Everybody gets a Bill of Rights these days

Ever since activists pushing for the concept of universal access to health care created a “bill of rights” to say that everybody deserves adequate medical treatment, regardless of health insurance, it seems like everybody uses a parody of the Constitution’s first 10 amendments to bolster their point.

Take the latest group. The California Association for Bilingual Education is holding its annual conference this week, and they prepared a “bill of rights” for people in this country who are trying to learn to speak the English language.

THEY ESTIMATE THAT about 25 percent of schoolchildren (about 1.6 million youths) in their home state do not speak English as their primary language, and they are hoping that their “bill of rights” parody brings more attention to the situation confronting people who are in various stages of trying to learn to speak English.

One of the biggest myths pushed by the nativist crowd when it comes to immigration reform (or just about any issue related to newcomers to this country) is that these “foreigners” don’t want to learn the English language.

They’d have you believing that it is just a matter of time before U.S. society is done in by people speaking Spanish. So the language barrier becomes another reason used by these people to justify hostile reactions, including trying to cut off support for any programs that try to help people with language barriers.

As though they’re going to learn it on their own.

“WE NOW KNOW what we need to do to help these students succeed in school,” said Karling Aguilera-Fort, president of the California association. But, “these elements are now threatened by decisions being made to decimate funding for education.”

Hence, we get the group’s “bill of rights” (which unlike the Constitution’s bill, only has eight provisions), which says that English learners,

-- benefit from a learning environment in which they feel respected, safe and secure,

-- should be treated equitably in terms of time spent meeting their individual needs.

-- benefit from focused instruction from teachers who have specialized training and understanding necessary to effectively teach students whose first language is not English.

-- benefit from curriculum and instructional materials that are academically challenging, possess age-appropriate content, and include subject matter that is at grade level; this includes culturally responsive methodologies and materials.

-- benefit from access to instructional materials that make the necessary accommodations for the varying levels of English proficiency.

-- benefit from being taught in a way that allows them to maintain their native language to be able to transfer and apply knowledge of their native language and culture to the study of English.

-- benefit from attending schools with the resources and expertise necessary to meet their needs, and

-- benefit from the involvement of their parents in their education, this essential ingredient for closing the achievement gap should be fostered.

Now I have met people who deride such English as a Second Language programs by saying they encourage students to assume the schools will teach them in their native languages, thereby removing any incentive to try to learn to speak English.

But reading through this “bill of rights” makes me see one repeated theme – respect. Acknowledging that they already know some things in their native tongue, providing them with proper learning materials and getting parents involved whenever possible.

THAT’S BASICALLY THE way to teach anybody how to do anything.

Showing respect for the students as people (and not assuming they’re stupid because of their language skills) is more likely to get them to pick up on the English language, which will give them an edge on adapting to life in this country. No one seriously disputes that fact.

What this issue often comes down to is that certain people want to be able to disrespect others because of the language barrier, and that simply makes no sense.

Think about it, why should someone else try to learn English from a “teacher” who’s obnoxious or doesn’t show proper respect.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The California Association for Bilingual Education helped craft this “bill of rights” (http://www.californiareading.com/media/pdf/billofrights.pdf) to try to make people understand what difficulties newcomers to this country are going through when dealing with language.