Day gift idea mother preschool

Editor's Introduction

In the fall of 1954 the parents of a six-year-old boy in a small south Texas town were worried. Aware that Brown v. Board had made segregation illegal they nonetheless worried about how their eldest child would be received in the first grade. They had taken all of the precautions that two loving parents could take. They had sent the young child to a preschool (rare in the early fifties) and made sure that the child was bilingual in English and Spanish. These parents hoped for the American Dream-to them this meant equality of treatment. They wanted their child to achieve his highest potential. Living in a typical working class Mexican American neighborhood, their child had long been surrounded by Spanish-speaking neighbors. The maternal grandparents lived across the street and they spoke only Spanish. The parents spoke Spanish in the home, but since they also spoke English they made sure that both languages were used equally. The result was a good mix of English and Spanish and a very bilingual child. Their intentions were well placed.

However, as the beginning of the school year approached, they worried nevertheless. They worried about whether the child would be allowed to enter first grade. Although already six years old (soon to be seven), it was not unusual for a Mexican American child to be placed in a special classroom reserved for children learning English. This special classroom was called the "pre-primer." It did not matter that a child may already be English proficient. It seemed that all Mexican American children were put through the experience in this community. It was the system used to teach English to students now known as English language learners. In 1954 they were known simply as "the Mexican kids." The parents worried because they feared that "pre-primer" could become their child's grade for the next few years. Therefore, delaying entry into first grade might prove to be a difficult barrier later on. Like most parents, all they truly desired was for their son to get an education.

I remember this experience vividly because I was that child. I remember my mother walking me to school on the first day and registering me. I was placed in the dreaded "pre-primer." In other words I had made it into the group needing to learn English. My mother voiced her opposition to this placement (in English), and pointed out that I was already English proficient. But this carried no weight with the principal. "All of our Mexican children go through "pre-primer," he said. "Let's take a wait and see attitude," he told her. My mother had no choice. She left me there to "learn English."

That evening when my father returned from work he was naturally angry. I can not describe the frustration that he felt. Suffice it to say that it was a very good thing that the principal lived in a different neighborhood. My father viewed the principal's actions as a blatant form of discrimination-something he had witnessed many times before. Only this time it was happening to his son. As a World War II veteran and fifth-generation Mexican American he would not stand for it. Had he not just fought a world war in order to preserve our freedoms and rights? He had returned from the South Pacific and joined the American GI Forum, working with Dr. Hector P. Garcia to insure equal rights for all Americans. Without sacrificing our heritage language, both of my parents had taught English to all six of their children. He could not understand why the school would do something so obviously wrong. After all, his child was bilingual!

My parents discussed the situation and decided to confront the school. They approached the principal several times with no apparent result. My mother continued to go to the school everyday for over six weeks and would have very interesting discussions and conversations (all in English), with the principal. They talked about the fact that I was soon going to be seven years old and that not going to first grade might have negative consequences later in my educational life. She continued to reinforce what she and my father had agreed upon. She kept insisting that I was bilingual-equally proficient in English and Spanish. She argued strongly for me to be evaluated. Allowing me to remain in "pre-primer" with the other 75 or so children "learning English" was causing me irreparable harm. Some children were actually held in "pre-primer" for two or three years, thus delaying the start of first grade until the age of eight or nine. The principal would listen intently and assure her that my situation was being "looked into."

In mid-October I was taken to the principal's office and given a battery of tests. I had no idea why I was being tested. All I knew was that I was having a fairly miserable time in "pre-primer." We all sat in rows and never really got to interact with our teacher. If one tried to interact with other students, most of whom were completely Spanish speaking, he was admonished or even paddled for speaking Spanish. Although it was very difficult for me, I kept quiet much of the time. When I did interact it was usually in the role of helping a classmate with his English. Today we call this "practice peer tutoring" or perhaps even "peer mentoring." In 1954 it was called "speaking Spanish" and it carried a monstrous penalty for those of us with small rear ends. Although I did not get paddled very often due mainly to my English skills, I never forgot the times that I did and therefore identified even more strongly with my Spanish-speaking friends.

A week or so after my 'GRE' experience in the principal's office, a very nice older lady entered my classroom and had a quick discussion with my teacher. She then came over to me, put her arm around my shoulder and smiled quite kindly, and announced, "Hi. I'm Mrs. Fritch. You are coming to my classroom." From that moment on I never saw the "pre-primer" classroom again. I was placed in a first grade classroom and I was not the only Mexican American there. However, most were older than I. They included Elvia (age 9), Ruben (age 10), Luis (age 9), and Bobby Smith (age 6). With the exception of Bobby, all of the other children had experienced "pre-primer." Bobby had escaped it because of his surname.

This experience has often caused me to think deeply about the status of Mexican American children in schools today. Not only do I think of the Spanish-speaking child, but also all of the other children in this country who do not yet speak the English language. Having just celebrated a birthday, all of these memories came rushing back to me. If this could happen to my English-speaking parents and me, what can immigrant or non-English speaking parents expect today? What has changed in the past 48 years to give people reason to think that this could not happen today? What policies or attitudes have changed to give one hope for a more enlightened approach?

Last spring in Phoenix, an Arizona child was directed to stop speaking Spanish on school grounds. Although Arizona voters had approved the passage of Proposition 203, an initiative that ended official bilingual education in the state's schools, the initiative did not prohibit the speaking of Spanish. It was explained by the school principal and later by the state superintendent of public instruction that the admonishment was nothing personal. It was actually for the "good of the child." Eliminating would allow the child more exposure to and practice in speaking English. This incident brought back memories of my experiences in "pre-primer." It has made me think about the progress we have made in addressing the educational needs of language minority students. The state superintendent of public instruction (attempting to dance around the issue of bilingual education in Arizona), was recently defeated in a primary election by a candidate who vowed on local television advertisements that, unlike his (Mexican American) opponent, he would definitely enforce the ban on bilingual education. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out what he actually meant.

Therefore, the issue of language minority children in many of our schools remains largely unchanged. The American Dream for millions of children has not only gone unfulfilled but is still very much in question. Just as there was no respect for my language or bilingualism in 1954 (Midobuche, 1999), there appears to be none today in places like Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and many other parts of the nation. The rush to dismantle bilingual education programs without any evidence of inappropriateness or program failure has been dramatic, ill advised, and extremely unfortunate. It appears that the nation desires a return to the days of "pre-primer" classrooms. Many of us know from first-hand experiences the outcomes of "sink or swim" or "total immersion" education for language minority students.