Comment

Comment by Vince Cavallo on February 11, 2011 at 6:05am

I used to live in the Mansfield ISD and the news surprised me.  Leaving that point, I agree we should be teaching language arts.  I don't have a disagreement as to which languages as long as it is not being directed from outside the local school districts as these districts know what is best for their students.  Unfortunately this specific instance seems to go beyond language and is culture driven.  Most of the Arab culture practices Islam in one of its forms. In fact, their society intertwines religion with the state and is supreme with all factions of society as religion is a way of life as I understand it.  It is one thing to study the history of a people, quite another to embrase their culture.  So, I am against this program as proposed by the Dept of Ed, who would not be there in the first place were it in my power to abolish it.

Comment by JL Gawlik on February 10, 2011 at 11:10am

Go to the site that Billie posted, awarding the district 1.3 million dollars has come from the Federal government Department of Education and a grant called Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP). They merely applied for it and received it. Apparently they are receiving so much flap about the FLAP grant they are going to slow down implementing it and are asking for parental input.

It would be more interesting to know the background of the people who suggested it, of the people who are going to implement it, oversee it and teach the language. Look to the left and you can click on two other sites explaining this grant and FLAP, note also that they are tying it into Bush's No Child Left Behind program.

You can see that this wonderful grant was made available Feb 2011 "Our students will be at an advantage in an increasingly diverse and economically global society. "

This is just another example of Big government over reaching and over spending. We could greatly reduce the deficit and debt by closing the Department of Education. They forgive student loans for teachers up to $17.5k if you are a teacher, as of 2008, they changed the rules to if you were a teacher on one or more occasions you could qualify.

I knew someone who learned Arabic as part of his military training at the Presidio and was hopping around on British ships as a interpreter of messages over the air waves during the Gulf war in Iraq. They still work for the government since leaving the military.

One should question this also with the National Educators Association reading list:

http://www.nea.org/tools/17231.htm

Educating needs to come from the communities not the Federal Government or any large organization for obvious reasons.

Comment by Richard Stotts on February 9, 2011 at 8:08pm

I do have to be honest; I wish I did know the language.  Why?  Because I understand that what is spoken in Arabic by Aljazeera is not the same message they speak in the English version.  If we knew what they were basically saying behind our backs, they might be despised even by the liberals whose understanding is strictly based on what they hear and read in English.  However, I would veto a move to teach their culture to young kids, especially when they don’t even understand the Western culture at such an impressionable age.

Comment by Carla on February 9, 2011 at 6:54pm

and for those who engage in libspeak [2011 newspeak] by "all out assault" I mean shine light on the filth.

 

PS: Just found this in the Webster's Dictionary..or at least I should have:  Liberalair= large masses of air, encompassing mostly dustbunnies with an occassional synaptic missfire causing random incoherent thought.

Comment by Carla on February 9, 2011 at 6:45pm

This has C.A.I.R. and ICNA written all over it. Anyway to find out who and when the bill was written? Then, find out whom they have been dining with as of late....one will likely find a member or two from the above "clubs" [as in the Muslim Brotherhood] on that dinner list.  WE need a full on assault on those who cosponsored it as well--light is the best disinfectant!

Comment by tamara stephenson on February 9, 2011 at 2:45pm

In reading the link, there are also grants for teaching Russian and Chinese because there is a shortage of Americans who are able to speak the language.  At this time, I don't think we can afford grants like this, period.  However, I don't believe it's a waste of taxpayers' money to fund programs like these when we can afford it.    When I was in high school, I took four years of Latin, a dead language, for goodness' sake.  However, we learned about early Roman culture, literature, history, etc.  Those four years were a nice foundation for understanding English grammar much better, and of course, for understanding the history of the western world.  Similarly, the Arab culture is rich in its history (first to bring us Algebra, although never my favorite subject)  and let's not forget, as in Latin, many English words are derived from Arabic.  This type of education can only enrich the lives of young people and help them better understand the world around them.  Arabic does not equal Muslim, and I hope that from those who feel outrage at this expenditure, they would feel the same way if the term "Chinese", "Russian" or "Latin" was used instead.  If the anger is at the money being spent on anything that is not a necessity, that is fine, but my concern is that the anger is because of the word "Arab".  On that, I disagree.

Comment by Chuck Riddling on February 9, 2011 at 1:41pm

If Gov.Rick wants to cut teachers just start with all of the foregin language teachers and keep only ENGLISH teachers, and teach only english and if our foregin immigrants can't pass it they don't graduate,instead of holding our natural born children back because they can't learn spanish or arabic.

Comment by Tom Wright on February 9, 2011 at 9:29am

I suggest, since Governor Scott, wants to cut spending on education, he start here.

I will be writing "GovRiCk" today.

Tom Wright

Comment by Gregory Wallace Sturgeon on February 9, 2011 at 8:48am

No don't teach them math.  I could not make a living as an Accountant [not really worried at this point].  

If you looked at history books these days you find almost all references to Christianity and Islam eradicated from the books.  If I am not mistaken those two religions have had a tremendous amount of influence over European and American history and to pretend it did not happen is equivalent to the censorship of Farenheit 451 and 1984.

Comment by Yvonne C Heikkinen on February 9, 2011 at 8:24am

If some of our Federally funded schools want to teach Arabic to our children then they should also teach the Christian religion too.   I can see that happening!  How about teaching children to read first, and then,  just for the heck of it, try throwing in a little math.

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