Arizona Schools To Remove Teachers With Heavy Accents

Washington Post:

School districts in Arizona are under orders from the state's Department of Education to remove from classrooms teachers who speak English with a very heavy accent or whose speech is ungrammatical.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[BKFactor]

07:34 AM on 05/26/2010

On November 12th and 13th 2008, C-SPAN covered some of the Republican Governor’s Association Annual Conference.

While it was clear Republicans were often waxing nostalgic and lingering on the same old stuff, they did seem a bit more reasonable (at least in the videos you see in the C-Span video library).

Well something went horribly wrong after that conference. They lost their mind.

If you go to the C-Span library, you will not see the entire conference (I did); however, it is clear to me that the Republican (conservative) agenda for the future was hatched at this conference. They were going to first concentrate on winning governor’s seats so they could move forward with their “States Rights” agenda. Worth noting is a focus on changing the school curriculum, text books, etc. to re-shape history to a more conservative view (William Bennett, former Secretary of Education under Reagan talked about this; however, his entire remarks seem to have disappeared from the November 12th conference, C-SPAN video).

Read about Bennett at: http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Bennett_William

We are now seeing the crazed version of the conservative agenda being played out in Arizona Texas, and other states in the South, etc.

[harroyave]

09:48 PM on 05/25/2010

I wonder what the outcome would be if all of the teachers in rural America (such as in Appalachia) were to try and get a job in Arizona? I wonder how they would feel about git'n 'reassigned' because of their strong rural accent or manner of speaking.
Ya'll ponder on them there facts now.

[Juan666]

06:37 PM on 05/24/2010

Hola mi Amigos y Familia!

Why take the chance of being harrassed in Scarizona this Summer when you can have your 4th Ammendment rights guaranteed just east of the Hate State in the beautiful Land of Enchantment! We even have the word Mexico in our name. Avoid the racism (I know, it's a dry racism) and head to New Mexico, remember it's not the heat, it's the locals!

Viva la Boycott!
Viva New Mexico!
Viva America!

Juan666 - "Some say I'm an illegal, but I'm not the only Juan"

[darned socks]

08:03 PM on 05/04/2010

IT'S ABOUT TIME LEGISLATURES "GREW A PAIR" AND IMPLEMENTED THIS! EXCELLENT!@!

[Khirad]

04:26 PM on 05/05/2010

Let's just hope it applies to someone with a heavy backwoods Appalachian accent too - darn, that might include you.

[NHGranite]

08:53 PM on 05/03/2010

I'm from the Northeast and (we think) we don't have accents. You do!~! We say ont for aunt, not ant. We know pizza has an R at the end as does idea while yard and park do not. In fact the letter R is pronounced AH. So we gotta fire most of you English teachers. It's only fayah.

Next out: the Geico Gecko

[supertim]

12:12 PM on 05/03/2010

some of my best profs in university were foreign born, its the ability to teach that is the determining factor, not the accent, personally i cannot understand many southern americans when they speak, and i find it odd that networks use subtitles when interviewing someone in india for example, but god forbid they should do that when talking to an alabaman, all heck would break loose

[Belle 1974]

11:16 AM on 05/03/2010

Singapore has a similar law where police have the right to stop anyone suspicious looking and check their ID. Unless you are really behaving oddly you will never be stopped. The police conduct raids on businesses that tend to hire illegal immigrants and check IDs there. So it really does not affect people who are in the country legally. Japan police however will stop anyone not Japanese, brown skinned = terrorists, blondes = prostitutes. I'm 5t even, female, tanned, I wear miniskirts like most girls here and I used to get stopped by police every other day suspected of being a terrorist. I have no idea how they think I could possibly be hiding bombs, where? I even speak the language! How can I be a suicide bomber? My point is it's not really the law but how the police plan the exercise it. S'pore vs Japan.

[take10]

11:31 AM on 05/03/2010

They chop heads off in Saudi Arabia! Would you suggest that we should do likewise? We are American and have always claimed to be the greatest country because we were so different than other countries in the way we treat other human beings. Our main concerns should be how we make America a better place for all of us and the fact that we lack the civility that could make us rise to the top again.

[Belle 1974]

12:03 PM on 05/03/2010

Er... how are you getting that from my comment? Same law, in Singapore I'm never stopped but in Japan I'm always stopped!

[reasonshouldrule]

12:08 PM on 05/03/2010

One reason you have not been stopped in Singapore is that it is a multicultural country, so the way a person looks rarely suggests a reason to stop someone. In addition, although Singapore is a dictatorship, it's a very low-profile one and common sense generally rules (not always, but usually). Japan is a homogeneous country, so unless you are Asian, you would stand out. And if you are stopped, you probably were treated courteously. Having said that, I have spent years teaching and working in Japan and have never been stopped by the police for anything.

[Belle 1974]

12:47 PM on 05/03/2010

So by that logic it's ok to constantly be stopped by police just as long as they are courteous about it?

[Belle 1974]

11:00 AM on 05/03/2010

I can't believe they had teachers with strong accents teaching English in the first place. I had a teacher from India, her accent was so strong that many of us failed the class simply because we couldn't understand what she was saying. In Japan most 'English teachers' are not native English speakers... try getting around Japan with English!

[Belle 1974]

11:56 AM on 05/03/2010

I should add that it is an accent not ethnicity issue. Many English language teachers in Japan are Caucasians who are not native English speakers.

[reasonshouldrule]

12:13 PM on 05/03/2010

I had the same experience in college with an Indian professor who taught Shakespeare! It would have been funny if it hadn't been such a dire situation. You are right that you can't get around Japan with English, but I do know a lot of native English speakers who teach there--and South Korea as well. Also, if you know even a little Japanese, it's not too hard to communicate, and the Japanese people are wonderful to work with.

[TRex86]

08:10 AM on 05/03/2010

What a tragic decline of the once mighty conservative movement. They celebrate ignorance as a virtue. Their slide into authoritarian xenophobia and jingoism has eroded their intellectual core and left nothing but bumper sticker slogans. Pandering to the lowest minds is demagoguery. Stirring up the mob might win a few elections, but it degrades our national character. Does anyone on the right see this? Are they all cowering in fear of the Limbugh's and Beck's, who now define their movement? Where's William F Buckley or Margaret Chase Smith now that we need them?

[emlr]

10:45 AM on 05/03/2010

I asked essentially the same question a few days back. Where are all the responsible republicans? Have they all left the building? There is no intelligence coming from the right.

[TRex86]

11:17 AM on 05/03/2010

They have walled themselves off from reality, living in nostalgia for a country that never was. The "good old days" of white supremacy weren't so good for people of color or those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. If the Republican Party isn't about pandering to crypto-racists and Know-nothings what is it? They can't balance a budget. Their foreign policy was a neo-imperialistic disaster. I believe that the party is only a front for the interests of the plutocracy. For over a century their agenda has been making the rich richer. Their current agitation is a desperate effort to disguise their intentions. It's not working any more.

[Marty Rogers]

12:47 AM on 05/05/2010

well said! in my opinion, they have destroyed what once was a great country. I dont even think it can be repaired for decades to come.

[americanwhoisdisgusted]

02:23 AM on 05/03/2010

its sad teachers need to speakadaenglish, why not russian too ?.......imagine you call Amazon.com, speak to Manila, or better yet, Imagine going to Mexico City, and demanding people to speak ENGLISH, listen to American music, have US FLAGS everywhere. or in Miami ,expecting cubans to speak english correctly, of all the nerve..... imagine the world without any english speaking people, learn spanish, hebrew, chinese, korean, Hmong, or better yet, make US Born citizens expect all those crossing the border types learn to wash their hand when they cook the gringos food. What never, I say, make white people and black people stop the oppresiion and pay the taxes for everyone, I say make them pay the hospital bills for all oppressed families, 15 children, and I say no more taxes if you do not speak english , also lets give anyone who does not speak english FULL SSI benefits, and wait that is already done......so much for equal rights, i want free food, I want everything given to me, oh wait, i am a white man who speaksdaenglish all to well. Of all the nerve of people not giving away free medical birthing, so every family could live in a house, i mean who would ever put 10 or 20 people in a house and live like pigs.........gosh, the nerve of it all...

[reasonshouldrule]

12:17 PM on 05/03/2010

You poor thing! Why don't you go lie down somewhere and listen to Rush to calm your nerves?

[PazPraSempre]

02:58 PM on 05/07/2010

Uh what the hell does this have to do with people who don't speak English? This involves people who DO speak English but because they grew up somewhere else, they have an accent. Learn to read critically before injecting opinions about issues that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

[henrypapillon]

02:21 AM on 05/03/2010

Does this mean that Haley Barbour could not teach school in Arizona?

[henrypapillon]

02:11 AM on 05/03/2010

This just breaking---Arizona to ban Taco Bell from state.

[Joseph Reilly]

01:40 AM on 05/03/2010

Some of you presume racism, when their are financial factors at hand. We welcome legal immigrants, because they are a productive part of our society.

When it comes to the illegals, look as some facts and do the math. They don't pay taxes, but they need resouces paid for by tax payers.

I'll admit the accent issue, does sound a little strang, but any job wants to know that those doing a job, can properly do that job.

This may be normal practice done in many school districts throughout the country, or their may be an actual issue. Lets wait till they investigate it.

I have seen a real racist issue in a school district that I went to. A good repected man ended up with a bad name, while a piece of trash, had his pocket stuffed as part of is resignation. Most of us here in AZ, have a bad taste for it.

[henrypapillon]

02:18 AM on 05/03/2010

They DO pay taxes. If they rent , the landlord is paying a portion of the rent to taxes.If they own a house, they are paying property tax. They have to have license plates to drive a car, so they pay that. They pay gas tax like everybody else. They pay liquor and cigarette tax like everybody else. If the work under a false social security number, they are paying it in , but can never collect on it. If they get withholding under that false social security number, they will get taxes withheld, but can never file income tax and get a return. But maybe the employer knows this and doesn't turn it in and pocket the social security and withholding that was supposedly withheld for the government.

[Joseph Reilly]

08:32 PM on 05/03/2010

Many illegals get paid under the table.

I have a neighbor that lives in the apartment complex, that has been here 2 years and still has a Mexico Plate on their truck.

There is a time line to get your vehical registered in a state that you live in. I believe those in the military are the only exception.

[Marty Rogers]

12:52 AM on 05/05/2010

55% of illegal immigrants pay taxes. The rest dont pay taxes because they are afraid to get in the system which is why they dont apply for government benefits. They have also kept cost of services in certain parts of the country about 23% lower. Economics is actually not a good argument although it may appear to be on the surface. A better argument is simple: the US has a right to defend its borders. no need for excuses, or demonization of a people.

[Joseph Reilly]

11:40 PM on 05/05/2010

But immigration laws are used because they add many benifits to countries.

If no other country has them, Americans wouldn't need passports.

Many of the form of immigration reform, will allow many law breakers, to get what others worked hard for.

The law objective is to prevent illegals coming this way and reduce the number that live in this state. It doesn't prevent them from applying for citizenship, unless they have a serious criminal history.

[livesinreality]

11:22 PM on 05/02/2010

AZ is showing the old adage, When Fascism comes to America, it will be rapped in the flag and carrying a crucifix is coming true.

[SkyTalker]

10:38 PM on 05/02/2010

Arizona is becoming the poster child for American xenophobia. It is state seemingly bent on being more bigoted than any southern state in America. Regardless of their intent, this move in light of the immigration law fiasco will be considered anti-Hispanic.

[livesinreality]

11:20 PM on 05/02/2010

History is repeating its self, looks so familiar to Germany of the 30's with Hitler and the Nazi's on the rise. With AZ, just change the name from anti-Jewish to anti-Hispanic the target of their bigotry.

[reasonshouldrule]

12:20 PM on 05/03/2010

I agree completely with your point of view. However, I'm from Michigan and we don't have any real illegal immigrant problems here, so I don't think I understand all the problems. It would be nice to hear about those problems from someone who can explain things in a reasonable way. There must be problems or this severe and self-destructive reaction that Arizona has taken wouldn't be happening.

[Sonia Vivar]

07:21 PM on 05/03/2010

The ugliness of SB1070, is the disreguard for the people they step over, just to get the first African American President to produce a birth certificate.