Fox News reports, Texas Principal Amy Lacey, Principal of Hempstead Middle School was put on administrative leave for suggesting the students for their own good, speak English in the classroom. Principal Lacey did not ban Spanish or mandate English. Lacey suggested the children speak English in the classroom to prepare themselves for standardized tests, which are given in English. Lacey was simply following the Texas Education Code.
The Texas Education Code describes English fluency as a "prerequisite for effective participation in the state's educational program."
Lacey's contract was not renewed this year, essentially she was fired for following the Texas Education Code. The suggestion was seen as a insult to Hispanic Culture.
Americans spend too much time trying to protect diversity. There needs to be a common ground. The American Educational System is based and tested on using and having the ability use the English language. This is the common ground in the educational system. The English language should learned by every student and student should be expected to perform in school using the English language. By not enforcing the Educational Code to protect diversity will create a divide among the different cultures in the school system. English is the primary language in the United States, everyone who migrates to the United States should be required to learn English to function in our society.
By making accommodations for students who speak Spanish your are excluding the other non-Spanish speaking students from a learning experience and wasting a teacher's time. The non-Spanish speaking students will not benefit from all the questions being asked in the classroom and the teacher will have to repeat the same information in two different languages.
Principal Lacey was attacked by the students, saying their rights are being violated. What about the other students rights? This is the United States, our primary language is English. English speaking students should not have their rights violated to protect this invisible line of diversity, which seems to be growing as our rights shrink with every invisible diversity line that is pushed forward.
Students in schools are not just Spanish, there are several different cultures in a school. Why only get offended over Spanish speaking students needing to learn to participate in the American school system speaking English? Do we provide this same right for every non-English speaking student in the United States? How do we solve the problem? We require every student learn to speak English. I feel like our rights of native born English speaking American citizens are being stomped on to protect this invisible line called diversity. I am 100% for diversity for everyone, including for the English speaking American citizen. Instead of coming together as one country, we are dividing ourselves within the country. A divided country makes a weak country.
