Edumacation: Another feel good story
for diversity.For students such as Bernuy, starting the school year with a bilingual teacher such as Esquivel is a welcome relief. "She speaks my language and because I've recently arrived, she can translate what I don't understand," Bernuy said in Spanish.
Esquivel is one of 10 teachers hired this summer from Mexico as part of an agreement between Utah and the Mexican Ministry of Education.
The state's new visiting teacher program allows the teachers to legally work in public schools in "high-need" areas for up to three years. Their salaries and benefits are the same as Utah teachers who have similar experience, according to the agreement.
"They had to pass a very stringent interview process all done in English," said Richard Gomez, educational equity coordinator at the Utah State Office of Education. The 10 teachers were chosen from a pool of 40 to 50 pre-qualified candidates during interviews in Mexico City. |
Help me out here, I would think that getting the children who come over here to speak English would be a top priority, this process just slows down the assimilation into America culture. Maybe Utah should do a better job looking for teachers here in America to teach English to the students.
Critics of the program have asked why bilingual teachers were not recruited in Utah or elsewhere in the U.S.
"The fact of the matter is there aren't enough teachers in Utah and there certainly are not enough who are bilingual," Ripplinger said. "We have in our district a very high percentage of teachers who are ESL endorsed."
Those teachers can sit down and teach a child English. But what they can't do, Ripplinger said, is talk to parents about their children and help them get connected with their education.
At Stansbury, Esquivel and her colleagues Magaña and Granados hope to do just that. They have a clear idea of what they want to do while acknowledging the differences in the educational system.
Esquivel hopes she can help more students see that they can pursue higher education rather than just finding a job after high school.
"There is great capacity here from what I have seen. They have responded well. To see me here and tell them not to limit themselves and to continue studying, it encourages them," Esquivel said.
Magaña, who teaches second grade, said the main thing is to support those Latino families and help their kids get better.
"One of the mothers said her daughter was so happy because she had a Mexican teacher who speaks Spanish," Magaña said. "They [parents] feel better." |
Oh well then, as long as the parents feel better being catered too instead of hunkering down and learning the language which would help all in the long run if they are living in America.
