Bilingual Programs
Hector Garza
English 1301
De La Vina
November 27, 2012

Bilingual Programs Public Schools in the Rio Grande Valley should have bilingual programs as part of their curriculum. These programs would help students learn English as a second language transition into the regular classroom. One of the reasons why Public Schools in the Rio Grande Valley should have bilingual programs is because almost more than a half of the residents of the Rio Grande Valley are Spanish speakers. Cities like Mission, McAllen and Hidalgo are examples of having a high rate of Spanish speakers. Most of the Spanish speakers in the Rio Grande Valley are from Mexico or have Mexican roots. Some of them have a long time living in the United States but their first language was Spanish, so that is the language that they teach first to their children. The Rio Grande Valley is like a little Mexico where all speak Spanish and there are cases where they can speak both and it can be because they have Mexican parents or they just had to learn it. How can a teacher who speaks English teach a student who speaks only Spanish and understands only Spanish? This would be very hard for the teacher but harder for the Spanish speaker. It would be an injustice if the students failed just because he or she did not know the language and because the teacher did not care or have time to teach him or her. This is just indignant. All the students need to have the same opportunities as the other English speakers’ students. With these bilingual programs, it will help students who speak Spanish understand and learn the English language without stressing themselves. Having a teacher who can speak this both languages is the best way to help them more. The population in the Rio Grande Valley requires these programs. Why the government should quite these programs when seven of ten students speak Spanish as their first language and only three of them speak English? Just because living in the United States does not mean that everybody speaks English. Texas is not the only state with high rates of Spanish speakers. States like New Mexico and California have high rates of Spanish speakers also. There are cases where people from Mexico want to start a new life in the United States, so they come here with the entire family. Being in a new country does scare this people, here in the United