocke, there is no need to be dramatic—I’m not asking that people who disagree with me be suppressed. I’m genuinely curious (with a tendency to be concerned)about the Noozhawk practice of allowing response posts on all their articles.

Surely the rationale behind this is that it fosters constructive dialog. Yet it seems possible to do this without publishing all posts. It seems possible to distinguish between constructive posts and ‘mere’ emotional venting—especially when it verges on slander. (I have the comments from ‘The mexican School’, ‘Here’s news for ya’, and ‘No wonder gangs thrive’ in mind. )

But let’s set that issue aside. Assume it is impossible to maintain a principled distinction between the constructive and ‘mere’ venting. In this scenario, is it wise to allow commenting on all posts? Some of these issues are highly charged to begin with. Allowing people to spew forth their anger seems highly inappropriate on some articles (like obituaries) and potentially dangerous in others (for instance, after our recent fires). J.S. Mill certainly thought that we needed safeguards to protect us from these situations and he was a man pretty keen on free speech.

Anyway, I just wonder if Noozhawk and The Independent should consider modeling their policy on the BBC’s.

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» Also to "Ignorance is a bliss..." on 11.23.09 @ 10:27 AM

There is no such word as “stept.”  Your post is a perfect example of “ignornance is a bliss.”

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» Eurocentric on 11.23.09 @ 11:02 AM

My grandfather came from Germany to Ellis Island penniless in the depression. He did not even GO to school let alone an “immersion school”. There was no such thing. Instead he immersed himself in the American people and culture and made a lot of great friends (all non-German) along the way. Using virtually no resources, he hopped a freight train, worked odd jobs here and there and took every opportunity he had to practice English. He became an American first, a German immigrant second. His kids (my mom) never even learned German. He worked hard for his citizenship. He worked hard to make a living. He was not catered to, he was treated just like any other American. He saved every penny, got married and they lived on soup from a hambone for a week, stuff like that.

He had very little but the one thing he had was the pride that came from the fact that he was building a life for himself without being catered to, with his own sweat and blood, and it built character. I admired him, he was truly a great man. I would have no respect for him if some other entity had done it for him or given him a hand or a handout.

He suffered discrimination during World War II against Germany. He understood that and worked even harder to prove he was loyal to the country. He eventually became extremely successful with no help from the government or an immersion school. It is insulting to Hispanics that to tell them that they can’t do the same without the help of liberals. It is crippling to their children to tell them they don’t have a chance without the help of the liberals. No wonder they join gangs and commit suicide, when liberals tell them they don’t have a chance because if “racist” white people. NO wonder they don’t want to assimilate, no wonder they don’t have any hope or self esteem. Self esteem comes from your own hard work and success. Take away the requirement to work and there truly is no hope.  By the way racism has nothing to do with it and the intimidation tactic of name calling has lost it’s power. Because we are nationalists, not racists. It doesn’t work anymore. Try something else.

You want to ruin what built this great country called the United States of America? Cater to immigrants.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

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» John Locke on 11.23.09 @ 12:52 PM

To all of you who scream “racist” at those who protest against illegal immigration:  “Eurocentric” is the kind of immigrant this country has welcomed and should continue to welcome.

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» What a Joke on 11.23.09 @ 01:55 PM

Let this failed school fail.  Why should our tax dollars fund a bilingual education for immigrants?  Come to America and be American.  I am tired of Liberal nonsense.  Hold EVERYONE to the same accountability and standards and we may actually see some progress.

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» oohlala on 11.23.09 @ 02:10 PM

This school has failed because the system called “bi-lingual education” fails. It sounds fabulous but the reality is anything but… look at Peabody Charter: they used to be bilingual, they insisted on keeping themselves bilingual even when the district changed its mind and decreed bilingual to be NOT so good… but years later, and with a new principal, they have abandoned the bilingual education and the students are doing so much better.I heard that they now have such good scores that they are being recommended for a Distinctive School award! They speak in Spanish in the earlier grades when necessary [K - 3] but the curriculum is English-based. The kids learn English very well - and it helps that they have continued to keep a full-time drama program for ALL grades. The kids are flourishing; they even have English classes for parents!
I agree that keeping non-English speakers without full-time English instruction backfires…
CC would do well to learn from those who’ve been through this already, or they will see an end to their school.

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» to J Locke newsflash on 11.23.09 @ 06:57 PM

Wrong J.Locke Newsflash. Don’t flatter yourself. You were lured here obviously at an inflated salary because there were diversity quotas to fill. The education system has been ruined by liberal ideals, not because YOU weren’t here, but thanks for coming to save the entire education system. Go back home and save us some money. We don’t need to pay for your arrogance. Do you have a problem with Americans speaking English by the way?

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» nicey on 11.24.09 @ 08:30 AM

There is an astonding amount of ignorance demonstrated in some of these comments.  Instead of commenting on the situation at the school that is the subject of this article, commenters seem to have found it necessary to bash bilingual education.  Having studied education, learning and language, the only conclusion I can make on this issue is that there is much more to learn on how most effectively teach language and the research does not support the vast majority of commenters bashing of bilingual education.  I truely believe that it is an issue that only the experts can comment on, as it is such a complicated issue.
Also, it must be recognized that all English learners (including everyone’s proverbial grandfather, who came to this county with nothing, etc., etc) are not the same and cannot be expected to assimmlate or learn English in the same manner.  The culture, socio-economic status, and voluntariness of immigration must be taken into account, as to reasons why and to what degree assimmilation occurs. Not to say that assimilation is a necessary goal.

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» Curious on 11.24.09 @ 12:07 PM

I don’t know the principal but is she really the problem?  I doubt it.  Sounds to me like she was thrown under the bus by “governance council” and Sarvis.  Reminds me of the Biblical story in which one is told to take the plank out of one’s own eye before removing a splinter from the eye of another.

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» John Locke on 11.24.09 @ 05:17 PM

Question:  Are the teachers at CCCS protected by tenure?  Apparently the principal was not….

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» Not related to CCS on 11.24.09 @ 07:51 PM

To “Fix the Problem”
While persons of German descent were not placed in concentration camps, they were rounded up and taken from their families and placed in holding houses.  New and poorly documented statements have surface of such occurrences in Honolulu, Hawaii during WWll.

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» Hey, John Locke on 11.25.09 @ 06:58 PM

No principal is covered by tenure. Only teachers get tenure.

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» Has more than a clue on 12.09.09 @ 11:12 AM

“John Locke” you don’t know what you’re talking about.  No teacher at CCCS is tenured. They are all at-will employees.

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