DISD roundup: An apology and bilingual 'protection'

You know things are bad for DISD when Supt. Michael Hinojosa clearly and directly apologizes to teachers — and then people start whining that the apology isn't good enough. That was the case Wednesday, when Hinojosa spoke to a symposium of business and education "leaders" (this is according to the DMN story), and he said: "I want to apologize to all the teachers that left and the teachers that stayed. Everyone was affected." LIke the guy or not, that's a pretty clear statement of contrition. And then the complaints started. A teachers association president complained that the apology didn't really count since few if any teachers could be there to hear the apology, since it happened during the school day. And complainers on the DMN education blog continued to thirst for blood, one saying that an apology without a resignation was meaningless.

Meanwhile, Hinojosa also used the word "protected" to talk about why only two bilingual teachers (among about 2,000 total in the district) were let go during the recent layoffs, saying that student needs demand that bilingual teachers stay. Hispanics make up 66 percent of DISD's student body (105,075), with limited English proficiency students comprising 34 percent of enrollment; both are compelling numbers when it comes to assessing DISD's need for bilingual educators. Hinojosa said that not serving the district's limited English students would be "academic malpractice", according to the DMN story. (Note to readers: Thoughtful comments on this issue are welcome, but please DO NOT go off an a racist rant, or we will remove your post. Thanks.)

Comments

[Robert]

Did he deliver the apology in spanish?

Continuing story line of how decent working American citizens are being screwed by the open border crowd who have no problem with our communities, schools, prisons, and hospitals being over run by illegal immigration.

Bilingual education wouldn't be a factor if illegals were not here and english-only teachers would still be employed.

[nancy wilson]

I actually have no problem with bilingual education. It is not the childs fault and we cannot have a ton of uneducated kids running around. Education is the key to success. That being said, I do have an issue with the bilingual classes only having 4 students and a full time teacher. I would love for my child to have 4 students in their class as opposed to 21.

[Alfredo]

What really hacked me off was in the last paragraph of the story where they quote Leo Gomez a UT Pan American Prof and paid DISD consultant who says "School isn't about learning English it is about being schooled". If you don't learn english you pretty much put these kids, legal or illegal, into a permanent under class with limited earning capacity. If this makes me a racist tough but school should be about learning English and being prepared and not some feel good trash as came from the mouth of the DISD consultant. I'd also like to see Mr Gomez's work product and know how much he was paid. Getting rid of most of the DISD consultants would help the financial problem