Reply #35: Do you really want that?

[donco6]

Not knowing how to speak, and only speaking a language heard at home are two entirely different things.

I simply cannot agree with you on this point at all. My own father didn't know English until he went to school. He spoke German at home and learned English in the Jesuit school. To think his father should have been accused of child abuse and penalized when they had nothing to begin with - well, that just seems somewhat counterproductive to me.

Sure it would be better if they knew some English, but the fact is, they don't. We can teach them - honestly, it isn't all that difficult. We do it here all the time (Colorado). By third grade most have a functional knowledge, and can speak to anyone in a fairly literate fashion. Our problem is getting them to a higher level of language so they can perform to the level of their peers. They have difficulty expressing abstract concepts - which hinders them in higher-order math and language courses. These aren't things they could learn at home anyway.

Bottom line - I think punishing parents who don't teach their children English at home is borderline fascist. But that's just me.