Lingua Franca

This week we met with the registrar at my children's school to pick their courses.

Aside: Yes, children, plural, in school, cross fingers and knock wood. With the exception of ten short weeks last year, I have had one or both children home with me, either being sick or getting an education or both, since November 2003. Time to get back to my preferred lifestyle: watching soaps and eating bon bons.

During this meeting we found out that our school will not be offering Intro French. Since this school requires four years of a single foreign language to graduate, this is a problem. French isn't offered anywhere at the middle school level, and given most Americans' disinclination to learn another language, this is the death knell for most foreign languages: only Latin and Spanish have survived the ax at most schools [and yes, one of those is, in fact, a dead language. Ask not for whom the bell tolls...]. We asked about this and the registrar shrugged and said, "Really it's because this is such a Spanish-rich environment." It turns out she meant Central Texas, not that particular school, although the same could be said for the school itself: about 30 per cent of the student body is Hispanic, if you go by last names. Then she said something that I found shocking. "When my husband transferred here, I applied for a job at both of the Catholic high schools. Juan Diego really liked my resume- I had worked at a Catholic high school in Atlanta- but they wouldn't hire me because I didn't speak Spanish."

Whoa. An American high school, teaching a standard college prep curriculum in which four years of English are required, with all classes, except Spanish, presumably (and all of those other foreign languages they offer), taught in English and Spanish is a requirement for the Registrar's job? Oh, I get it. Most of the kids are first generation Americans whose parents are citizens but don't speak English sorry, come from households where English is not the primary language but by golly the parents place such a high value on education they are getting those kids into a private Catholic high school come hell or high water oops again The school is pandering to the stereotype of the South Austin demographic and bending over backwards to make the notion of going to high school at all palatable to the oppressed and downtrodden victims of our cruel immigration policies.

That last statement may be harsh. Certainly there is a large element of p.c. but that isn't the only force at work here. The first is that the economics of education is so distorted by the state's monopoly that private schools can't really survive in "economically disadvantaged" areas without massive subsidies from somewhere, in this case the R.C. Diocese of Austin. Juan Diego exists in large part because of the Roman Catholic commitment to providing for its very large, relatively poor and mostly Hispanic flock in South and East Austin. They use existing structures for their class rooms and many of their classes are taught by teachers that are already employed at St. Edwards University, which is adjacent. They don't want lack of family funds to prevent a child from getting a Catholic education. I admire this. But basically everyone is buying into the cultural dominance of the Hispanic and denying that the school has a duty to support these kids lives as American citizens, not as Mexicans living in a place where they get to learn English as a foreign language.

San Juan Diego High School is a "Cristo Rey Model" high school that uses job internships held by the students to defray the cost of their tuition. This model is being used in several locations around the country, especially in areas where there are large, poor Roman Catholic populations, and you may take that to mean that you have to oprime el número uno para inglés. The curriculum is college prep, though I couldn't find out what that means, and is an alternative to the generally awful non-education these kids would get in their local public school.

But tell me again why the well-qualified Gringa registrar has to speak Spanish?

And back to the original question. In sort of a "Name That Tune" moment, I turned to my husband and said, "I can teach her enough French to get her into French II by the 14th of August." This was met with much scoffing, which I fully intend to ignore. She's willing, nay, eager, and she doesn't have anything better to do. Allons-nous.