I Want to Save a Child's Sight!

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Eye of Newt

This is unfortunately not an April Fools joke, but it involves a Fool.

Newt Gingrich wants to abolish bilingual education. Yes, even today, in this growing global economy, he wants to handicap future generations from communicating with others around the world.

From 1995: "In 1995, for example, he said bilingualism poses "long-term dangers to the fabric of our nation" and that "allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous."

And today: "The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. ... We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100." (My emphasis added)

I admit I'm a bit biased because my Mother is a Spanish teacher, and I majored in Spanish in College (one of my 2 degrees). This is just a mean-spirited idea, throttling inclusiveness and throwing us into isolationism.

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