De-prioritizing of English in schools does poorer islanders a double-disservice

De-prioritizing of English in schools does poorer islanders a double-disservice -- Readers' Viewpoint -- The San Juan Star - 25/06/08 - Page 34.

Some years ago, stateside Puerto Rican communities were mostly concentrated in the areas of New York City and Orlando, Fla. Many were ghettos inhabited by poor, uneducated Puerto Ricans who were exploited for cheap labor and kept poor and uneducated due to their lack of fluency in English.

Recently I read in the Middletown (Ohio) Journal (June 4) about a Puerto Rican, John Cordero, who moved with his family from Puerto Rico to Middletown. As a youngster, he would get off the school bus and cry because he did not know English. When he discovered that Wildwood Elementary School in Middletown offered an English-as-a-second-language program, he eagerly took advantage of it.

Eight years later, John is graduating with honors from high school and has formed a group at Middletown High School, Latinos Unidos, dedicated to helping other Hispanic students succeed in school. We need to ask why Middletown thinks learning English is essential while Gov. Acevedo Vila thinks English is unimportant and deserving of low priority in public education.

Today I am astonished by how a great many Puerto Ricans have dispersed to almost every section of the United States. Yet many Puerto Ricans are still exploited in the states because they were not taught to be fluent in English when they attended public schools during their childhood on the island. As laborers who are American citizens but non-fluent in English, Puerto Rican laborers are only a few steps ahead of illegal immigrants from south of the border.

The commonwealth government, especially under the Popular Democratic Party, has given poorer, lower-class Puerto Ricans a double-whammy by never giving priority to English in public schools. Self-serving PDP politicians did not want the vast population of poorer Puerto Ricans to learn English, fearing that if too many Puerto Ricans did so they may want statehood. However, these populares themselves were educated in private schools to be fluent in English and are now making certain their children receive the same.

There should not be this double standard between public and private schools, between the poor and the rich in learning English. Giving low priority to English in education or business should not be a political ploy to keep commonwealth as a status. It is a cruel double-whammy against the poor and undereducated, not to mention against the health of the Puerto Rican economy.

In addition to not pushing for English in public schools, the colonialist populares also have discouraged English as the language of business and for running the economy. They actually have tried on more than one occasion to make Puerto Rico a "Spanish Only" territory. As a result, many stateside investors have been put off by the PDP's hostility toward English. They would rather invest in other countries where English is recognized as the language of business and investment.

Due to this double-whammy there are few jobs available in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are then compelled to move to the United States for career opportunities, only to discover there are few job or educational opportunities for someone lacking English skills.

Why is English given so little priority in Puerto Rico by the PDP and even by some in the New Progressive Party? As long as English has a low priority, the current colonial status will remain. With much higher priority given to English in education and business, a statehood movement might gather momentum and investors would start investing in Puerto Rico.

Robert McCarroll
Carolina

reference: http://www.topix.net/world/puerto-rico/2008/06/de-prioritizing-of-english-in-schools-does-poorer-islanders-a-double-disservice