Budget crunch cuts into Chesterfield language programs
Published: June 29, 2009
World-language enrollment at Chesterfield County middle schools is expected to drop about 25 percent in the fall, in part because of fewer courses being offered.
And several elementary schools will delay implementation of foreign-language programs for the 2009-10 school year because of budget cuts.
"We're pretty disappointed that we're not going to be able to offer as many things as we wanted to offer," said Linda L. Szwabowski, instructional specialist for world languages in the Chesterfield school system, which offers Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin and Spanish programs.
The system is facing a $32 million budget deficit next year. In the spring, 64 teachers were laid off -- about 20 have been recalled -- and greater limits were placed on the number of positions in schools. None of the laid-off teachers taught foreign languages, but some of those specialists have retired.
The funding gap and the loss of teachers has forced principals to make priorities, and in some cases, foreign-language instruction has been cut.
But budget cuts to language programs aren't unique to Chesterfield.
Shrinking budgets also are affecting the expansion of foreign-language programs in the Hanover County school systems, said spokeswoman Dale Theakston. Schools are combining small classes in world languages and postponing plans to implement programs in elementary schools during the regular school year.
But there's some good news for summer school. Last summer, elementary schools offered only Spanish. This summer, schools will offer Latin, French, German and Spanish.
Officials with the Richmond school system and most Tri-Cities-area school systems say they do not expect to make cuts to language programs.
In Henrico County, where the school budget is growing instead of shrinking, officials are not seeing a negative impact on world languages, said spokesman Mychael Dickerson.
"We have a Chinese-language pilot program starting in the fall at two of our middle schools and in one class at the Center for World Languages at Tucker High School," he said.
. . .
In Chesterfield, 13 of the county's 38 elementary schools currently offer foreign languages to about 9,000 students. Six more schools were scheduled to implement world languages in the fall, but the plans will be on hold until funding becomes available, said School Board Chairman Marshall W. Trammell Jr.
"None of us are happy about that," he said, adding that foreign languages will continue to be a priority in the schools. "We are actually looking at different avenues of how we can bridge the funding gaps."
In the fiscal 2009 budget that ends this month, $304,165 was allocated to the world languages program countywide excluding supplies and textbooks, said Tim Bullis, the school district's director of community relations. It would have cost an additional $200,000 to implement foreign languages in the six elementary schools.
Chesterfield's Enon Elementary School had made all the preparations for the implementation of Spanish for all students in the fall, but the plan is now on hold. The school has been offering a Spanish class to kindergartners and first-graders, said Michael Crusco, the school's principal. He'll continue with the mini-program until the program can be implemented throughout the school, he said.
"Obviously, the priority is that teaching and learning happen in the classroom," he said. "Foreign language is a great addition, but we've got to make difficult decisions when we have limited funding."
The most cited reasons for the significant decrease in world-languages enrollment in middle schools are the dedication of resources to core classes to meet the federal law No Child Left Behind law's Adequate Yearly Progress and the sharing of teachers among schools or splitting their assignments, Szwabowski said.
G.W. Carver Middle School in Chester, which offers Spanish, French and Latin, is projected to enroll 167 students in world languages in the fall, down from the 307 served in the 2008-09 school year.
That stems in large part from the elimination of the exploratory classes for sixth-graders, said Carver's principal, Donald Ashburn. But he'll expand offerings in seventh and eighth grades, he said.
"That's a fairly good size in the total number of students that won't be having that exploratory course," he said.
Carver's Spanish teacher retires this month, Ashburn said. Instead of having two part-time and a full-time world languages teacher, Carver will have three part-time teachers, he said. Those teachers will be teaching more classes, he said.
He had to choose between keeping his foreign-language program intact and expanding his drama department, he said. The drama department had more requests, he said.
Szwabowski said she hopes the holdup in the expansion of world languages will be temporary. Now more than ever, students need to speak multiple languages to be competitive in a global market, she said.
"I feel confident that we're going to move forward with those programs when funding becomes available," she said.
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or
.
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Reader Reactions
In response to Ovidia’s obvious chagrin, I agree that learning a foreign language has benefit, especially given the roots of English. But let’s get our own house in order first. Learn the Queen’s English, then parle Francais. I took five years in High School, but I had real English teachers and could actually write when I graduated. I wasn’t so ignorant as you may think, graduating 5th in the class and acing all 6 of my classes my senior year, including French. That solid background was good enough to get me out of college 3rd in my major, including being acused by my college French teacher of being Quebecois. I’m sick and tired of the excuses we get about poor teachers these days. We need real teachers from real teachers schools like Longwood, Randoph Macon Women’s College, Radford,and Madison used to be, focusing on the three R’s. SOLs be danged: let’s pull out the 1964 school curriculum, with real teachers teaching it and you’ll see a real turn around. Then maybe we can parle, or even habla. As for Latin, I was sad that was dropped years ago (1974 if I remember correctly about my high school) - I actually was signed up for it but not enough people in school wanted to take it. But I didn’t go into a medical career, so no real foul. Again, great background, but learn English first, especially in grammar school. As for European bilingualism, since when have 4 different tongues been within 300 miles of where most of us live? If they come here, learn to speak, write, and work with the use of English. It used to be that way; but alas, PC’ism has all but removed that one great glue which made this country great: the English language! We can be bilingual when we take a vaction in their country. Speak English in mine, por favor.
One of the things that really gets me steamed is the sheer ignorance that many people show regarding foreign language instruction. Dinwiddie boy wrote that the money should beef up the English program as the students cannot write. It is true that the students writing skills are poor; however, as countless studies have shown, learning a second language (particulary Latin) IMPROVES mastery of the English language. Consequently, by reducing access to foreign lanugage learning, one will reduce students’ ability to communicate in English well. Moreover, compared to most other countries, we are woefully behind in producing bilingual citizens. In Europe one in two persons are bilingual; in America, its one in nine. Yet, in a world that every day is becoming more globalized, we don’t seem to be concerned by the growing communication gap. To close this gap, not only do we need to keep foreign language instruction in the middle and high schools, but we also need to implement it in elementary school, when our students are better able to learn a second language.
This is just another “stick it to the Chesterfield citizens. Marshall Trammell presides over a school board that is wasting millions of our tax dollars every year, and all he can say is “none of us are happy about that”. Well Mr. Trammmell, YOU have the ability to solve this problem by allocating more mone for the classroom education of our children, and wasting less on new school construction that isn’t needed!! The blame for this disgrace lies with Trammell and the school board, because they have plenty of our money to educate the children!
Hmmmm. The money, when they get it back, should be spent to improve the Middle and High School ENGLISH program. These kids can hardly write. Just ask any Freshman Comp teacher at your local college. It’s bad enough that Sesame Street is pushing Spanish. This should stay as Middle and High School electives. More PC run amok (read between the lines if you want too). Although, maybe being able to know what’s being said without someone thinking you understand may have advantages….hmmmmm.
If Chesterfield would charge a higher cash proffer on new developments there may be money for the foreign language classes.
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