The Downside Of Bilingualism?

The Downside Of Bilingualism?
** ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, FEB. 26-27 ** Sherry Hutchcraft reads a story to second graders in her dual language classroom at Northwest Elementary School in Dodge City, Kan. Feb. 22, 2005. The Dodge City district has the highest bilingual enrollment in the state seeing a dramatic increase in the town's Hispanic population in the past ten years. Funding for bilingual related programs is set to increase next year in both House and Senate school finance proposals as lawmakers strive to meet a SupremeCourt deadline of April 12 to increase school funding. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
** ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, FEB. 26-27 ** Sherry Hutchcraft reads a story to second graders in her dual language classroom at Northwest Elementary School in Dodge City, Kan. Feb. 22, 2005. The Dodge City district has the highest bilingual enrollment in the state seeing a dramatic increase in the town's Hispanic population in the past ten years. Funding for bilingual related programs is set to increase next year in both House and Senate school finance proposals as lawmakers strive to meet a SupremeCourt deadline of April 12 to increase school funding. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Activist and educator Matthew Lynch recently asked if language barriers are the “new segregation.” He challenged readers of an Education Week blog to consider if it is “fair to separate our student populations based on their native language.”

He continued, “Just as the ruling of Brown v. The Board of Education found that ‘separate is … unequal’ when it comes to skin color — is the same true of language preferences?”

Yes, separate classrooms for speakers of native languages other than English are egregiously unequal and not fair.

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