What is bilingual education doing in Texas?

Pegasus News | Blair Lovern:

“Headline in the S-T Monday: 'Public opinion doesn't follow the numbers' - followed by a story that makes Farmers Branch City Council member Tim O'Hare look silly. Apparently O'Hare cannot counter what the S-T illuminates has been happening in Farmers Branch the past decade: crime down, SAT scores up, state accountability rating for the local ISD up. There is no hell in a hand basket scenario going on in Farmers Branch, according to the paper. ”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Mr Lovern starts off by summarizing the Fort Worth Star-Telegram story reasonably well. Despite all those bad immigrants, Farmer's Branch remains a good place to live. Mr O'Hare himself lives there, after all.

But then Mr Lovern begins to swerve. He points out that although property values in Farmer's Branch are not declining as the anti-immigrant movement would lead you to believe, the gains do slightly lag Dallas County as a whole. Fair enough, I suppose. Call that one a draw, maybe.

Mr Lovern then turns his attention to bilingual education. The Star-Telegram story reports that the program cost is not exorbitant nor is the program preventing the district from achieving "recognized" status in every school. This causes Mr Lovern to drive into the ditch and get stuck there, spinning his wheels to no effect. Mr Lovern quotes studies and experts who challenge the effectiveness of bilingual education. In the end, nothing he says counters the simple statement of fact reported by the Star-Telegram: despite the presence of illegal immigrants, Farmer's Branch schools are all recognized. Whether bilingual education is the most effective way to teach children with English as a second language is a worthy question. But it's Mr Lovern's question. It's not what Mr O'Hare's campaign is based on.

The citizens of Farmer's Branch would do well to count their blessings. Driving wedges down the middle of their fair city is not the way to protect the good thing they have going.