Teachers, parents, students, tell us your experience during the first week of English-only instruction

Coping With Prop. 227 By Laura McCutcheon Menlo Avenue Elementary School I FEEL SO DEMORALIZED AND DISCOURAGED BY PROP. 227 and it's implementation in such an insensitive, rushed, ill-prepared manner, especially by the media hype surrounding it. Tonight, it really got to me after reading the LA Times article by Yolanda Canton. Beyond what's best for student learning, and in spite of the fact that there's no plan, no program, nor materials for this new English immersion model--I know I can personally provide English instruction. I'm quite resourceful. It's just that even between the two immersion programs, my class could end up reorganized pretty differently in 30 days. I know I'm not the only one who must be feeling down or afraid. One teacher told me a little girl who just came from Mexico to her first-grade class was crying so much because she couldn't understand English the last two days. I told the teacher that Spanish support for understanding concepts is O.K. under both of the immersion plans, but she said she was exercising caution in using English sparingly out of fear, not wanting to get in trouble. I'd hoped parents would at least talk with teachers about where their kids stand academically at present in the Basic program, for example in their ELD progress. It's not that we would recommend any one program over the other, but teachers and parents could talk about individual children's needs, as explained to us at a principal's/union chair's meeting regarding 227. Teachers voices seem just cut out of the picture. It's as if being a "bilingual teacher" was "bad", the cause of student failure, a scapegoat. "English Only's" in. They even have hot lines to report noncompliance, to turn in teachers. How ugly. I'm usually pretty optimistic, and I'll probably get over this pessimissism. I really care about my students and feel that because I know my students best from last year, that I could meet their needs English immersion better than other teachers, whether the parents check off program A or B. Unfortunately, the 2 groups must be segregated. It's a gamble, a coin toss, not knowing which the parents will choose. I fear the class might end up segregated on ability, with one group of high achievers going into one class, and the low achievers into another, hurting by heterogenous cooperative grouping activities. I felt 5 steps ahead this year, but Prop. 227 can set me back. For three nights, I haven't been sleeping well, since the first night before we came back to school. I usually sleep pretty well. It's rare I have a restless night. Are other teachers expressing these feelings at other campuses? According to the LA TIMES, you wouldn't think so.